Rum women. All women of Roman Abramovich. Roman Abramovich - biography of a wealthy man

Several years later he became a deputy in the Chukotka District. Exactly one year later, in 2000, he was elected to the post of governor.

A little more time passes, and Roman Abramovich buys Chelsea football club for himself and starts earning a lot of money on it. In 2005, he decided to sell shares of Sibneft for $ 13 billion, at the same time, considering leaving the post of governor. In 2008, Roman Abramovich leaves the post of governor with the permission of Medvedev.

First steps to success

At first, Abramovich worked as a mechanic in the construction management. Then he was a broker on the stock exchange for a while. And he did it, and even then he received good money. Abramovich was spinning as best he could and did not sit in one place. In the 90s, Roman created several firms dealing with consumer goods and intermediary activities.

Big business

Being engaged in the sale of oil, Abramovich contacted Boris Berezovsky and together they create the Closed Joint Stock Company "PK-Trust". Then Roman creates a dozen more oil companies and eventually becomes the director of Sibneft. For this, he and his companions developed a whole strategy. That was the plan of how to get rich, Roman Abramovich.

Roman Abramovich was the governor of Kamchatka. V the given time Roman has up to $ 20 billion, not counting what he has. These are real estate, factories, a football club, several planes, helicopters, expensive cars, yachts, and even an island in the Caribbean. In general, Abramovich is great. This is a person who achieved his goals and went through many difficulties that not everyone can cope with.

The story of Roman Abramovich's army service

Recently I heard a story about Roman Abramovich, I don’t know how true it is, but if it were true, then there’s just a lot of respect for Roman.

When Roman Abramovich served in the army, then he already laid the foundation for success and understood how a business is built. Demobilization approached, and according to tradition, senior employees who quit must perform the "demobilization chord". This is when demobels are given the hardest work, and before dismissal, he must do it. And so there were 3 of them and they were instructed to cut down a huge area of ​​the forest, in a short time. Of course, this is almost impossible to do. And only one soldier "realized" what needs to be done to get out of this situation. Roman Abramovich, walked around the local villages and found those people who needed this forest, then turned to the officers that he needed permission to cut the forest, he managed to get a permit, which he sold to the locals.

Name: Roman Abramovich

Age: 52 years

Height: 177

Activity: entrepreneur, billionaire

Family status: divorced

Roman Abramovich: biography

Roman Arkadievich Abramovich is a Russian entrepreneur, owner of a multibillion-dollar fortune, whose success is evident in business sphere and in high life.

This is a person who knows how to create events that invariably attract the attention of the world community.

Childhood and youth

The childhood of the future billionaire was not easy: at the age of 4, Roman became an orphan. Although he was born into a Jewish family, Boris Abramovich's Soviet passport said “Russian” in the column “nationality”. His mother died when the boy was one year old, and 3 years later, his father Arkady Nakhimovich Abramovich died at a construction site as a result of an accident.

After this tragic event, Roman was taken up by his uncle Leib, who worked as the head of the supply chain for the timber industry in Ukhta. Most of the childhood of the future billionaire passed in this city.

In 1974, the boy moved to Moscow, where he lived with his second uncle Abram Abramovich. After graduating from school 232, Roman Abramovich goes to the army, ends his service with the rank of private air defense... Returning after 2 years back to Ukhta, the young man enters the forestry department at the local industrial institute. Here the future entrepreneur does not show interest in studying, but already at this time he notices in himself brilliant organizational skills.

Abramovich never received a higher education, which did not affect his further biography.

Business and career

Since the end of the 80s, Roman starts entrepreneurial activity. In his youth, a businessman acquires his own manufacturing enterprise- cooperative "Uyut", which produces polymer toys. Abramovich's partners in this company later became part of the management of Sibneft.

The next stage for him is intermediary and trade operations. After a while, the area of ​​interest switches to oil trading. His circle of acquaintances was replenished with a significant number influential people... At that time, Roman communicates with, and also maintains close relations with the family of the President of Russia. Subsequently, thanks to these connections, he managed to become the owner of the Sibneft company.

In the early 90s, Roman was the founder of several companies. Later he became the head of the AVK enterprise, which carried out intermediary operations in the oil market. At this time, the first scandal with the participation of Abramovich was also recorded - in 1992 he was taken into custody on suspicion of stealing diesel fuel in the amount of 4 million rubles.

In the mid-90s, Roman worked to create a vertically integrated oil corporation. In the spring of 1998, an attempt was made to merge Sibneft and Yukos, but this idea was unsuccessful due to the fact that the owners could not come to an agreement between themselves. The same year also includes the breakdown of relations between Abramovich and Berezovsky. The reason for this was business and political differences.

In 1998, the media first mentioned the name of Abramovich. Until that time, he managed to stay in the shadows so successfully that no one even knew what he looked like. Everything changed when information became available to the press that Roman Arkadyevich is a confidant of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and also pays for the expenses of his daughter and son-in-law, and finances the politician's election campaign in 1996.

By December 1999, Abramovich's capital was estimated at $ 14 billion. Among the large projects of a businessman in the early 2000s, the creation of the Russian Aluminum company together with. In addition, Roman bought out the shares of the ORT TV channel, which belonged to Berezovsky, and sold them to Sberbank. Also, the management of Sibneft is buying out a controlling stake in Aeroflot.

From 2001 to 2008, Abramovich served as the governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The Governor of Chukotka has been successfully developing the oil industry of the region for 7 years.

