Abramovich, Roman Arkadyevich

Born October 24, 1966 in Saratov . Roman's parents lived in Syktyvkar (Komi ASSR). Father - Arkady (Aron) Nakhimovich Abramovich (1937-1970) - worked in the Komi Economic Council , died as a result of an accident at a construction site when Roman was 4 years old. Mother Irina Vasilievna (nee Mikhaylenko) died when Roman was 1 year old.

Before World War I, the father’s parents — Nakhim (Nakhman) Leibovich (1887 - 6 June 1942, Reshety camp, Krasnoyarsk Territory ) and Toybe Stepanovna (1890 -?) - lived in Belarus, after the revolution, moved to Taurage , Lithuania ^[5] . After joining the USSR , during the deportations of June 1941 , the family together with the children was sent to Siberia . Spouses were in different cars and lost each other ^[6] . Toibe was able to raise three sons: the father of Roman and his two uncles ^[7] . Roman Abramovich's grandmother Faina Borisovna Grutman (1906–1991) with her three-year-old daughter Irina from Ukraine in the first days of the war was evacuated to Saratov ^[8] .

Taken to be brought up in the family of his uncle Leib Abramovich, Roman spent a significant part of his youth in the city of Ukhta ( Komi ASSR ), where his uncle worked as head of the workers' supply department of the Pechorles at Comilisores. Roman studied at the 2nd grade in school number 2.

In 1974 he moved to Moscow to his second uncle - Abram Abramovich.

In 1983, he graduated from the Moscow secondary school No. 232 (now the Moscow State Budgetary Educational Establishment “School No. 2054”).

In 1983 he entered the Ukhta Industrial Institute at the Faculty of Forestry. Did not differ to study, but had excellent organizational skills, despite the fact that he was the youngest in the group. There is no information about the graduation of AII, accordingly, he did not receive higher education Among fellow students there are famous people in business and musical culture (in particular, Andrei Derzhavin ), Roman does not maintain ties with them.

In 1984-1986, military service was held by a private automaton of an artillery regiment (military unit no. 11785) in Kirzhach ( Vladimir region ) ^{[9] [10]} .

He began his working biography as a worker: in 1987-1989. mechanic SU-122 of the trust “Mosspetsmontazh”.

In the late 1980s, the Uyut cooperative was acquired, the official activity of which was to manufacture toys from polymeric materials. Abramovich's partners in Cosiness, Yevgeny Shvidler and Valery Oif, subsequently formed the management team of Sibneft .

In the early 1990s - the founder of the company: JSC "Mekong", ICP "Firm" Supertekhnologiya-Shishmarev "" ", CJSC" Elita ", CJSC" Petroltrans ", CJSC" GID "," NPR "and many others.

In the late 1980s - early 1990s, he was engaged in small business ( production , then - intermediary and trade operations ), subsequently switching to oil trading activity. Later he became close to Boris Berezovsky and the family of Russian President Boris Yeltsin . It is believed that it was thanks to these ties that Abramovich was later able to obtain the ownership of the Sibneft oil company.

In the years 1991 - 1993 Abramovich headed the small enterprise “AVK”, engaged in commercial and intermediary activities, including the resale of petroleum products. In 1992, the investigation issued a decision to detain him in view of the suspicion by Abramovich of theft of 55 diesel tanks from the Ukhta oil refinery at a cost of about 4 million rubles (criminal case No. 79067 of the Moscow city prosecutor's office) ^[11] .

It was at the beginning of 1995 that the 28-year-old Abramovich, together with Boris Berezovsky, embarked on a joint project to create a single vertically integrated oil company based on Noyabrskneftegaz and the Omsk Refinery , which at that time were part of Rosneft . Viktor Gorodilov supported this idea to invest $ 35.5 million in the company. Bank SBS-Agro again acted as a guarantor. Rifine-Oil CJSC was established with equal shares by Servet and Oil Impex companies (both established by Roman Abramovich).

The Accounts Chamber , which later inspected the privatization of Sibneft, recognized it as extremely inefficient and inexpedient.

In June 1996, Roman Abramovich became a member of the board of directors of Noyabrskneftegaz JSC, and also headed the Moscow representative office of Sibneft . In September 1996, he was elected by shareholders to the board of directors of Sibneft.

According to ^[12] , a computer analysis of transactions concluded by the General Prosecutor’s Office showed that R. Abramovich was involved in speculation in the GKO market (which was one of the reasons for the 1998 default ).

In November 1998, the first mention of Abramovich appeared in the media (even his photographs were absent for a long time) - Alexander Korzhakov , the dismissed head of the Presidential Security Service, called him the treasurer of President Yeltsin’s inner circle (the so-called “family”). The information that Abramovich pays expenses for President’s daughter Tatyana Dyachenko and her future spouse Valentin Yumashev, financed Yeltsin’s election campaign in 1996, lobbies government appointments, became public knowledge.

