Suleiman Kerimov is a Russian entrepreneur, co-owner of a number of large companies, shareholder of Uralkali, member of the Federation Council from Dagestan.
On January 30, 2018, Suleiman Kerimov, as a Russian oligarch with a fortune of more than a billion dollars, was included in the so-called “Kremlin list” compiled by the US Treasury at the request of a new law on countering opponents of this country .
Political activity
In December 1999, Suleiman Kerimov became a deputy of the Russian State Duma of the third convocation on the federal list of the Zhirinovsky Bloc electoral bloc, joining the Security Committee.
On December 7, 2003, Suleiman Kerimov was elected to the State Duma of the fourth convocation on the federal list of the LDPR electoral association. In the State Duma, he joined the LDPR faction and took the post of deputy chairman of the committee on physical culture and sports, and was also included in the security committee.
In April 2007, Suleiman Kerimov left the LDPR faction and became an independent deputy, and a week later he submitted an application to join the United Russia faction. On May 11, 2007, Kerimov became a member of the United Russia faction.
In December 2007, at the proposal of the speaker of the Dagestan parliament Magomed Suleymanov, Kerimov was unanimously elected as a representative of the People's Assembly of Dagestan in the Federation Council. In February 2008, the upper house of the Russian parliament confirmed his powers.
Business
In October 1998, Suleiman Kerimov, for $50 million, acquired 55% of its shares from the management of the investment company OJSC Nafta-Moscow - the heiress of Soyuznefteexport, an oil trading monopolist that exported 200 million tons of oil and petroleum products annually during Soviet times. The company was going through difficult times - after the August crisis of 1998, Nafta-Moskva's money was stuck in several collapsed banks, debts amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, and management led by former Deputy Minister of Oil and Gas Industry Anatoly Kolotilin had to put Nafta-Moskva up for sale . Over the course of a year (according to other sources, one and a half years), Kerimov increased his stake in the company’s shares to 100%.
In June 2000, Nafta-Moscow bought the company Varyeganneftegaz, a subsidiary of SIDANCO, in respect of which bankruptcy proceedings were initiated.
At the end of 2003 and 2004, Nafta began buying land in the Moscow region on Novorizhskoye Highway. On these lands it was planned to build 2.7 million square meters of luxury housing and entertainment complexes. The cost of the project was estimated at $3 billion. The project was named: the private city "Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye". By 2006, it already occupied 430 hectares of land.
In July 2005, Kerimov, together with Deripaska and Abramovich, acquired a stake in the state oil company Rosneft (the company that at the end of 2004 bought the former subsidiary of the Yukos oil company, Yuganskneftegaz).
In 2005, the Nafta-Moscow company became one of the sponsors of the Russian Football Union and the general sponsor of the Russian national freestyle wrestling team. In November 2005, the President of the International Federation of United Styles of Wrestling (FILA) Rafael Martinetti presented Suleiman Kerimov with one of the most prestigious awards - the “Golden Order”.
At the end of 2005, Nafta bought the Polymetal company, which occupies a leading position in Russia in terms of silver production and second place in gold production, for $900 million.
On May 24, 2006, Suleiman Kerimov was elected chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Wrestling Federation. According to the president of the federation, Mikheil Mamiashvili, the decision to establish the Board of Trustees and appoint its head was made because long-term interaction with state sports governing bodies and large national business structures has become crucial for the effective implementation of the tasks facing the federation.
In February 2006, Kerimov decided to turn Nafta-Moskva into a full-fledged investment company, turning it into a leading private equity fund.
On November 21, 2006, the Nafta-Moscow company and the Moscow government announced the creation of OJSC United Hotel Company (OGK), to which the shares of more than 20 hotels on the city’s balance sheet (including Balchug, Metropol) were to be transferred , "National" and "Radisson-Slavyanskaya"). The authorized capital of the new company was to be at least $2 billion: 49% was to belong to the city, 51% to Nafta-Moscow. However, at the end of January 2007, the Moscow government announced its intention to interrupt the joint hotel business with the Nafta-Moscow company. According to officials, the reason for terminating the contract with Kerimov was an accurate assessment of the shareholdings of municipal hotels, which established that the total value of the assets of all Moscow hotels (which were to be included in the OGK) amounted to almost $7 billion.