Roman Abramovich bought the Chelsea club

In 2003, the oligarch carried out a business deal, which brought him, in addition to profit, wide publicity. Abramovich buys out the English football club Chelsea, which was on the verge of ruin at the time. Having paid off the club's debts, Roman takes up the renewal of the team's roster. The conclusion of multimillion-dollar contracts with prestigious footballers is widely publicized in the Russian and British media.

According to rough estimates, the businessman invested about £ 150 million in the development of the club, which caused a stream of criticism in the Russian press related to the fact that Abramovich is developing foreign sports. According to rumors, prior to the purchase of Chelsea, the oligarch attempted to acquire the Moscow club CSKA, but the deal did not materialize.

Thanks to the investment, Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League for the first time (Europe's most prestigious club competition), beating Bayern Munich on penalties.

The businessman also paid attention to Russian sports - in April 2006, an outstanding Dutch footballer was invited to the post of head coach of the Russian national football team. This was initiated by Roman Abramovich. The fund "National Football Academy" created by him pays the fees and travel expenses of the coaching staff of the Russian national team.

Income and wealth

Since 2009, Roman Arkadyevich has been ranked 51st in the list richest people planet, published by the American financial and economic magazine Forbes. In recent years, Abramovich was considered not the richest man in Russia, as he constantly occupied the 2nd place after the billionaire.

At the end of 2015, Roman Abramovich's capital was estimated at $ 9.1 billion. The businessman owns villas in the UK, France and Russia. The oligarch also owns 2 yachts, each of which is equipped with helicopter pads.

The famous yacht of Abramovich Eclipse, which is estimated at € 340 million, reaches 170 meters in length, is equipped modern system anti-missile warning and a small submarine. The vessel is capable of diving to a depth of 50 meters. In the manufacture of the yacht were used valuable breeds timber, bullet-proof glass and side sheathing.

The oligarch owns two armored limousines, a collection of sports cars, including the Ferrari FXX and the Bugatti Veyron. In addition, the businessman purchased two private planes - a Boeing 767 worth £ 56 million, converted according to the wishes of the entrepreneur, and an Airbus A340 with an increased take-off weight (version 313X), which he bought in 2008.

For his contribution to the social and economic development of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Roman Abramovich was awarded the Order of Honor in 2006.

A number of financial experts argue that the opinion about the solvency of Abramovich does not correspond to reality. The billionaire remains on the list of top entrepreneurs, but his position has been noticeably lost in recent years. According to Forbes, in 2016, Roman Arkadyevich ranked 13th in the list of the richest Russian businessmen. Nevertheless, the oligarch continues to be considered one of the most active players in the real estate market.

At the end of 2014, the billionaire spent a significant amount of funds to acquire three townhouses in New York City on East 75th Street. The businessman planned to combine these premises into a five-story mansion. Such a purchase cost the Russian citizen $ 70 million.

According to the declaration, Abramovich's significant property includes real estate in the Moscow region. According to information Russian media, the entrepreneur owns two "palaces" with an area of ​​2421.2 and 1131.2 square meters. m.

Analysts suggest that Abramovich's art collection is also quite impressive. Independent experts estimated it at $ 1 billion.It is known that in January 2013, Abramovich acquired a collection of 40 works, the approximate cost is $ 60 million.

Forbes predicts that the financial condition of the Russian will show a downward trend in the future. A similar state of affairs has been observed since 2011, when the businessman had over $ 13 billion in his accounts, but by 2016 this figure had gradually decreased to $ 7.6 billion, his income fell.

In September 2014 due to the crisis international company Evraz North America did not conduct an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The failed attempt by Abramovich, who is the chairman of the board of directors of this organization, to carry out successful operations on the stock exchanges further exacerbated the situation, the billionaire was unable to increase his capital.

Personal life

The billionaire was officially married twice. His first wife Olga Lysova was from Astrakhan. Their relationship lasted from 1987 to 1990. The second wife of Roman Abramovich is Irina Malandina, a former flight attendant. The young people met during the flight. In this marriage, the couple had five children - three daughters, Anna, Sofia and Arina, and two sons, Arkady and Ilya.

At one time, Arkady began his business career in the London office of VTB Capital. He later became the owner oil company Zoltav resources. It was rumored that the young man wanted to invest in FC CSKA.

In 2007, Roman filed for divorce in the Chukotka District Court. The former spouses successfully settled all the formalities associated with the division of property and the further fate of the children, the family broke up. Abramovich had to pay the ex-wife $ 300 million and leave 4 villas abroad and 2 apartments for her.

After breaking up with his wife, Roman Abramovich did not hide his relationship with the designer. He met the new darling after the next match of the Chelsea football club, which took place in Barcelona. Dasha was introduced to the businessman by her father, businessman Alexander Zhukov. The girl at that time met with a tennis player.

The romance proceeded violently, the lovers quickly won the title of the most beautiful couple Russian beau monde. With a height of 177 cm, Abramovich's weight does not exceed 74 kg, and Zhukova has model body parameters.

Roman and Daria are raising two children - Aaron and Leia. It was rumored that the common-law spouses after a while formalized the relationship, but the entrepreneur himself refused to comment on this information in an interview. In addition to personal relationships, Roman and Daria were in common business. They co-founded the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow and the cultural center on New Holland Island in St. Petersburg. In 2017, the couple announced their separation.

Later it became known that as a gift to his ex-wife, Roman left 3 houses in a prestigious area of ​​New York, which will be combined into one giant mansion. With Daria, the billionaire remained on friendly terms, despite the fact that she soon established her personal life. Zhukova began to be noticed in the society of the Greek oligarch Stavros Niarchos. Abramovich himself spent time only in the company of models.