In December 1999, Abramovich becomes the owner of the state in $ 1.4 billion.

In 1999 he became a State Duma deputy in the Chukot single-mandate electoral district No. 223. It was in Chukotka that the companies affiliated with Sibneft were registered, through which their oil and oil products were sold.

In the Duma did not join any of the factions. Since February 2000 - Member of the State Duma Committee on the Problems of the North and the Far East.

In December 2000, he left the Duma in connection with his election as governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Region . According to media reports, he has invested a considerable amount of his own funds in the development of the region and in improving the standard of living of the local population.

In October 2001, it became officially aware of the creation by shareholders of Sibneft Millhouse Capital , registered in London and took control of all their assets. Sibneft President E. M. Shvidler becomes Chairman of the Board of Directors of Millhouse.

In December 2002, Sibneft, together with TNK, acquired at an auction 74.95% of the shares of the Russian-Belarusian company Slavneft (previously, Sibneft bought out another 10% of the shares from Belarus) and subsequently divided its assets among themselves.

In the summer of 2003, Abramovich bought the English football club Chelsea on the verge of ruin, paid his debts and staffed the team with expensive footballers, which was widely reported in the media in Britain and Russia, where he was accused of investing Russian money in foreign sports , although on the threshold of this, according to some sources, Abramovich tried to buy the Russian football club CSKA , but the deal did not materialize. The amount spent by a businessman on the purchase of an English club was approximately 140 million pounds. On May 19, 2012, Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history, beating Bayern Munich in the penalty shootout in the final match.

Since the second half of 2003, Sibneft has been subjected to inspections by the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Tax Inspectorate regarding the legality of the acquisition in December 1995 of a stake in a number of companies, Noyabrskneftegazgeofizika, Noyabrskneftegaz, the Omsk Refinery and Omsknefteprodukt, and in March 2004 The Ministry of Taxes and Duties filed Sibneft with tax claims for 2000–2001 in the amount of about one billion dollars. Later it became known that the tax debt was reduced by more than three times by the tax authorities, and the debt itself had already been returned to the budget.

In 2003, another attempt was made to merge Sibneft and the Yukos company, which is disrupted on the initiative of Abramovich after Khodorkovsky’s arrest and the presentation of multibillion-dollar tax claims to YUKOS.

During 2003–2005, Abramovich sold his shares in Aeroflot, Russky Aluminum, Irkutskenergo and the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station, RusPromAvto - and, finally, Sibneft.

In 2003, he bought the English football club Chelsea for £ 140 million and actually moved to the UK to live. In October 2005, he sold his stake (75.7%) to Sibneft to Gazprom for $ 13.1 billion ^[13] and tried several times to leave the governor’s post, but each time after meeting with Russian President V.V. Putin was forced to abandon his intention.

On October 16, 2005, the President submitted Abramovich’s candidacy for reappointment to the governor’s post; On October 21 of the same year, the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Region approved him in office.

On July 3, 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev early terminated the powers of Abramovich as governor with the wording “of his own accord”.

On July 13, 2008, deputies of the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Region asked Roman Abramovich to become a deputy and head the district Duma and on the 12th of October at a by-election, gaining 96.99% of the votes, became a deputy of the Chukotka Duma ^[14] . October 22 was elected to the post of Chairman of the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Region, the candidacy of Abramovich was supported unanimously by the deputies of the Duma ^[15] .

In the spring of 2018, after tightening the UK's requirements for the purity of funds that give the right to an investor's visa, Abramovich had problems entering the country ^[16] . After that, in May of 2018, having Jewish roots, Abramovich received an Israeli passport ^[17] , giving the possibility of visa-free entry to the UK ^[18] . According to media reports, Abramovich became the richest citizen of Israel ^[19] .

According to two different sources, Abramovich first met Berezovsky either at a meeting of Russian businessmen in the Caribbean in 1993, ^[20] or in the summer of 1995 on the yacht of his friend Peter Aven . ^[21] Berezovsky introduced Abramovich to the “family” - to the close circle of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation , which included his daughter Tatyana Dyachenko and chief security adviser Alexander Korzhakov . ^[22]

Together with Berezovsky, Abramovich founded an offshore company registered in Gibraltar , Runicom Ltd. and five subsidiaries in Western Europe. Abramovich headed the Moscow branch of the Swiss company Runicom SA In August 1995, by the decree of President Boris Yeltsin, Sibneft was created. It was rumored that Abramovich was the head of the organization, and Berezovsky was promoting business interests in the highest circles of power. ^[23]

In January-May 1998, the first unsuccessful attempt to create a unified Yuxi company on the basis of the merger of Sibneft and Yukos took place , the completion of which was hampered by the ambitions of the owners.

