Alexander Abramov

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Alexander Abramov
Александр Абрамов
USSR
NationalityRussian
EducationMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder and chairman, Evraz
SpouseMarried
Children3
AwardsOrder of Friendship

Alexander Grigoryevich Abramov (

Russian oligarch. A business partner and ally of Aleksandr Frolov and Roman Abramovich, Abramov was in June 2021 listed by Forbes as having an estimated net worth of $8.0 billion.[2]

Early life and education

Abramov was born in 1959 in Moscow, Russia, USSR.[3] He is of Jewish descent.[3] He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology with a degree in physics and mathematics.[3][4] He first worked for Russia's space and defense program before becoming a metal trader after government funding declined.[3]

Career

EVRAZ is a product of Russia's growth since the

privatisation
of the 1990s.

In 2000-s Evraz-Holding has emerged as one of the most aggressive vertically integrated business groups in Russia and worldwide. Its assets now include ore mines and steel mills in Russia, steel mills in North America and Kazakhstan, as well as Russian coal company PJSC Raspadskaya.[5]

In June 2005 EvrazHolding was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Five months later, Abramov resigned as group president but remains a member of the board.[6] In 2019, Abramov alongside other directors, sold $160m worth of shares in the company.[7] He resigned from the board of EVRAZ plc in March 2022.[8]

Commercial entrepreneurship

Trading

He used his contacts with Russia's steel mills, which used high-temperature technologies, and offered his services not as a scientist but as a metal trader. Trading was a popular and quick way to make money in Russia in the early 1990s. The economy was shrinking, non-payment was a chronic problem and any offer of cash from a trader was welcomed by factories. By 1997, trading was less profitable and many trading companies, including Abramov's, were owed large sums by producers. Abramov began buying factories and swapped debt for equity in the Nizhny Tagil steel mill, while also buying stakes in its rail-producing plant from other shareholders.

Acquisitions, monopolies and factories

While the first wave of Russian oligarchs grabbed whatever assets they could, Mr Abramov acquired them in a much more focused way. He decided to build a monopoly for rail and steel construction products and looked for factories that would give him synergies. The only other big factories making these products were in the industrial region of

Aman Tuleev
, populist governor of the region.

Pitching job creation in the vacuum of bankrupt factories

The two factories Abramov was interested in were in bankruptcy in 1998. Salaries had not been paid for up to eight months and strikes were breaking out.

The deal: managers for factories

Tuleev needed good managers. Abramov needed the two factories and soon a deal was made.

As a state creditor, Tuleev would help appoint external managers loyal to EvrazHolding to run the steel mills. Abramov would pay salaries and taxes, guarantee jobs and support Tuleev's social projects.

Acquisitions

In 2007 EVRAZ acquired

Claymont Steel.[9]

Sanctions

Abramov is named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act released by US Treasury in January 2018.[10][11]

Sanctioned by the

UK government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War. [12]

Personal life

He is married with three children, and lives outside of Russia.[13] His hobbies include fishing, swimming, tennis.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ "CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD". investegate.co.uk.
  2. Forbes - The World's Billionaires
    . Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "The world's 50 Richest Jews: 21–30". The Jerusalem Post. 7 September 2010.
  4. ^ DMCP graduates. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Class of 1982
  5. .
  6. ^ "Board of directors". Evraz.
  7. ^ "Evraz shares lower after main owners sell another tranche for £158M". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Evraz directors quit in wake of UK sanctions". Financial Times. 11 March 2022.
  9. RBC Group
    . 10 December 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act".
  11. ^ "Treasury Releases CAATSA Reports, Including on Senior Foreign Political Figures and Oligarchs in the Russian Federation". 16 January 2024.
  12. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Russian billionaire launches legal action against Australia's foreign minister over sanctions". theguardian.com. 17 June 2022.
  14. ^ "The Russian Olympians Foundation". www.olympians.ru. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  15. ^ Tognini, Giacomo. "Biden And Allies Are Coming For Russian Billionaires' Yachts: Forbes Tracked Down 32. Here's Where To Find Them". Forbes. Retrieved 3 March 2022.