Vladimir Potanin
| Vladimir Potanin | |
|---|---|
 Vladimir Potanin in 2003 |
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| Born | Vladimir Olegovich Potanin 3 January 1961 Moscow, Russia |
| Residence | Moscow |
| Citizenship |  Russian Federation |
| Alma mater | Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
| Occupation | Chairman of Interros |
| Net worth |  US$17.8 billion (est.)(Forbes, March 2011)[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Natalia Potanina; children |
| Website | |
| Interros website | |
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2013) |
Vladimir Olegovich Potanin (Владимир Олегович Потанин in Russian; born 3 January 1961) is a Russian billionaire entrepreneur and oligarch. His partner has been for many years Mikhail Prokhorov. He acquired his wealth notably through the controversial loans-for-shares program in Russia. He is the fourth richest man from Russia and the 46th richest man in the world according to the 2012 Forbes listing.
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Early life and education[edit]
Potanin was born in Moscow, in the former USSR, into a high-ranking communist family.[2] In 1978, he attended the faculty of the International economic relations at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), which groomed students for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Upon graduating MGIMO in 1983, he followed in his father's footsteps and went to work for the FTO "Soyuzpromexport" with the Ministry of Foreign trade of the Soviet Union.[citation needed]
Career[edit]
During perestroika, Vladimir Potanin quit the State’s structures of Foreign trade and in 1991 created the private association Interros using his knowledge gathered at Ministry of Foreign trade and his previous professional network. In 1993, Potanin became President of United Export Import Bank. From 14 August 1996 until 17 March 1997 he worked as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Since August 1998, Potanin has held the positions of both President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Interros Company.[citation needed]
Potanin's Interros owns 30% and controls Russian Nickel giant Norilsk Nickel, a company owned by Oleg Deripaska's RUSAL, Abram Reznikov's Alamak Espana Trade and Alisher Usmanov's Metalloinvest. Since March 2003 Potanin has taken charge of the National Council on Corporate Governance (NSKU), whose main goal is to improve the legislative regulations in Russia and to introduce professional and ethical standards of corporate governance into the operations of Russian companies to boost up the reputation and investment appeal of the Russian business.[citation needed]
Since December 2001 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (NYC). In April 2003 Potanin was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the State Hermitage, the most renowned Russian art museum. Since 2005 Potanin has been a member of the Public Chamber of Russia. In Paris in January 2007, he was named an Officer of the prestigious Order of Arts and Literature for his cultural contributions. The French Ministry of Culture and Communications granted the award. In March 2009, he sued former business partner Mikhail Prokhorov for $29 million over a property disagreement in Moscow.[3]
Personal life[edit]
He is married to Natalia Potanina; the couple has three children. He is fluent in English and French.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "The World's Billionaires (2010): #61 Vladimir Potanin". Forbes. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Frontline World, PBS, October 2003". Pbs.org. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
- ^ Potanin sued Prokhorov over office, Moscow Times, 5 May 2009[dead link]
External links[edit]
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