In the fall of 2007, Suleiman Kerimov unexpectedly began to sell off his Russian assets: the first company to be sold was Metronom AG (operator of the Mercado supermarket chain). In April 2008, it became known that Kerimov had agreed to sell National Telecommunications to the National Media Group. From January to May 2008, through the mediation of foreign banks Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, S. Kerimov sold large blocks of shares in Sberbank and Gazprom (according to unofficial information, in total the Nafta-Moscow company owned 6% of the shares of Sberbank and 4.5 % shares of Gazprom).
According to experts, Suleiman Kerimov's fortune in 2007 was $14.4 billion. According to the Forbes magazine rating, Kerimov took 35th place in the list of the richest people in the world.
In the second half of May 2008, Polymetal officially announced that Suleiman Kerimov was negotiating the sale of his stake in the company. In addition, Kerimov planned to sell the elite village Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye, which is under construction. The businessman invested the freed funds in foreign financial institutions - as of June 2008, he had already acquired about 3% of the shares of Deutsche Bank, as well as securities of Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and UBS.
However, since February 2009, publications about Kerimov’s acquisitions in Russia have appeared in the media. It was reported that his Nafta-Moscow became the owner of 75% of Glavstroy SPb (the construction division of Deripaska’s Basic Element). In the same month, it became known that the Moscow government offered Nafta-Moskva a controlling stake in Dekmos OJSC, which was engaged in the construction of the Moscow Hotel.
In March 2009, Kommersant reported that the owner of the Interros holding, Vladimir Potanin, was selling 22% of the shares of Polyus Gold OJSC to Kerimov's structures. In June, the leadership of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) announced that the purchase of a stake in Polyus Gold by Kerimov's company had been approved by the government commission on foreign investment. In July 2009, when Polyus Gold revealed its ownership structure, it became known that Kerimov is the beneficiary of 36.88% of the company's shares: it was reported that he controls this stake through Wandle Holdings Limited.
In April 2009, one of the country's largest developers - the PIK group of companies - officially admitted that Nafta-Moscow had received 25% of its shares and submitted a petition to the FAS to purchase another 20% of PIK. And in August 2009, it became known that in 2008 the Nafta Co group of companies became the owner of almost 100% of CJSC Trading House TSVUM (Voentorg).
Shareholder of Uralkali
In June 2010, Kerimov became the owner of 25 percent of the shares of the world's sixth largest producer of potash fertilizers, Uralkali OJSC, whose main shareholder was Dmitry Rybolovlev. According to experts, he paid $2.5 billion for a blocking stake in the company.
September 2, 2013 Investigative Committee of Belarus put Suleiman Kerimov on the wanted list. Kerimov’s actions were qualified by the investigation as an organization of abuse of power and official authority (clause 4 of article 16 and part 3 of article 424 of the Criminal Code). According to the Investigative Committee of Belarus, a number of managers of the Belarusian Potash Company (a joint venture of Uralkali and Belaruskali) implemented a scheme that caused damage to the interests of Belarus in the amount of $100 million. Investigators suggest that some time before Uralkali broke off cooperation with Belaruskali, managers of the Belarusian Potash Company, secretly from the Belarusian side, provided buyers with discounts and broke lucrative contracts in order to then re-sign them with Uralkali.
On September 3, the Russian bureau of Interpol received information from the organization’s Central Office about the international wanted list for the senator from Dagestan Suleiman Kerimov.
Owner of Anji
In January 2011, at a meeting between Kerimov and the President of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov was taken transfer decision under the control of the senator of the Dagestan football club "Anzhi" (Makhachkala), which enabled the club to acquire such famous players as Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea London), Roberto Carlos (Corinthians Sao Paulo), Balazs Dzsudzsak, Eindhoven (PSV "Netherlands), Odil Akhmedov ("Pakhtakor" Uzbekistan), Mubarak Boussoufa ("Anderlecht" Belgium) and the main acquisition - the purchase in August 2011 from the Milanese "Internationale" of the Cameroonian super-forward Samuel Eto'o. In December 2016, Kerimov transferred FC Anji to the new owner Osman Kadiev.
VTB shareholder
In February 2011, Kerimov acquired about 1.5 percent of the shares of the state-owned VTB Bank for $500 million, becoming its largest private shareholder.
In March 2011, Kerimov took part in the elections to the People's Assembly of Dagestan as part of the United Russia list. On March 31, 2011, the new composition of the Dagestan parliament reaffirmed Kerimov as a senator.
