Memo from Moscow

Steel News from Russia, Ukraine and other CIS States

Oligarch involvement - ferrous metallurgy, November 2009

The Forbes 2009 rich list includes 38 oligarchs from the CIS. This list includes 32 oligarchs from Russia, 4 from the Ukraine and 2 from Kazakhstan.

The total capitalisation of all 38 of the CIS billionaires amounts to ~$111 bn. About 34% of this total wealth is in the banking and investment sector (14 oligarchs). Some 31% (12 persons) is in the metallurgy sector with ~25% of the wealth (6 businessmen) in oil. The remainder is distributed between chemicals, communications, gas and foods.

Across all sectors, the largest Russian oligarch in 2009 (by wealth) was Mihail Prohorov. Prohorov was number 43 in the world list, and is valued at ~$9.5 bn. He is the owner of the ONEXIM Group; with previous involvement with Norilsk Nickel. Another owner of Norilsk Nickel is Vladomir Potanin, who is presently valued at ~$2.1 bn. Oleg Deripaska with a wealth of ~$9.5 bn is the owner of RUSAL (via Bazel Element) - Russia's largest aluminium producer.

Russia

The largest Russian steel multi-millionaires include the following.

• Roman Abramovich with ~$8.5 bn assets, and who together with Alexander Abramov ($4.4 bn) and Alexander Frolov ($1.8 bn) owns the Evraz Group. The Evraz Group manages [via Lanenbrook Ltd, of Cyprus] a series of steel sector assets that include the Nizhny Tagil, Zapsib and Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Works; JSC Evrazruda; the Vysokogorsky and Kachkanarsky iron ore mines; the Raspadskaya, Yuzhkuzbassugol and Mezhduin (Ukraine) coal mines; Palini e Bertoli in Italy, Vitkovice Steel in the Czech Republic; Oregon Steel Mills, Claymont Steel and Ipsco in North America; and Highveld Steel & Vanadium in South Africa
  
  
• Vladimir Lisin with a wealth of ~$5.2 bn is owner of Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works (NLMK, Lipetsk); VIZ-Stal; the Stoilensky iron ore mine; Dolomit, Stagdok, Altai Koks in Russia and the Danish Steel Works in Denmark
  
  
• Alexey Mordashev valued at ~$4.3 bn is the owner of Severstal Group which comprises the Cherepovets Iron and Steel Works (Severstal, Cherepovets), the Izhorsk pipe plant, the Dzerzhynsky Electric Steel Works, Severgal, the Orlovsky Rolling Mill, Vorkutaugol Coal, the Vorgashorskaya Coal Mine, Kuzbassugol, Olkon Iron Ore mines, Karelskiy Okatysh, Vtorchermet etc in Russia; and Severstal North America with Rouge Industries and Sparrows Point in USA, Lucchini in Italy
  
  
• Iskander Mahmudov with a wealth of ~$3.3 bn is the main owner (together with Andrey Kozitsin) of the Urals Mining Metallurgical Company (UGMK), of the Serov Iron & Steel Works; and of the Bogoslovsk Iron Ore Mine in Russia
  
  
• Victor Rashnikov with $2.5 bn is the main owner of the MMK Group (Magnitogorsk) including Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, the Magnitogorsk hardware plant, Magnitogorsk rolls of rolling mills plant, and the Ogneupor refractory facility
  
  
• Alisher Usmanov with ~$1.6 bln is a main owner of Gazmetal and Metalloinvest Group - which includes the Oskol Electo Metallurgical Combine (OEMK), the Urals Steel works, Moldova mini-mills, the Lebedinsky & Mikhailovsky iron ore mines in Russia and Hamriyah Steel in UAE
  
  
• Igor Zyuzin with an estimated wealth of ~$1.1 bn is the main owner of the Mechel Group which includes the Chelyabinsk Iron and Steel Works, Beloretsky Steel, Vyartsilya Steel, Izhstal, a number of iron ore and coal mines in Russia, Mechel Nemunas in Lithuania, Mechel Targoviste and Mechel Campia Turzil in Romania.

Ukraine

In Ukraine the largest metallurgical oligarchs are Viktor Pinchuk with wealth of ~$2.6 bn, Rinat Ahmetov who is valued at ~$1.8 bn and Gennady Bogolubov with ~$ 1.1 bn of assets.

• Viktor Pinchuk is owner of Interpipe Group including Dneprospetsstal electric metallurgical combine named by Kuzmin; the Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant; the Nikopolsky seamless pipe plant Niko Tube, Nizhnedneprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant, and Dnepropetrovsky VtorMet.
  
  
• Rinat Ahmetov of System Capital Management is owner of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, as well as of the Enakiyevsky Metallurgical Plant, the Khartsyzk Pipe Plant, of Zaporizhkoks and Donetskkoks Coke Plants; of the Markohim, Severny and Central iron ore mines, of Smart Group, Metalen in Ukraine, as well as of Ferriera Valsider in Italy
  
  
• Gennady Bogolubov of the Privat Group has ownership of the Dnepropetrovsky Metallurgical Plant named after Petrovsky, and of some manganese mines.
  

Further information on the oligarchs of Russia and Ukraine may be found on our steel oligarchs page.

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