During the relationship with Zhukova, the billionaire was rumored to have affairs on the side. At a football match with the participation of the English club "Chelsea" Abramovich in 2011 was seen in the company of the actress, performer of the role from the saga of Fr.

Many immediately began to joke that the billionaire bought his daughter Hermione, but some also started talking about the beginning of a relationship between a British film actress and a Russian entrepreneur.

Also, the media have repeatedly met unconfirmed information that the oligarch had an affair with the ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater. Due to his status, Abramovich rarely communicates with reporters, and he does not have a personal Instagram, so the photos of his loved ones are extremely rare on the Web.

Roman Abramovich now

In 2018, Roman Arkadievich's fortune increased. The declared amount reached $ 11.7 billion. In the spring, the businessman turned to the Israeli authorities in order to obtain citizenship.

Previously, the businessman was denied a British visa extension, and in order to enter the UK, he needed a roundabout way in the form of an Israeli passport. True, to obtain it, Abramovich needed to make a number of investments in the economy of the eastern state. The entrepreneur donated $ 30 million to the University of Tel Aviv, sponsored several business projects. For personal use, Abramovich bought a hotel in Israel worth $ 28 million, previously owned by the actress.

Abramovich has a lot to lose in the United Kingdom. In addition to the famous Chelsea club, which is owned by a businessman and in which, according to rumors, $ 2 billion was invested, its assets include shares in the gold mining business, energy enterprises, and a mobile communications company. In addition, the billionaire owns a mansion in the most prestigious London district of Kensington, a 6-story house in Knightsbridge and an estate in West Sussex.

Roman Abramovich, Anton Belov and Dasha Zhukova at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018

Now Roman Abramovich is going to launch a fund to support Russian cinema. The businessman plans to annually allocate up to $ 1 billion for the needs of filmmakers. It is assumed that funding will be free of charge, mainly at the post-production stage. If the picture is commercially successful, the fund will claim a portion of the profits.

The Russian entrepreneur has been included in the Forbes ranking of the richest people in the world since 2005. For three years he was ranked first among Russian billionaires. At the end of 2012, it ranks ninth in Russia and 68th in the world. Roman Abramovich's fortune is $ 12.1 billion. What does his property include?

Houses

The entrepreneur's property includes 12 land plots and 9 houses. Here is some of them:

• In Kensington, Abramovich owns a penthouse that is estimated at £ 29 million.
• He has a villa in West Sussex that is worth £ 28 million.
• In Belgravia, there is his five-story mansion, worth 11 million pounds.
• Has a £ 15 million home in France.
• A six-story cottage in Knightsbridge is worth £ 18 million.
• There is a £ 40 million home in Saint Tropez.
• Abramovich's dacha near Moscow is estimated at £ 8 million.

Yachts

• Pelorus... It is valued at £ 72 million. It does not have bulletproof glass installed, and it is equipped with its own submarine.
• Ecstasea, worth 77 million has a Turkish bath and swimming pool.
• Le grand bleu has a helipad and is estimated at 60 million.
• Eclipse can be called the pearl of the Abramovich collection. It costs 340 million euros. Has gigantic dimensions - 170 meters in length. The windows on the yacht are made of armored glass, and the hull is made of bulletproof steel. In addition to this, the yacht has a special missile attack warning system. The yacht also has two helicopters with special hangars, and a mini-submarine that can dive 50 meters.

Aircraft

Boeing 767 worth 56 million sterling.
Boeing business class, which is valued at £ 28 million.
Two helicopters totaling £ 70 million.

Cars

The collection of Abramovich includes 7 cars. Among them are the brands Range Rover, VW, Mercedes, BMW. In addition, there are luxury-class models in the fleet. These are Ferrari FXX, Jaguar, which was made to order, and Bentley. The total cost of all cars is more than 2 billion rubles.

Companies

There are seven of them. Abramovich's property includes Chelsea Football Club. He also owns 80% of the shares of Sibneft, 50% of Russian Aluminum, 26% of Aeroflot.

The metallurgical corporation Evraz is expanding. Now she is taking under her control - more precisely, "into management" - the assets of the Sibuglemet company, owned by Suleiman Kerimov and Akhmet Palankoev. This event in itself would have been nothing special, since the coal company was actually under the control of its creditor, VTB Bank. But this deal has one aspect: the main shareholder of Evraz is billionaire Roman Abramovich, and in recent years he has developed a reputation as an emigrant who has lost interest in Russia and switched to foreign projects.

“Roman Abramovich has been gradually and for a long time engaged in the sale of his personal and business assets in favor of Western countries,” says Dmitry Klenov, partner of UFG Wealth Management. - For example, on the website of Millhouse Capital, an investment company, according to some sources, controlled by Abramovich, there is not even Russia as a potential country for investment. Perhaps Roman Abramovich assesses the risks of investing in Russian projects as unjustifiably high. In addition, the businessman has been living in Great Britain for about 15 years, presumably having a non-domicile status, which allows him not to pay taxes to the British treasury on his foreign earnings and capital gains. "

However, Roman Abramovich did not leave Russia completely - he is a shareholder of Evraz and Norilsk Nickel, and in July Abramovich's mining company Baimskaya received permission to mine precious and non-ferrous metals at the Peschanka deposit in Chukotka (the site was acquired back in 2008).

The activation of Evraz made some media outlets suggest that Abramovich is returning to his interest in doing business in Russia. Is it so?

