Full name:
Abramovich Roman

Date of Birth

24 October 1966

Abramovich Roman Citizenship

Russia/Israel

Abramovich Roman Professional field/official position 

Businessman

Abramovich Roman biography

ABRAMOVICH Roman Arkadievich (b. 1966) began his career after military service in 1987 as the mechanic of the construction department No. 122 of the Mosspetsmontazh trust. From January 1989 to May 1991, together with Eugene Shvidler, he founded the Uyut cooperative, which was engaged in the production of toys from polymers.

• From 1987 to 1989 – mechanic of construction administration # 122 of the trust “Mosspetsmontazh”
• 1989 -1991 – Head of the cooperative “Comfort” (toys made of polymers)
• 1991 – 1993 – Director of a small business “ABK” (Moscow)
• In 1991-1993, he was the director of the small enterprise AVK, engaged in commercial and intermediary activities, including the resale of petroleum products.
• In 1992, he was accused by the Moscow city prosecutor of theft of state property and detained. At the end of the year, the case was dismissed due to the lack of corpus delicti.
  Since 1993, Roman Abramovich concentrated his business on oil trade at Noyabrskneftegaz. Around the same time, he met businessman Boris Berezovsky and together they created the offshore company Runicom Ltd, registered in Gibraltar, and several subsidiaries in Western Europe. Abramovich himself headed the Moscow office of the Swiss company Runicom S.A. and Sibneft. In September 1996, he was elected to the board of Sibneft. The president of the company was Eugene Shvidler.
• In 1998, the media first mentioned Abramovich’s name. Until that time, he managed to remain in the shadows so successfully that the public had not even known what he looked like. Everything changed when the press became aware that Roman Arkadievich is a confidant of President Yeltsin, who also sponsors his daughter and son-in-law and finances the politician’s election campaign in 1996.
• In December 1999, Abramovich became the owner of a fortune of $1.4 billion.
  At the end of 1999, Abramovich became a public politician: he was elected as a member of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation.
• In December 2000, he left the Duma due to his election as governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Region. From January 17, 2001, to July 3, 2008, Abramovich served as governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, after which, from October 22, 2008, to July 2, 2013, he was chairman of the Duma of the Okrug.
• In the late 1990s and early 2000s relations of the former partners, Abramovich and Berezovsky, sharply worsened. Disagreements were both financial and political in nature. Assumingly, the 1998 merger of Sibneft and Yukos was the first call, and the breakup occurred a little later in 2000, when Berezovsky opposed Vladimir Putin, who became president, and lost this fight. Abramovich, however, never opposed the authorities.
• In the early 2000s, the businessman created the Russian Aluminum company together with Oleg Deripaska. Roman also bought back the shares of ORT, owned by Berezovsky. He also bought out a controlling stake in Aeroflot. In 2005, Abramovich sold Sibneft to state-owned Gazprom for $13 billion. Until recently, Abramovich controlled 24% of Channel One (sold to VTB on March 7, 2019), 38.9% of the Federal Property Management Agency, 25% of Rastrkom-2002 LLC, 31% of Evraz. Roman Abramovich also owns the Rost registrar and the White Gardens business center.
• In the West, Abramovich was famous for the extravagant purchase of the Chelsea football club, which cost the billionaire £140 million in the summer of 2003. By then, he had already settled in London, despite a governorship at the other end of the world. He paid the debts of the club, staffed it with expensive football players, and eventually achieved the revival of the team. On May 10, 2012, Chelsea, for the first time in their history, won the UEFA Champions League.
  According to experts, a collection of Abramovich’s art objects costs at least $1 billion. The billionaire also owns one of the largest private yachts, Eclipse, the cost of which at the time of purchase in 2010 amounted to $400 million and a Boeing 767. In 2018, Abramovich’s fortune was estimated at $12.4 billion, and he ranks tenth among the richest Russians. On May 28, 2018, Abramovich received an Israeli passport in Tel Aviv, becoming, according to media reports, the richest citizen of Israel.