According to some reports, the beginning of the discrepancy between the business and political interests of Abramovich and Berezovsky, which later ended with a break in relations, dates back to the same time.

Roman Abramovich was one of the initiators of the invitation of the Dutch specialist Guus Hiddink to the post of head coach of the Russian national football team . Hiddink’s salary, as well as the second team coach, Igor Korneev , as well as all expenses related to their stay in Russia (accommodation, transport, etc.) were paid by the “ National Football Academy ” fund, created by Abramovich in 2004 . The head of this fund is Sergey Kapkov , who in 2001, at the age of 25, became the deputy governor of Chukotka on sports and youth issues. The foundation also sponsors junior youth soccer schools.

In April 2012, Roman Abramovich and the governor of the Omsk region, Leonid Polezhaev, agreed to donate MSK Arena Omsk to the ownership of the Avangard Sports Club Non-Profit Partnership. Earlier, Hockey Club was transferred to the ownership of NP Avangard IC Avangard Center, built at the expense of Roman Abramovich ^[24] .

In 1995, Abramovich and Berezovsky acquired a controlling stake in the giant Soviet oil company Sibneft . Branches of Abramovich, as well as branches of Boris Berezovsky, acquired Sibneft for $ 100.3 million (at that time the company was worth $ 2.7 billion). As of 2000, Sibneft produced annually oil worth about $ 3 billion. ^[25]

Abramovich founded several front companies and, together with his friend Boris Berezovsky, used them to purchase Sibneft shares. As a result, the tycoon managed to pay for the company 25 times less than the market price. Purchased for a total of $ 200 million, Sibneft was seventy-five times more expensive. ^[26] The New York Times claimed that Badram Patarkatsishvili helped Abramovich. ^[27] This acquisition was made under the program “Controversial loans in exchange for shares”, initiated by Russian President Boris Yeltsin . ^{[28] [29]}

After Sibneft, the next target of Abramovich was the aluminum industry . After the privatization of the industry, the "aluminum wars" led to the murder of the leaders of steel mills, metal dealers and journalists. Abramovich became known as the winner of the aluminum wars. ^[27] Later during the BBC investigation of Abramovich’s wealth, reporter John Sweeney noted that after the oligarch (Abramovich) was at the top of the aluminum industry, the killings stopped. ^[thirty]

• Roman Abramovich - Shalva Chigirinsky (conflict over ownership of a joint venture Sibneft-Yugra ^[31] ).
• Roman Abramovich - Boris Berezovsky (conflict over transactions in which Abramovich transferred ownership of stakes in ORT, Aeroflot, etc. ^{[32] [33] [34]}
• Roman Abramovich - the owners of Yukos Oil Company (a conflict over the settlement of a failed merger transaction between Yukos and Sibneft ).

According to information released in 2007 by The Sunday Times newspaper ^[35] , R. Abramovich’s personal guard in the UK is about 20 security specialists, with a similar number accompanying him on his yachts and foreign trips.

Abramovich owns three luxury yachts. In the Western media, they are called the "Abramovich Fleet" ( born Abramovich Navy ) ^[36] .

The Eclipse yacht takes the 3rd place in the list of the longest motor yachts in the world. The “Luna” yacht, 115 meters long, is the largest expeditionary yacht. Another yacht - the 50-meter “Sussurro” - is currently constantly in Antibes and is used as an escort ship.

Earlier, Abramovich also owned three other major yachts - Pelorus (sold to David Giffen for $ 300 million), Le Grand Bleu (donated to Eugene Shvidler ) and Ecstasea (sold to an unnamed buyer in 2009).

Abramovich owns a Boeing 767-33A / ER (tail number P4-MES, registered in Aruba ), known as the “Bandit” because of its characteristic color. The aircraft was originally ordered by Hawaiian Airlines, but the order was canceled, Abramovich bought this Boeing and re-equipped it according to his own requirements. P4-MES is often parked outside the Harrods Aviation building at Stansted Airport , UK.

In September 2008, Abramovich acquired another aircraft - A340-313X (registration number M-ABUS). He also owns three Eurocopter helicopters serving his yachts.

In 2004, Abramovich bought two Maybach 62 armored limousines worth £ 1 million ^[37] . Abramovich owns a Ferrari FXX , worth $ 2.2 million, of which only 30 cars were produced. Abramovich also owns a Bugatti Veyron , Maserati MC12 Corsa , Ferrari 360 and a modified Porsche Carrera GT .

According to the annual ranking of the richest people in the world, published by the American magazine Forbes in March 2009, the entrepreneur ranked 51st on the list of billionaires from around the world, ^[38] and also ranked second in the list of Russian billionaires with a capital of $ 8.5 billion US dollars after Michael Prokhorov ^[39] ; in April 2008 - at $ 29.5 billion ^[40] .