Between raw materials and innovation

The experts interviewed by "Ko" were cautious about this version. “In the context of Western sanctions and restrictions on Russian business, investing in Russia is now quite risky,” says Alexander Bazykin, managing partner of the Heads consulting company. - So much will depend on the development of the situation - the favor of our government to these business assets, the need for them in global governance, the actual prospects of the companies. These are all difficultly predictable variables, so at this stage it is premature to talk about the "return of Abramovich", although it is potentially possible. "

However, everything becomes clearer if you look at the nature of Roman Abramovich's investments. This billionaire made his fortune on raw materials projects, and now his significant investments in Russia are primarily associated with raw materials. Meanwhile, in the commodity sector, all niches are occupied, and investment opportunities arise rarely and by accident. So, in 2012, the conflict between the shareholders of Norilsk Nickel allowed Abramovich to enter the capital of this company as a “balancing force”. Vladimir Potanin described the situation in his interview as follows: “We have adjusted our own irreconcilable positions. Then Roman Abramovich joined the process. As an investor. He performed a balancing function in the event of a resumption of conflict, and this reassured us all. In addition, the person invested money in the project, and Deripaska and I had additional responsibility to a third party. "

Another "luck" - "Sibuglemet" will get entangled in its bank debts. But such cases are rare. And Roman Abramovich prefers to invest in other industries outside of Russia - and he is more comfortable living in London. "The fish is looking for where it is deeper, and Abramovich - where it is better, where it is more comfortable," says political scientist Konstantin Kalachev. There are many reports of Abramovich Ervington Investments investing in innovative startups - but alas, almost exclusively outside of Russia, although many of these startups were founded by our former compatriots. For example, the Abramovich Foundation invested $ 10 million in an Israeli startup Driveway Software, which is developing an application that collects information about the behavior of motorists on the roads. For about $ 15 million, the fund gained control over the American company Propell Technologies, which develops technologies for the extraction of shale oil and gas.

"Playboy on a particularly large scale"

Abramovich's foreign location can be explained not only by business interests and not only by the fact that Roman Abramovich, as a representative of the famous Yeltsin "family", prefers to stay away from the Russian prosecutor's office, but also by the fact that, in comparison with others Russian oligarchs Abramovich is distinguished by a special craving for comfort, luxury, expensive toys and ostentatious purchases. The whole world knows the expensive toys of the former Moscow blacksmith Abramovich - mansions, castles, cars, a private jet, one of the world's largest yachts, the Chelsea football club. Now a lover of innovations and high-tech Abramovich has added to these toys an inexpensive but symbolically significant Tesla electric car - the same one Herman Gref has.

True, the Chelsea football club today is perceived not so much as a “toy”, but as a tool with which Roman Abramovich is trying to enter the Western establishment. Abramovich's “colleague”, co-owner of the English football club Crystal Palace, Steve Parish, described Abramovich's motives: “The owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, believes:“ The more I am in sight, the safer I will feel when Putin comes after me ” ...

Chelsea have become part of the lifestyle of Roman Abramovich, who appears in world news as a "playboy on a particularly large scale", loving travel and personally negotiating with the stars of world football. Roman Abramovich is credited with the aphorism "Money does not guarantee happiness, but it guarantees material freedom," and Roman Abramovich enjoys this freedom.

Meanwhile, it all began quite differently.

Blacksmith from Ukhta

Abramovich's childhood passed in the Komi Republic, in the city of Ukhta, his parents died early, and his uncle was engaged in upbringing. Higher education Roman Abramovich actually did not receive it and still knows little English. But on the other hand, he was always distinguished by his special entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to make contacts. His organizational skills and quick wits were noticed at school - he, for example, saved his classmates from the punks, saying that there are many children of security officials in the class. After the army, he took up fartsovka, and with the onset of perestroika - cooperative activities.

In all official biographies Roman Abramovich says that his entrepreneurial activity began with a cooperative selling rubber toys "Uyut", but journalist Alexander Khinshtein was able to find out that it was the business of the Kislovodsk businessman Vladimir Tyurin, who also owned the cooperative "Luch", where the future billionaire took his first steps in business. Comfort was, in essence, the Moscow branch of Luch. However, by the beginning of the 90s, the toy trade had become close for Abramovich, and he began to establish a variety of, mainly intermediary, companies.

It is important that Abramovich's partners in "Comfort" were three graduates of the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas named after I.M. Gubkina - Valery Oif, Andrey Blokh and Evgeny Shvidler, who drew Roman Abramovich's attention to the promising oil direction.

In those days - in the early 90s - the entire mining industry was state-owned, and private business could be content only with the sale of its products. Russian billionaires such as Mikhail Bolotin and Gennady Timchenko began their careers as commodity traders. However, to become a trader, you needed connections in the management of state-owned enterprises, and here Roman Abramovich's uncle from Ukhta came in handy. Leiba Nakhimovich Abramovich was a fairly well-known person in Komi, the head of the Pechorles supply department, and thanks to his connections, Roman Abramovich managed to start selling the products of the Ukhta refinery.

However, oil trader Roman Abramovich was able to reach the next level only thanks to his historical acquaintance with Boris Berezovsky.