Abramovich Roman crimes

Using his financial influence in the interests of the Putin regime.
Abramovich was one of the first who recommended Yeltsin to choose Putin as his successor and has demonstrated loyalty to Putin throughout the twenty years. According to the testimony of the late oligarch Boris Berezovsky, given in a London court, Abramovich has enjoyed significant political influence in the Kremlin since the second half of the 1990s.

In October 1999, he attended Putin’s birthday party. Soon after, Abramovich allegedly bought Putin, then the prime minister, a yacht for $50 million. By the time Putin became president in 2000, Abramovich was playing a key role in forming the new government, Berezovsky added in his testimony. Abramovich could even choose ministers, according to Berezovsky. He could open or close criminal cases, as well as institute investigations and arrests. Abramovich’s sale of Sibneft to the state-controlled Gazprom for $13 billion allowed the government to consolidate most of the oil and gas industry.

In April 2018, shortly after the Kremlin’s agents attempted to kill Sergey Skripal, Roman Abramovich was put on the list of Russian oligarchs against whom British intelligence would take action under its campaign to combat the influence of the Putin regime. The purpose of the sanctions is to “limit the ability of oligarchs to move freely and manage their business empires.” So, the authorities of the United Kingdom refused to renew his investor visa, and also announced their intention to investigate the origin of his assets registered in the country and the legality of the acquisition of real estate. According to the British authorities, Abramovich and other Russian oligarchs play the role of state emissaries of the Putin system in the West, serve as backup “wallets” of the Kremlin, and may also be involved in the Kremlin’s attempts to interfere in domestic political processes in the West in the interests of the kleptocratic regime. According to the British Parliament’s report on “dirty money” from Russia, using London as a “base for corrupt assets of Kremlin-related individuals” has implications for UK national security and “weakens our alliances and undermines faith in our institutions” through money laundering.

Recently, due to his problems in the UK and getting into the US Kremlin report, Roman Abramovich began to change the structure of his assets to avoid new waves of US sanctions. So, he reduced his participation in the Cyprus offshore Crispian Investments Limited, which owns the shares of Norilsk Nickel, to a package of 49.95% of the shares. Earlier, the billionaire and his business partners reshaped the shareholding structure of Evraz, a metallurgical and mining holding with assets in the Russian Federation, the USA, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan and with headquarters in London. Until now, Abramovich, unlike his other fellow oligarchs, has managed to evade Western sanctions, and he even managed to bypass the refusal to extend a British visa by accepting Israeli citizenship. Nevertheless, the promised legal checks of the earned fortune can tell a lot of interesting things about the nuances of relations between the authorities and big business under Putin, and Western pressure can complicate the possibility of the Kremlin using its “wallets.”

Abramovich Roman, links and material

Yeltsin’s daughter described how Abramovich became a billionaire – NEWSru.com, 28.12.2009

Roman Abramovich began to engage in commerce in 1992, within a few years he established five companies on production of petroleum products and brokerage services. At the beginning the businessman almost landed in jail for embezzlement. In July 1992 a criminal case number 79067 on theft of diesel fuel from the Ukhta refinery in especially large amount of nearly $ 4 million rubles was opened against Abramovich. As it came out during investigation, Abramovich bought fuel on false documents, and then got rid of it in Riga, where it was realized through the shell structure. Deputy Prosecutor of Moscow sanctioned the arrest of Abramovich. But Roman Abramovich miraculously escaped from criminal liability. The reasons for his impunity were going to be understood much later, when it became known of his relations at the highest political level.

The name of Roman Abramovich appeared in the press only at the end of the 90’s, when Abramovich started buying actively the real estate abroad, as it is known today for his political masters – the family of the first president of Russia Boris Yeltsin. In 1998 Korzhakov called Roman Abramovich “purse of the Yeltsin family” at a press conference, then everybody got interested in Abramovich.