In 2013, Suleiman Kerimov took 20th place in the ranking of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia according to Forbes. His fortune is estimated at $7.1 billion. Kerimov owns large blocks of shares in a number of Russian enterprises - Uralkali (18.1%), VTB (6%), Polyus Gold (40.2%), PIK (47%).
Lawsuits
On April 14, 2015, it was reported that the Nicosia District Court froze some of the assets of Suleiman Kerimov at the suit of entrepreneur Ashot Yeghiazaryan, who was seeking compensation for the costs of building a hotel in the center of Moscow. According to the decision of the London Court of International Arbitration (01/13/2015), Kerimov was ordered to pay Yeghiazaryan $250 million, but the first tranche was not paid in November 2014. The exact list of frozen assets is not known. One of the newspaper's sources claimed, citing a court decision, that the list, among other things, includes shares of Polyus Gold, as well as the Cinema Park cinema chain (formally its owner is the son of businessman Said Kerimov) and FC Anzhi.
Accident in France
On November 25, 2006, Suleiman Kerimov was in a car accident in France, in Nice. The Ferrari Enzo car (worth 675 thousand euros), in which Suleiman Kerimov, together with the TV presenter of the STS channel Tina Kandelaki, was driving along the embankment, crashed into a tree and caught fire. Kerimov was taken to the De la Timone specialized hospital in Marseille with severe burns. According to eyewitnesses of the accident, he managed to get out of the car himself and tried to knock out the flames from his clothes. Kandelaki suffered less damage - she was taken to the Saint-Roch hospital and was discharged the same day.
On January 24, 2007, after long-term treatment at the Queen Astrid military hospital in Brussels, Kerimov returned to Moscow and began work.
Arrest in France
In November 2017, Suleiman Kerimov was detained by French police in Nice on tax evasion charges. According to the police, Kerimov committed these actions through real estate fraud. The judge decided to launch an investigation against Suleiman Kerimov, as well as a bail of 5 million euros, according to which the senator was released. At the same time, the court decided that Kerimov must surrender his passport, cannot leave the Alpes-Maritimes department, and must also regularly report to the police.
According to French laws, tax evasion and money laundering can be punished with imprisonment for up to ten years, but, as practice shows, the case may not come to trial if the defendant compensates for the damage caused.
On November 28, 2017, Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Prétre said that an appeal had been filed against Kerimov's release on bail, since the prosecutor's office considers it necessary for the Russian businessman to be in pre-trial detention.
On December 4, 2017, Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Prétre accused Kerimov of importing between 500 million and 750 million euros into France for the purpose of money laundering.
Charity
In October 2009, Suleiman Kerimov financed a trip to Moscow for the Yakubov family from the Kizlyar region of Dagestan, on the body of whose nine-month-old son, Ali, in an unknown way lines from the Koran appear.
Kerimov is a regular at Moscow bohemian clubs. He enjoys hosting lavish social events, parties with pop stars, and sailing on his own yacht, Ice, off the coast of Spain (built at the Lürssen shipyard in Bremen, Germany; this four-deck vessel is 90 meters long). Suleiman Kerimov's personal aircraft is the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) 737-700 - a luxuriously finished medium-haul passenger airliner with a non-stop flight range of up to 12,000 km (in the standard commercial configuration, the Boeing 737 carries more than 100 passengers, but in the BBJ modification it takes on board only 16 people , and on board there is an office, a shower room and a bedroom).
Marital status: wife Firuza is the daughter of a high-ranking Dagestan official. The family has three children - a son and two daughters.
Hajj according to Kerimov's program
Suleiman Kerimov is involved in charity work, donating large sums to social events, in particular to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In April 2007, Kerimov donated $100 million for the construction of the Cathedral Mosque in Moscow, and in May of the same year he allocated funds to send 5 thousand Russians to the Hajj.
Every year the number of pilgrims going on Hajj to Mecca from Dagestan through the charity of Senator Suleiman Kerimov ranges from 2.5 to 3 thousand people. Their exact number depends on the general hajj quotas allocated to the republic. The charity project is carried out by the Marva-Tour company.
Biography
Born on March 12, 1966 in the city of Derbent (according to other sources - in the village of Karakyure, Dokuzparinsky district) of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. By nationality - Lezgin. Father is a lawyer, worked in the criminal investigation department; mother is an accountant at Sberbank of Russia. In his youth, Suleiman Kerimov was fond of judo and kettlebell lifting, and was a repeated champion of various championships.