Together with Berezovsky

This acquaintance took place on a yacht in the Caribbean, where Petr Aven introduced Abramovich to Berezovsky. The combination of Roman Abramovich's business acumen and the political influence of Boris Berezovsky, the owner of Channel One and his man in the Kremlin, had the most grandiose consequences, although initially Abramovich had to sit for hours in Berezovsky's reception room. But it was worth it - together Berezovsky and Abramovich were able to create grandiose commodity corporations, without having the initial capital for this. Abramovich outlined a "victim" - the enterprises whose products he sold: the oil-producing company "Noyabrskneftegaz" and the Omsk refinery working on its raw materials. True, there were insurmountable obstacles to the seizure of these enterprises: the government of Viktor Chernomyrdin was against privatization, Abramovich and Berezovsky simply did not have the money to buy them out, and at the same time, richer businessmen, for example, the largest private bank of that time, claimed the same piece of property. Inkombank ". However, Boris Berezovsky and his partner Badri Patarkatsishvili were able to overcome all this. Dainty businesses have been spun off from state company By a presidential decree, Rosneft bypassed the government, the director of the Omsk Oil Refinery, who did not want to get to Abramovich, drowned, Inkombank mysteriously recalled its representative right during the loans-for-shares auction.

Subsequently, at the famous London trial, Roman Abramovich explained his relationship with Berezovsky as follows: “In February 1995, we agreed on $ 30 million a year for assistance - to finance ORT and personal expenses. For this, Berezovsky was supposed to help get the presidential signature and achieve the release of documents, according to which 51% will remain with the government, and 49% will be privatized. " Berezovsky himself did not deny this version, specifying only that the presidential decree on the separation of state enterprises into a separate company - the future Sibneft - he was able to initiate through the head of the presidential guard Alexander Korzhakov, referring to the need to finance the unprofitable television.

By the way, the future billionaire did not have money for the purchase of privatized enterprises - $ 100 million - but Alexander Smolensky's SBS-Agro bank allocated it under Berezovsky's personal guarantees.

Boris Berezovsky became a member of the board of directors of Sibneft, however, as it turned out at the London trial, he did not formalize his rights in any way, and the London court ruled: Sibneft belonged to Abramovich, and Berezovsky was only a "roof".

But at the end of the 90s, Berezovsky did not yet know this and together with Abramovich conducted another practically penniless deal with raw materials. When in 2000 Lev Chernoy and his partners were selling shares in aluminum plants, Abramovich, Berezovsky and Badri Patarkatsishvili intercepted them from Oleg Deripaska, and then offered him a merger. Deripaska's company was smaller, and he had to pay $ 575 million. With this money, Abramovich and his partners paid off Cherny, that is, the factories themselves went to them free of charge.

Thanks to Sibneft, Roman Abramovich received financial resources, and thanks to Boris Berezovsky, he became his man in the Kremlin, Korzhakov openly called him “the family's wallet,” covering the expenses of Boris Yeltsin's daughter.

And then Putin came

Everything changed when Vladimir Putin came to power. Boris Berezovsky was forced to leave the country, and Roman Abramovich was among the "equidistant oligarchs", although his position was "legitimized" by an important social assignment - to be the governor of Chukotka. This governorship became a unique social experiment - for 7 years Roman Abramovich has invested in autonomous region$ 2.5 billion. The district received a team of modern managers - in particular, Sergei Kapkov became the head of the department of culture, who, thanks to the Chukchi episode, made a career and later turned out to be a deputy of the State Duma and head of the department of culture in Moscow.

But soon, around 2003, Roman Abramovich became disillusioned with Russia. It was in 2003 that he bought the well-known, but on the verge of bankruptcy, the Chelsea club and began to “enter the cash” - during 2003-2005. Abramovich sold his stakes in Aeroflot, Russian Aluminum, Irkutskenergo and Krasnoyarskaya HPP, RusPromAvto. Sibneft was supposed to merge with Yukos, but after the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Abramovich - with great difficulty - interrupts this deal and sells Sibneft to Gazprom for $ 13 billion. “Business in Russia for Abramovich is associated with the need for a constant charitable marathon,” notes analyst of the Investment Technologies Laboratory Igor Dmitriev. - The oligarch himself was not noticed in stinginess, but there is a limit to everything. That is why he so persistently but neatly completed his direct participation in the project for the development of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. One must have remarkable restraint when every meeting with a government or regional official ends with the need for personal assistance in solving any material problem. Foreign business projects have one indisputable advantage: no one will slap familiarly on the shoulder and say: "Brother, help build a road (a sports complex, a factory, a hospital ... whatever)."

Resident of london

Around 2006, the current stage in the life of Roman Abramovich began. Having received the money from Gazprom, Abramovich turns into a portfolio investor. True, Russia was not forgotten, but Abramovich participates in Russian projects mostly remotely, and exclusively with strong partners. So, in 2006, businessmen - the founders of Evraz, Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov - sold to Roman Abramovich 41% of their mining group, the deal was estimated at $ 3 billion, and Abramovich's success again consisted in the problems of sellers - a large debt load of Evraz.

In Russia, Abramovich mines gold, invests in Moscow real estate, but it is known that the investments of his company Millhouse Capital are highly diversified and include a large number of foreign financial assets. “I don’t think that Roman Arkadyevich can afford to waste a huge amount of time to delve into the vague business model of a Russian company that is trying to apply in Russia“ Western business hacks ”picked up somewhere, without realizing the fundamental differences markets, - says a resident of London, CEO of the consulting agency ISTORIYA Vyacheslav Efremov. "I dare to assume that many projects go through several highly competent professionals who decide to present to Mr. Abramovich's table a recommendation to buy an investment in a particular company."