In 2010, having a personal fortune of $ 11.2 billion US dollars, he was ranked 5th in the list of the 100 richest businessmen in Russia (according to Forbes magazine).

According to the results of 2012, Roman Abramovich is on the 9th line of the rating of billionaires in Russia with a fortune of $ 12.1 billion ^[41] .

Before the divorce from his second wife, Irina, in Roman Abramovich’s bank accounts, according to the News of the World , was about £ 8 billion pounds.

Abramovich - owner:

• £ 28 million villas in West Sussex ,
• penthouse for £ 29 million pounds sterling in Kensington ,
• home for £ 15 million pounds sterling in France ,
• 5-storey mansion in Belgravia for £ 11 million pounds,
• six-story cottage for £ 18 million in Knightsbridge ,
• home for £ 40 million in St. Tropez ,
• cottages in the suburbs for £ 8 million.

He also owns yachts:

• Ecstasea for £ 77 million pounds sterling with a pool and Turkish bath,
• Le Grand Bleu For £ 60 million pounds with a helipad,
• Eclipse

The last name in translation means “eclipse”, the yacht costs € 340 million euros, reaching almost 170 m in length. The hull is made of bullet-proof steel, the windows are of armored glass. A German missile attack alert system is installed on board. There are 2 helicopters on the yacht (with hangars, as on a combat frigate).

There is also a mini submarine capable of diving to a depth of 50 m ^[42] .

In addition, on the order of Roman Abramovich in the shipyards in Bremerhaven (Germany), the “Luna” yacht is being completed for € 100 million, designed to replace the “Eclipse” in case of need ^[43] .

The fleet of the former governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Region consists of a Boeing 767 for £ 56 million, a business class Boeing for £ 28 million and two helicopters for £ 35 million each ^[44] .

• According to The Sunday Times (April 2007), the UK ’s richest people ranked second; condition was estimated at 10.8 billion pounds.

According to British experts, he does not pay British taxes provided for British tax residents, as he has a special non-domicile status ^[45] .

According to The Daily Telegraph on August 8, 2007 , he re-registered his British real estate with Caribbean offshore companies in his own name ^[46] .

According to the Sunday Times, in January 2009, according to a conservative estimate, Abramovich’s fortune declined as a result of the financial crisis by three billion pounds - to £ 8.7 billion pounds ^{[47] [48]} .

With a personal fortune of $ 13.4 billion, in 2011 he took the 9th place in the list of 200 richest businessmen in Russia (according to Forbes magazine ) ^[49] .

Information about the property of Roman Abramovich in the spring of 2011 during the campaign for the election of deputies to the local legislative assembly was presented on the website of the electoral commission of the Chukotka Autonomous Region (not available link) . As for the overseas property of a businessman, in 2011 the list of houses recorded directly in his name includes 2 houses in the UK, 2 houses in Colorado (USA), 2 houses on the Caribbean island of St. Barts (Overseas Territory France) and France ^[50] .

In 2019, according to Forbes, his fortune increased by $ 1.7 billion ^[3] and amounts to $ 12.4 billion. It rose to 10th place in the ranking of the richest businessmen in Russia.

Abramovich was married three times. First wife - Olga Yuryevna Lysova (born 1963 or 1964) ^[51] , a native of the city of Astrakhan ; the second wife is Irina Vyacheslavovna Abramovich (Malandina; b. 1967) ^[52] , a former stewardess . Abramovich has five children from his marriage with Irina ^[53] : Anna (January 30, 1992), Arkady (September 14, 1993), Sofia (April 3, 1995), Arina (2001) and Ilya (February 18, 2003). Abramovich divorced Irina in March 2007 in Chukotka, at the place of registration. According to the press secretary of the governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Region, the former spouses have agreed on the division of property and about who their five children will remain ^[54] . Abramovich's third wife is the designer Daria Zhukova (born 1981) ^{[55] [56]} . From this marriage, Abramovich has two children: a son, Aaron Alexander (December 5, 2009) ^[57] and a daughter, Leah Abramovich (April 8, 2013). In August 2017, the couple announced their breakup.

• Order of Honor (January 3, 2006) - for a great contribution to the socio-economic development of the autonomous region (Chukotka) ^[58]
• Order of Friendship (November 12, 2016)
• Award weapon - a nominal 7.65-mm pistol "Walther" (2000) ^[59] , from the leadership of the Federal Tax Police Service ^[60]
• Man of the Year Award of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (2004)

• Abramovich, Roman Arkadyevich (Neopr.) . Encyclopedia: Persons. Country. Topics . ITAR-TASS . - Brief information about all countries of the world, their leaders, as well as about events that have attracted the attention of the world and Russian media. The date of circulation is May 22, 2019. Archived May 22, 2019.