After graduating from high school in Derbent in 1983 (certificate with honors, favorite subject - mathematics), he entered the construction department of the Dagestan Polytechnic Institute. In 1984, after completing the first year of the institute, Suleiman Kerimov was drafted into the army and completed compulsory military service in the Strategic Missile Forces of the USSR Armed Forces (Strategic Missile Forces of the USSR Armed Forces), where he was a crew chief with the rank of senior sergeant. During his military service, Kerimov was the division champion in kettlebell lifting.
After being transferred to the reserve in 1986, Kerimov continued his studies at the Faculty of Economics of the Dagestan State University (DSU) named after. IN AND. Lenin, who graduated in 1989 with a degree in Accounting and Analysis of Economic Activities. In parallel with his studies, Kerimov served as deputy chairman of the trade union committee of the DSU.
In 1989-1995, Suleiman Kerimov worked in positions from economist to assistant general director for economic issues of the Eltav plant of the Ministry of Electronic Industry.
Since 1995, Suleiman Kerimov has been the general director of the investment company Soyuz-finance LLC (Moscow). This Moscow company worked in the domestic aviation business, raw materials industries and the banking sector. It was during this time (from 1995 to 1998) that Kerimov, according to media reports, earned his initial capital.
In April 1997, Kerimov became a researcher at the International Institute of Corporations (Moscow), and in February 1999 he was appointed vice president of this non-profit organization.
Notes
- Officials and businessmen mentioned in the “Kremlin report”. Full list // RBC, 01/30/2018.
- The Federation Council received 14 billion // Newspaper, 02.20.2008.
- Suleiman Kerimov hands over packages // Kommersant, 06.16.2008.
- Kerimov, Suleiman. Member of the Federation Council from the Republic of Dagestan, owner of the Nafta-Moscow company // Lenta.Ru.
- Suleiman Kerimov handed over the Anzhi football club to the new owner // RBC, 12/29/2016.
- Suleiman Kerimov is ready to testify in the Uralkali case // Forbes, 09/02/2013.
- The Cyprus court froze some assets of Suleiman Kerimov // Interfax, 04/14/2015.
- The car with Tina Kandelaki crashed into a tree // Rossiyskaya Gazeta, November 27, 2006.
- Russian lawmaker Kerimov detained by French police in tax evasion case // Reuters, 11/21/2017.
- Suleiman Kerimov was charged with French taxes // Kommersant, 11/23/2017.
- The Nice prosecutor's office filed an appeal against Kerimov's release on bail // TASS, November 28, 2017.
- Billionaire Kerimov allegedly brought up to €750 million “in suitcases” to France // Forbes, 12/04/2017.
- Billionaire and MP. Biography of Suleiman Kerimov // RIA Novosti, 06/07/2008.
Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov is a Russian businessman and politician, a member of the Federation Council from the Republic of Dagestan, one of the richest people in Russia.
Suleiman Kerimov is one of the richest citizens of Russia. According to Forbes for 2017, he ranks 21st in the country in terms of wealth, and 226th in the world. He owns the largest companies in oil production - Nafta Moscow - and gold production - Polyus Gold. Founder of the Suleyman Kerimov Foundation for the support of youth, development of medicine, culture and sports.
Kerimov was born on the western shore of the Caspian Sea in Derbent, Lezgin by nationality. The parents of the future businessman were ordinary Soviet people: his father was a criminal investigation lawyer and his mother was an accountant at Sberbank. Suleiman had an older brother and sister, by profession a doctor and a teacher of the Russian language, respectively.
Childhood
As a child, Kerimov studied well and loved sports. He was considered the best student in his school. Suleiman showed particular interest in mathematics, which he studied in depth. He graduated from school with a gold medal and entered the Dagestan Polytechnic University at the Faculty of Construction. Suleiman managed to complete one course, and then received a summons to the army and went to serve in the missile forces. Having been demobilized, Kerimov was reinstated at the university, but not at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, but at the Faculty of Economics.
In the photo, young Suleiman Kerimov In 1989 he graduated from the Dagestan Polytechnic and began working as an economist at a plant. "Eltav" was at that time the best defense enterprise of the Union. Over the course of five years of work, Kerimov rose through the ranks to General Director for Economic Affairs.