"Roman Abramovich in the choice foreign projects not original, - says Pavel Tolstykh, head of the Center for the Study of Problems of Interaction between Business and Government. - Alfa Group chose the same strategy. The explanation is simple: Russia does not need private investors of this level. If we analyze the past 10 years, most of the assets have been transferred to the state (read: officials) or businessmen close to the president's entourage. And after the story with Bashneft, the political risks of having large assets in Russia became too high. In addition, according to my feelings, business for Abramovich has always been secondary, this is his difference, for example, from Deripaska. He, like, by the way, Melnichenko, is now just enjoying life, having successfully integrated into the world elite. "

Political analysts note the weakening of the oligarch's former influence in Russia. “Of course, acquaintances and connections have remained,” says Konstantin Kalachev. - But there is no former influence. We can recall the weakening of people who were traditionally considered his protégés. On the surface, there is an example of Kapkov. If you dig deeper, then among those who are now called promising single-mandate candidates from United Russia, for some reason, there are no people previously associated with Abramovich. "

As compensation for the loss of influence in Russia, Roman Abramovich received 13th place in the ranking of the most influential persons in world football according to the sports TV channel ESPN (and his sports assistant Marina Granovskaya is 24th).

In Chelsea, Abramovich has already invested about 1 billion pounds, he is going to build a new stadium for the club for 0.5 billion pounds, although he does not forget about Russian sports - it was Abramovich who paid for the services of the coach of the Russian national team Guus Hiddink.

Heir

The children of Abramovich are already on the stage of life - he has seven of them, from three wives. The gossip often mentions Sophia Abramovich, who is involved in equestrian sports and participates in prestigious competitions. The son of Roman Abramovich, Arkady Romanovich, who will turn 22 in September, has already worked as an intern at VTB Capital and received from his father an investment company ARA Capital (named after his initials). Arkady Abramovich's own fortune is estimated at $ 12 million. According to the teacher of the Classical Business School Yuri Sanberg, today the main interests of Roman Abramovich in Russia are business projects of his son Arkady, who owns the oil and gas company Zoltav Resourses. In 2013, Abramovich Jr. acquired the British oil and gas company Vostok Energy with production assets in Saratov region- An onboard section with 10 explored fields along the northern border of the Caspian oil and gas province. His other well-known project is in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug: in 2014, the Siberian Geological Company, owned by Zoltav Resources, discovered the West Koltogorsk oil field.

“As for the son of Roman Abramovich, his Russian assets are, rather, a training platform for a young man, and it is unlikely that there will be critical situation, - Yuri Sunberg believes. “The wrong scale.” Open sources indicate that Zoltav Resources has officially become one of the smallest oil and gas companies in Russia. In 2011–2013 it suffered losses, and the first profit was recorded only in the first half of 2014. “The field in Saratov is not a large asset. There is an opinion, expressed repeatedly by various market analysts, that the company will gain assets until it is prepared enough to be sold, - Yuri Sanberg continues. - In my opinion, immersion in business in Russia will give Abramovich Jr. a clear understanding of the entire technological chain of production and sale of hydrocarbons. In addition, there will be an awareness of the business value of the company's external environment. Although, of course, Abramovich Jr. is helped not only by the friendly investments of people from the circle of his father (for example, David Davidovich), but also by the professional board of directors and the company's management with industry experience in the CIS countries. Almost the son has a "security certificate" in his hands. Nevertheless, a year of doing business in Russia should always be counted as four. "

Well, Roman Abramovich himself is reaping the consequences of his stormy and scandalous life: Hollywood film companies Warner Bros. and RatPac Entertainment decided to make a film about the relationship between Berezovsky and Abramovich. The film is based on the book of the American writer and screenwriter Ben Mezrich "Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs - a true story of ambition, wealth, betrayal and murder." By the way, the same author wrote the literary basis of the film about Mark Zuckerberg "The Social Network".

Daniil Alexandrovich Granin, an outstanding writer and thinker, lieutenant of the Great Patriotic War, invited me to visit. He said: “In the modern world, being ostentatiously rich is indecent. Not fashionable. This is "Asiatic" in its purest form.

I often visited Likhachev - a simple apartment, I got to bed through mountains of books. I also visited Sakharov. There is a two-room apartment near the station. I lived with Updike for several days. He rented two rooms above the bar, wrote there. I've been at Bradbury's home, Kobo Abe. Normal, human habitation of relatively wealthy and world famous people. Why " Novaya Gazeta"Not to show how beautifully and with delight normal people live without blatant consumption and demonstrative wealth?"

Dear Daniil Alexandrovich, let's try to implement your idea.

But we could not refrain from comparing.

In this issue - about the living space of R.A. Abramovich and A.D. Sakharov.

To be continued in upcoming issues: how the Russian establishment is consuming the world.

D. Muratov,"New Newspaper"

How Abramovich lives

It looks like the construction of Abramovich's mega-mansion in Manhattan will still take place

Renovation project for three Abramovich-owned buildings in an upmarket New York area

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has taken a step forward in implementing a project to build his own mega-mansion in Manhattan. The New York Commission for the Protection of Architectural Monuments at a second meeting approved a project that would combine his three houses in the Upper East Side into one mega-mansion. The total cost of Abramovich's new New York home exceeds $ 80 million.

History can't be bought?

At first, Abramovich was expected to fail. In April of this year, the Heritage Board rejected an initial plan to combine two English Baroque townhouses (known as the Queen Anne style) and a neo-federal style townhouse (which looks like a government office). A month earlier, the New York City Department of Buildings refused to give permission to combine the three houses.