By that time, Mr. Abramovich had already entered a big oil business, which was a great merit of Boris Berezovsky, the “gray cardinal” of Yeltsin, the one who led Vladimir Putin to power. In 1995 Berezovsky waged a tough fight for possession of “Sibneft” and needed a resourceful assistant. (Professional qualities made delighted Yeltsin’s daughter Tatyana Dyachenko, who pronounced eulogies in her blog on “talented, bright, exceptionally decent and loyal” Roman Abramovich)

Abramovich in the family – Satcor.ru, 22.12.2002

In 1995 Berezovsky and Abramovich created JSC “P.K. – Trust”, then Abramovich established ten firms during a year to buy shares of Sibneft. In 1996 Abramovich headed the Moscow office of Sibneft. The privatization of Sibneft was held at the standard scheme of the 90’s through organization of “shares auctions”. In fact, contests on the sale of the companies’ shares went without any competition – all the firms applying for Sibneft were close to Abramovich (as a result he became a real owner of the company, having at least 36% of the shares). Sibneft was but bought for 250 million dollars, while the state received less than 2,7 billion dollars.

After having acquired Sibneft, Abramovich began to buy up controlling stakes in subsidiaries incorporated in the company. As a result, JSC Noyabrskneftegaz got under the absolute control of Abramovich. His next financial acquisition was gain of Omsk oil refinery in the amount at 100 million dollars collected on accounts of the Swiss trading offshore company “Runicom”, presided by Mr Abramovich. In this scam a son of Yeltsin, Leonid Dyachenko was involved, fraudulent transportation of oil went through his company. in 1998 “Runicom participated in attempt to sell “Purneftegaz”, affiliated with Rosneft.

In 2000 tandem “Abramovich-Berezovsky took part in the “Russian Aluminum” creation, which subsequently captured 70 percent of the market. The next object that appeared to be interesting to them – the national airline Aeroflot, in which Abramovich acquired 26% shares. The next major acquisition of Roman Abramovich – ORT, Russia’s leading television channel. The seller was Berezovsky, the buyer – Abramovich. All that time Mr. Abramovich served as a faithful treasurer in the “family” by paying its members traveling to ski resorts and purchasing of houses abroad. Then-Prosecutor General of Russia Skuratov possessed materials of illegal financial transactions of companies controlled by Mr Abramovich. It was rumored that Abramovich had even offered to Tatyana Dyachenko to organize physical elimination of Skuratov. But there was no need to kill the prosecutor – he had resigned after a scandal (he was spotted in the bath with prostitutes). All attempts of the law enforcement agencies to check the financial activities of Abramovich always ended in failure.
steel company IRSCO, and as a result become the largest pipe producer in North America

Abramovich – Review of Western intelligence services – APN, 29.06.1999; what is Abramovich rich with in Russia – “Gazeta, ru”, 14.03.2007, nearing the end of the novel – “Version”, 15.04.2008

But after a few years Abramovich began to dispose of his assets. In 2005 he sold Sibneft (at its base the company “Gazprom Neft” was established later) for $ 13 billion. Prior to that, Sibneft twice attempted to “merge” with Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky – in 1998 and 2003, but unsuccessfully. The last attempt failed at the last moment because of the arrest of Khodorkovsky. At the same time Abramovich sold 50% stake of Russian Aluminum to Oleg Deripaska and 26% of Aeroflot to the National Reserve Bank. It is believed that Abramovich got rid of the companies with the scandalous history of privatization, so that nothing resembled to a respectable businessman on criminal past. At the same time, Abramovich bought 41% of iron and steel company Evraz, and 44% “Eurocement”. Billionaire also bought the American metallurgical company Oregon Steel Mills for 2, 3 billion, steel company IRSCO, and as a result become the largest pipe producer in North America

Abramovich is happy in the shade – “The Financial Times”, 26.03.2008; Abramovich was awarded the resignation for the Russian football success – “Our Version”, 07.07.2008

After Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia, Berezovsky and Abramovich’s relationship broke up. Berezovsky departed to London. Abramovich, on the contrary, immediately declared he was loyal to the Kremlin. In 2000 he becomes the head of Chukotka, the poorest region in Russia, and following the presidential covenant “Business should give more to society” he spends $ 200 million of its own funds for Chukotka, and his overall investment is estimated at 1, 5 billion. In 2005 – he was approved for another term. In 2008, Abramovich resigned from his post at his own request. They say that Roman Abramovich was going to retire in 2006, but then President Putin refused to sign his resignation. Order of the resignation of Mr Abramovich was signed by the President Medvedev – it was kind of reward to oligarch for his contribution to successful performance of Russian select team at the European football championship (Abramovich provided a salary of $ 4 million per year to national team coach Gus Hiddink).

Abramovich feels quite calmly in regard to personal spending. He buys luxury yachts, houses, and football clubs of the British Premier League. Some believe Abramovich diverts attention from his business by this. Others believe that such investing of the profits increases the value of his companies and insures them for years ahead, as soon as linkages left from Yeltsin’s time, lose their strength and value slowly under Putin. It is noteworthy that most of this capital Abramovich holds abroad.

English courts in 2005 began to investigate dark deals of the Russian oligarch. the energy company Yugraneft, controlled by Shalva Chigirinsky registered a claim amounting to 2,5 billion dollars to the Royal Court in London for Abramovich and his company Millhouse Capital (it manages all the assets the oligarch). Abramovich was accused of fraudulent deprivation of 50% stake in “Yugraneft” in an oil field in Siberia. Tchigirinsky filed more than 50 actions in Russia; however none of them have been processed successfully. Investigators denied him twice to in a criminal case of fraud by Abramovich. But the claim in the Royal Court was not satisfied because the court considered that the oligarch was not a permanent resident in the UK, and all his business contacts remained in Russia, so all the proceedings could be possible only there. The court was remarkable not only with that. The judge studied deeply the private life of a billionaire, and for the first time published 134-page list of all movable and immovable property of Abramovich – starting from the flotilla of yachts, planes, mansions and castles around the world to Chelsea Football Club.

French police became interested in Roman Abramovich – Izvestia, 01.06.2005; British court disclosed a list of Roman Abramovich’s ownership – The Gardian, translation: “Kommersant”, 05.11.2008; Abramovich’s lawyers submitted to the court of London history of his transactions with Berezovsky – NEWSru.com . 05/06/2008; Berezovsky handed action to Abramovich, when he met him accidentally in court, – NEWSru.com, 07. 10.2007

In 2005 Abramovich was at the center of investigation, which was led the French law enforcement authorities in the so-called “Berezovsky case”. French police questioned the honesty of transactions carried out by Abramovich when he purchased mansion “Chateau de la Kroe” in Antibes. It was suspected that the house was bought on “suspicious patterns”, using fictitious companies. The newspaper Le Figaro wrote at the time that mutual assistance existed between the two billionaires. But in 2007 former partners refuted the myth that they still needed each other as business partners. Berezovsky filed a court action for Abramovich to get repayment of $ 5 billion pounds. It was a question of Sibneft, Rusal and ORT sale, which in Berezovsky’s opinion, he was forced to sell cheaply through the Kremlin threats, which Abramovich passed to him. In addition, Berezovsky declared in his lawsuit that Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 upon the orders of Putin. Advocates of Roman Abramovich considered Berezovsky’s claim futile, because all the Berezovsky’s accusations were based on oral interviews with Abramovich, which content was not documented. The decision in this case was never adjudicated.

In early 2009 the agricultural holding PRODO owned by Roman Abramovich began construction of biogas stations at the farms and meat processing plants for production of biogas from manure (volume of investments – 3 billion rubles).

Sweet Abramovich – GQ, May 2009.

Currently Abramovich tries not to glow in the press unnecessarily, except for reaffirming his loyalty to get help from the state. Close circle of Abramovich involves: Valentine Yumashev, Oleg Deripaska, Eugenie Shvidler (his best friend), Alisher Usmanov, Vladimir Lisin.