Business
In 1993, Eltav sent Kerimov to Moscow to manage Fedprombank, which was created for the convenience of settlements between the plant and clients. While working at the bank, Suleiman provided loans to several large companies that found themselves in crisis and made a number of useful contacts.
Kerimov’s own business has taken off since 1999. His first asset - a controlling stake in Nafta Moscow - became 100 percent within a year. And to this day, the businessman continues to single-handedly manage this holding.
Since the early 2000s, Kerimov begins to participate in politics. He becomes a State Duma deputy from the LDPR faction. In 2007, the entrepreneur left Zhirinovsky’s party without explaining the reasons, and continues his political career with United Russia. From the party in power, Kerimov enters the Federation Council as a representative of his home region - the Republic of Dagestan. Suleiman served in the upper house of parliament for two convocations.
Nafta Moscow, meanwhile, was buying up the assets of large enterprises with subsequent profitable resale. During this period, Kerimov began cooperation with major Russian businessmen and. Subsequently, Kerimov entered into several successful deals with them.
Also in the early 00s, a businessman bought land in the Moscow region to build luxury housing. The project was called “Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye”. But in 2006, Suleiman parted with him, selling him to Mikhail Shishkhanov.
Kerimov continued to accumulate assets: he acquired part of the shares of Gazprom and Sberbank, a sugar factory and television networks in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In 2008, the businessman entered the international market: he bought shares in Volvo, Boeing, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and several other large Western companies. However, this did not bring success. An economic crisis soon began, which robbed Suleiman of at least $20 billion held abroad. The business was in danger, but with the help of new projects, Kerimov managed to “get back into the game.”
In 2009, he bought a 37% stake in Polyus Gold, the largest Russian gold miner (renamed simply Polyus in 2016). By the end of 2015, Kerimov included his children on the board of directors of Polyus and now has a consolidated stake of 95%.
Now Suleiman Kerimov remains the owner of Nafta, whose assets, in addition to Polyus, also include shares in Rostelecom and the PIK group of construction companies.
In recent years, one of Kerimov’s largest investments was a $200 million investment in the Snapchat messenger. The messenger, which began to grow immediately after the public offering of shares, then sharply lost ground, and its investors were losers, including Kerimov.
Personal life
Suleiman Kerimov is married to a fellow student, the daughter of a nomenklatura official named Firuza. She gave birth to three children to the businessman. Firuza never appears in public with her husband. Suleiman attends social events with other women. According to rumors, Kerimov had affairs with Tina Kandelaki and Ksenia Sobchak. According to unofficial sources, Kerimov is a generous suitor; he showers his chosen ones with diamonds and presents other expensive gifts, including a personal plane.
Hobbies
Kerimov is a big sports fan. From 2011 to 2016, he owned the Anzhi football club, which became one of the most famous clubs in Russia thanks to the financing of the oligarch. After his arrival, the team acquired world-famous stars Samuel Eto'o and Robert Carlos. Later, Anzhi, which before Kerimov’s arrival usually finished the championships at the bottom of the standings, was joined by several more Russian stars, such as Yuri Zhirkov, Igor Denisov and others. According to them, the transfers were determined by interest in playing for this particular Dagestan team, and not by large salaries.
The businessman also invested in culture - with his $170 million, the largest mosque in Europe was built - the Moscow Cathedral.
Road accident with Kandelaki?
In 2006, Kerimov was involved in a serious car accident in Nice, which caused widespread public outcry. Firstly, the businessman himself, while driving a Ferrari, lost control on the track and was seriously injured. Three quarters of his body was covered in burns. Kerimov underwent rehabilitation at a burn center in Marseille, and later at a military hospital in Brussels.
The public was actively interested in the passenger of this car, as there was a rumor that TV presenter Tina Kandelaki was with Kerimov. She herself denied this information.
Having recovered, Kerimov decided to engage in charity work. He donated a million euros to the Pinocchio organization, which helps children affected by the fire.
Arrest
In November 2017, Suleiman Kerimov was detained in France. The prosecutor's office accused the businessman of non-payment of taxes when purchasing real estate on the Cote d'Azur and of illegally transporting cash across the border. According to the prosecution, he took from Russia to France from 500 to 750 million euros.
Russian politicians stood up for Kerimov (he is still a member of the Federation Council). The press secretary of the Russian president, on behalf of the Kremlin, promised that the state would protect the rights of its senator. French prosecutors responded that the businessman did not have diplomatic documents at the time of his arrest.