Russian oligarch, owner of the London Chelsea football club and the Eclipse yacht, which is periodically rented by Hollywood stars, members royal family and other VIPs, was going to build a common rear facade made of bronze and glass, as well as a swimming pool, sauna, courtyard, and greenhouse in the three buildings he bought in the historic district of New York. The facade of the building, which was reconstructed in 1923 in the neo-federal style, the architects hired by Abramovich were going to return the "English look", making the house the same as it was originally built in 1887-1889. However, the commission for the protection of monuments considered that such a reconstruction "would destroy a significant part of history." Committee member Michael Goldbloom said that such a restructuring would lead to the prevalence of "uniformity over authenticity." Urban Architecture Society spokeswoman Christabel Gow called the potential renovation "unnecessary destruction."

“Combining three separate mansions into one is a whole new level of blatant consumption. We can only hope that the owner of the buildings will treat them with scrutiny, ”said Kelly Carroll of the Historic Neighborhood Council. According to her, when a person "buys history" it comes not just about "dollars and cents". “Meaningful strategic management is also needed, and this proposal is anything but that,” added Carroll. Andrew Dolcart, a heritage scholar at Columbia University, said the potential approval of the project "would set a terrible precedent."

But the ban did not stop the Russian businessman, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes this year at $ 8.1 billion and put Abramovich in 157th place in the ranking of the richest people in the world. For the purchase of three buildings located on 75th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenue, Russian businessman spent more than $ 78 million. Moreover, the buyer was not known to the owners. “If they knew who it is and for what purpose they are buying up houses, they would demand much more money", Notes the New York Post.

This is not Abramovich's first attempt to rebuild a mega-mansion in a historic building in downtown New York. The American media reported that in 2013 he was going to buy for $ 75 million a 22-apartment mansion at 828 5th Avenue, previously owned by construction magnate Howard Ronson. This would be a record purchase for this type of housing called co-op. But the widow of the American billionaire Angelica Ivants blocked the deal. She was even going to sue the British Isle of Guernsey against the Ronson Board of Trustees, which, in her opinion, agreed too early to sell the house to Abramovich. “The Russian rich man was willing to pay significantly more,” Ivants told the New York Post.

As a result, she remained with her own people, and Abramovich's team redirected attention to three townhouses: 11, 13, 15E on 75th Street. The refusal of the Commission for the Preservation of Monuments and the Department of Building of New York to accept the original plan of reconstruction did not stop the architect Stephen Wang, who promised that all the comments of the commission will be taken into account in the new version. And on the second attempt, the "good" was finally received. An application by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, hired by Abramovich, was approved by the Commission for the Protection of Historic Monuments in June.

First of all, it was decided to preserve the original appearance of the facade. From the street, the houses will look like three separate buildings. An unusual glass and bronze wall will be built at the back. And the flowing water of the vertical pool and stone boulders surrounded by a green lawn will resemble the landscape of New York's Central Park. It is planned to spend $ 6 million on the reconstruction of Abramovich's mega-house. The same people who called this architectural project "an example of blatant consumption" in April, praised its new version in June.

Abramovich's representatives do not comment on either the initial unanimous refusal of the commission, or the same unanimous approval of the new version of the draft. The billionaire did not attend the commission meetings.

To begin work, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the New York City Department of Construction, which in March rejected the initial project of Abramovich's mega-house. Now, after the consent of historians and architects, the chances of this are very high.

"Blatant consumers"

A courtyard plan for the future home of the Chelsea owner Photo: Stephen Wang + Associates

Thorstein Veblen called this phenomenon "conspicuous consumption" at the end of the 19th century. By it, he understood wasteful spending on some goods or services, not so much because of their usefulness, but as for show, with the primary purpose of demonstrating their own wealth. The desire to “show oneself”, “be the best”, “feel the taste of victory” not through talents, but through the purchase of goods is a frequent occurrence for hysterics and mediocre people, but not only. This ordeal covers the most ordinary consumers. T. Veblen coined the special term "invidiousconsumption", meaning consumption with the deliberate aim of causing envy.

Three years ago, Roman Abramovich made the Big Apple talk about himself when his yacht Eclipse (then the largest yacht in the world) docked for two months on the banks of the Hudson at Pier 90, near downtown Manhattan. According to the American media, the reason for the unexpected visit, which the port authorities of New York refused to name, referring to the clause on non-disclosure of the terms of the contract, was the birth of the daughter of Daria Zhukova and Roman Abramovich. “When it came time to give birth, Zhukova just went ashore and went to New York Presbyterian Hospital,” writes Forbes magazine. A native of New York, Lia Lou Abramovich is considered a US citizen. Like her brother Aaron Alexander, who was born in Los Angeles in December 2009.

The billionaire paid $ 112,000 just for parking on the pier. General expenses - for fuel, food, maintenance and salaries of the Eclipse crew, etc. - made about $ 500 thousand a week, believes Tim Thomas, editor of Boat International magazine. Forbes then congratulated Roman Arkadyevich "with the most expensive childbirth in the world."

Petr Sarukhanov / "New"

Lyrical digression: the construction of the yacht "Eclipse" cost $ 500 million. The ship has two swimming pools, two helipads, and a mini-submarine. The yacht, 162.5 meters long, is equipped with its own missile defense system and bulletproof windows around the owner's private cabin. With all the tech gadgets and luxury goods, it is worth over $ 1.2 billion.

For four years, Abramovich's yacht had no equal in the world, while for the President of the United United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al Nahyan was not built "Azzam" - seventeen and a half meters longer than "Eclipse". By the way, the largest yacht in the world (15 917 tons, 3809 square meters residential area) was recently acquired by a shareholder of the London football club Arsenal, a Russian billionaire, a native of Uzbekistan, Alisher Usmanov. The yacht was called "Dilbar", Usmanov gave her a new name "She" - in honor of his mother.

