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Leonid Mikhelson

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Leonid Mikhelson
Леонид Михельсон
Mikhelson in 2020
Born (1955-08-11) 11 August 1955 (age 69)
Kaspiysk, Russian SFSR
Citizenship
Alma materKuibyshev Civil Engineering Institute Master of Engineering
OccupationBusinessman
Known forMajor Shareholder of Novatek
Richest Person in Russia
TitleChairman & CEO, Novatek
SpouseMarried
Children2

Leonid Viktorovich Mikhelson (Russian: Леони́д Ви́кторович Михельсо́н; born 11 August 1955) is a Russian-Israeli billionaire businessman, CEO, chairman and major shareholder of the Russian gas company Novatek.[1]

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mikhelson obtained a stake in a privatized pipeline construction company out of which he formed Novatek.[2] He is a business partner of Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko, a close confidante of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.[2]

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he had a net worth of US$28.8 billion, as of August 2022, making him the 44th richest person in the world and the second richest in Russia.[3] According to the 2023 Forbes annual rating, Mikhelson is ranked 4th among Russian billionaires with a net worth of $28.5 billion.[4]

Biography

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Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family,[5] Mikhelson began his career as an engineer after[6] graduating with a degree in Industrial Civil Engineering from the Samara Institute of Civil Engineering in 1977. He started working as a[7] foreman at a construction and assembling company in the Tyumen area of Siberia. One of his[8] initial projects was work on the Urengoi-Chelyabinsk gas pipeline. In 1985, he was[8] appointed as Chief Engineer of Ryazantruboprovodstroy. In 1987, he became General Director of Kuibishevtruboprovodstroy, which, in 1991, was one of the first companies to undergo privatization after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[citation needed]

Mikhelson continued as managing director at the company, which has been renamed NOVA, until October 1994. He then became General Director of its holding company, Novafinivest, which later became known as NOVATEK. From 2008 until 2010 Mikhelson was chairman of the board of directors for OAO Stroytransgas and OOO Art Finance. He currently holds the position of chairman of the Board of Directors of ZAO SIBUR and serves on the supervisory board of OAO Russian Regional Development Bank. SIBUR is a gas processing and petrochemicals company operating 26 production sites across Russia with headquarters in Moscow. Mikhelson owns 57.5% interest in Sibur. He also holds a 25% stake in Novatek.[9] He also owns a megayacht, Pacific.[10]

Mikhelson has a strong interest in art,[11] stating that “99 per cent” of his interest is in Russian and contemporary art.[12] He also established his own foundation, the V-A-C Foundation, which promotes contemporary Russian art, and has international ties with the New Museum in New York, the Tate museums in the UK, and London's Whitechapel gallery.[13] In May 2017, the foundation also opened an exhibition space in Venice and work is underway to develop V-A-C's first major art centre in Moscow, whose main site is an historic power station on the banks of the Moskva River. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the new centre for contemporary arts and culture in Moscow is due to open in 2021.[14]

Notable Partnerships

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Mikhelson often partners with Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko[15] on business and investment projects. They are partners and majority shareholders in Novatek and Sibur. In 2013, Mikhelson and Timchenko sold 12% of Sibur to management partners. Both Mikhelson and Timchenko appear on the Forbes list of billionaires.[16]

In 2012, he was listed as the second-richest Russian[17] in a number of articles including Bloomberg.[18] Mikhelson and Novatek are the main sponsors of the Russian Football Union.

Mikhelson is a recipient of the Russian Federation's Order of the Badge of Honor.[19][20]

Personal life

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Mikhelson is married, with two children, and lives in Moscow.[21] His daughter Victoria studied art history at New York University and London's Courtauld Institute.[22] His VAC Foundation Victoria, the Art of Being Contemporary, is named after her.[22] Mikhelson also holds Israeli citizenship.[23][24]

Sanctions

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Mikhelson is one of many Russian "oligarchs" named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017.[25] He was sanctioned by the British government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NOVATEK : Management". Novatek.ru. 31 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  2. ^ a b Helman, Christopher. "Novatek's Leonid Mikhelson: Surviving Russia's Turmoil". Forbes. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Leonid Mikhelson". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ "20 богатейших российских бизнесменов в глобальном рейтинге Forbes". Forbes.ru (in Russian). 4 April 2023.
  5. ^ The world's 50 Richest Jews: 31-40 Archived 21 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Leonid Mikhelson - Chairman of the Board of Directors". Sibur.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Leonid Viktorovich Mikhelson". Caspian Energy. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Leonid Mikhelson's Sibur Buys 25% Joint Venture Interest In New Siberian Polypropylene Plant". 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015.
  9. ^ Helman, Christopher. "Novatek's Leonid Mikhelson: Surviving Russia's Turmoil". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  10. ^ Yachtfan, Peter. "[Leonid Mikhelson]: Inside his Crazy US$ 150,000,000 Yacht PACIFIC". www.superyachtfan.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Галерея Виктория | VK". vk.com. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Laying the foundations". Financial Times. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Moscow's V-A-C Foundation's Local and Global Reach - artnet News". artnet News. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Russian billionaire's V-A-C Foundation opens space in Venice". theartnewspaper.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017.
  15. ^ "Gennady Timchenko". Forbes. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017.
  16. ^ "The World's Billionaires". Forbes. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Leonid Mikhelson". Richest Russian. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015.
  18. ^ Shiryaevskaya, Anna (21 August 2012). "Billionaire Mikhelson Becomes Russia's Second-Richest Man". Bloomberg Business. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013.
  19. ^ "Novatek to Sponsor Russian Football Union". themoscowtimes.com. The Moscow Times. 31 October 2013.
  20. ^ Kozlov, Vladimir (4 November 2013). "Natural Gas Company Novatek Takes Over Sponsorship Of Russian Football Union". Sports Business. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015.
  21. ^ "Forbes profile: Leonid Mikhelson". Forbes. Archived from the original on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  22. ^ a b Needham, Alex (13 March 2017). "Prawn sex … and other future sounds of Russia". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  23. ^ "On the hunt for oligarchs in the 'wild west' of corporate intelligence". Financial Times. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  24. ^ "MIKHELSON Leonid Viktorovich". opensanctions.org. 11 August 1955. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Report to Congress Pursuant to Section 241 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 Regarding Senior Foreign Political Figures and Oligarchs in the Russian Federation and Russian Parastatal Entities" (PDF). 29 January 2018.
  26. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
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