In the company of Madonna and Bloomberg

Historic buildings in Manhattan are the ideal home for the goldsmith. Singer Madonna and former city mayor Michael Bloomberg bought up neighboring apartments and houses in Manhattan, expanding their housing. Not far from Abramovich's future home, Madonna bought herself three townhouses on East 81st Street in 2009 for $ 32 million. She invested 1.7 million in reconstruction, adding a fifth floor to the complex of buildings. The work lasted for a year and a half. The house now has 13 bedrooms, several living rooms, a studio, a gym, two garages and a garden. For Abramovich, everything is more expensive and larger. As the New York Post reported, citing sources related to Abramovich's project, bringing three houses into one in his case would require colossal work and costs.

The former mayor of the city, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who bought four of the six apartment blocks (the so-called "units") four blocks from Abramovich on East 79th Street, with its 12,500 square feet far from 18,225 thousand. at Abramovich's. As the realtor Sabrina Saltiel notes: “This is a trend - everything is growing in size. In the case of New York, a lot of money has been launched into the race for the limited amount of suitable housing available. "

And suitable housing for yourself Russian elite long years believed it was Manhattan and also Miami. True, the recent decision of the American Department of Justice to check the ownership of elite housing for combating money laundering and an appeal from the very top for representatives of the Russian political and financial elite to abandon foreign real estate and transfer foreign assets to their homeland may "change the concept."

The inspections began in March and will last until August. For the first time, the US federal authorities require realtors to disclose the names hidden behind transactions in cash. In Manhattan, details of the deal will need to be disclosed if it exceeds $ 3 million, in Miami - $ 1 million. According to PropertyShark, in the second half of last year, 1,045 properties worth more than $ 3 million were sold in Manhattan.

Alexander Panov,
sob. corr. "New", Washington

Read about yachts and real estate of the Russian establishment in comparison with how Kurt Vonnegut lived in the following issues.

How Sakharov lived

Academician Andrei Sakharov at his desk

Foreword by Yuri Rost

You can be a worthy citizen and live in a big way, hospitably and with daring, according to your needs, in accordance with a wide person, who, however, takes into account the living conditions of fellow citizens around you, without boasting of opportunities.

Sakharov lived modestly. Very modest. Actually, this is not a dignity and not a subject of pride. It's just that a great citizen of the country and the world lived like that. He had a need to live better, but it did not concern his life. He wanted him - a free man - to be surrounded in his country free people... So that they have the opportunity to choose and, most importantly, they have the desire to choose. A two-room apartment suited him perfectly. There was a place to work, where to relax, and a kitchen for socializing. Long time he lived in the apartment of his second wife's mother, where Elena Bonner's mother, an old Bolshevik woman, a son and daughter with her husband, were accommodated in two rooms. The couple slept in the kitchen. After returning from exile in Gorky, he was given an apartment in the same house on Chkalov Street.

Once, having gone to visit, I found the usual picture of devastation accompanying our repairs. There I became a witness and participant in a funny episode, which I described in a small parable, accompanied by my favorite card.

Academician and plumbers. Parable

There will be smarter people who will explain how this tall, stooped man, grazing and stammering, was able to turn the consciousness of fellow citizens from readiness to blind obedience, no matter what authority, to the realization of his human dignity.

I do not undertake this task. I'd rather tell you a parable.

Arriving from Gorky, they saw that the telephones were turned off, and the house was desolate, because they did not live in it, but he lived in them.

Academician Sakharov's apartment. Photo: Yuri Rost / "Novaya Gazeta"

Then the academician came to the academic store and asked for a one-meter-seventy bath, as his wife had asked, and a toilet with an oblique inlet, as required by the water supply and sewerage system, and the merchants sold him.

When this was brought into the house, his wife saw that the bathtub was peeled off, and scolded him for deceiving him. He answered: “New is not always good. A person pays for what he buys, not for what he has already bought. " And she understood and said, “Nice buy. Thank you for not flowing. "

Then two plumbers came out of the toilet - Nikolay and Kolka - and, having started, they began to reprimand him: “You are an academician, but you don't know that there are two systems: with a direct inlet and with an oblique one - and they are incompatible. You were tricked into being given another toilet instead of one. And now, if you put it on, choose: either the door will not open, and after putting it on, we will be in the toilet forever, or it will never close. ”

He replied: "There is a third system, which does not give a choice at all, but this does not mean that there is no way out of it."

But the plumbers did not understand him and went to smoke for a long time, and he began to work.

Then his wife said to me: “Go to them. You know their language, ”and gave me a bottle of argument.

They answered: "Let's try." And, unable to resist that argument, they worked as they used to.

And he - as he used to: thought.

When evening came, they went out without washing their hands of their labors, and said with the pride of an honest man: "We have done everything that the system allows."

And I was amazed to recognize the metaphor, for I heard in their pride their pride, and in their words - my own and many who considered themselves to be a completely honest person.

Arriving at the toilet, I saw that the door was closing and the toilet was standing, but it was possible to use it, albeit with inconvenience.

Returning to the kitchen, I told him, but he did not recognize the metaphor, because he did not have the experience of combining with the systems that the plumbers had: Nikolai, Kolka and me.

And I thought that he would say: “They did what they could, and you do what you can. Do not reproach the other for misunderstanding and inability. But myself for understanding and inability to measure measles. "

But he said, "Thank you!" And he kept thinking ...

Photo: Yuri Rost / "Novaya Gazeta"

Yuri Rost, columnist for Novaya Gazeta