Suleiman Kerimov spent under house arrest virtually until the summer of 2018, spending most of his time in France, periodically asking for leave to go to Russia for several days for personal and family reasons. Only in June 2018 was Kerimov completely acquitted.
Upon returning to Russia, Suleiman Kerimov again began his duties as a parliamentarian. He is also actively involved in charitable activities and spends a lot of time on working trips around the Republic of Dagestan.
Activities today
The senator’s main concerns today, like many years before, are related to the development of Dagestan. Suleiman Kerimov helps build schools and mosques, provides support to pilgrims who annually make the Hajj to Mecca, and his son’s company is developing the Makhachkala International Airport.
In the summer of 2018, the authorities of Derbent, where the senator is from, announced the creation of a tourism cluster centered in this oldest city in Russia. Kerimov will take a direct part in the development of tourism in the region, including by transferring 1.5 billion rubles to the budget of Derbent. Additional funds will be used for infrastructure development - construction of hotel complexes, construction and repair of roads, etc.
State
In the past few years, according to Forbes, Kerimov's fortune has fluctuated from $7.8 billion in 2011 (maximum) to $1.6 billion in 2016 (minimum).
At the end of 2017, the oligarch’s fortune was estimated by the publication at $6.3 billion.
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Suleiman Abusaidovich is a well-known billionaire (his fortune as of April 2019 is estimated at $6.3 billion), is a member of the Federation Council from the Republic of Dagestan, heads the Nafta-Moscow financial and industrial group, and owns the Anzhi football club.
Childhood
He was born on March 12, 1966 in Derbent, where Sulik (as his close friends called him) spent his childhood. His father, a lawyer by training, worked in the criminal investigation department, and his mother was an accountant in the Sberbank system. He has a brother, who now works as a doctor, and a sister, a teacher of Russian language and literature.
In his youth, he was fond of judo and kettlebell lifting, and was repeatedly a champion of various championships.
Education and military service
He studied very well, and his favorite subject at school was mathematics. In 1983, he graduated with honors from secondary school No. 18 and entered the Dagestan Polytechnic Institute at the Faculty of Construction.
After all, he was drafted into the army. The young man served in Moscow, in the strategic missile forces. In 1986, being a senior sergeant in the position of crew chief, he was demobilized.
Upon returning from service, he continued his studies, but at the economics department at DSU.
Labor activity
After completing his studies, in 1989 he got a job at the Eltav plant as an ordinary economist, where after five years of work he managed to get the position of assistant general director for economic issues. In 1993, the plant’s management and partners established a bank and registered it in Moscow. Suleiman was sent to represent their interests in the new Fedprombank. Soon the banker already had a controlling stake in the credit institution.
In 1995, Suleiman Abusaidovich was appointed to the post of head of the trade and financial company Soyuz-Finance.
In the spring of 1997, he became a fellow at the International Institute of Corporations, and two years later he headed this autonomous non-profit organization as president.
Business and investment projects
In 1999, a new stage in his life began - he bought shares in the Nafta-Moscow oil trading company and began to actively engage in investment and resale transactions. A year later, the company made its first purchase - Varyoganneftegaz.
In November 2005, it acquired 70% of one of the largest gold and silver miners in Russia, Polymetal. A couple of years later, Polymetal was listed on the London Stock Exchange, after which Nafta resold its stake in this holding.
At the same time, his company continued to develop successfully and, through profitable investments made by him during the first years of its leadership, already had a stake in Gazprom and Sberbank (by 2008 it amounted to 4.25% and 5.6%, respectively). However, by mid-2008, Suleiman Abusaidovich himself completely withdrew from the share capital of both structures.
In 2003-2008 Nafta developed the Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye project, also known in the press as the “city of millionaires.” In April 2006, she became a co-owner of Mosstroyekonombank, which owns Smolensky Passage, in June she gained control of the Razvitie SEC, which unites three construction companies, and in July she announced that she owns 17% of Mospromstroy. All packages were then also resold.
In 2007, the entrepreneur invested in Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and other foreign financial institutions. At the same time, Forbes named him Morgan Stanley's largest private investor.
At the same time, he was engaged in completely different projects. Thus, in 2005, together with the capital’s mayor’s office, a joint telecommunications open joint stock company, Mosteleset, was created - the sole shareholder of Mostelecom. Two years later, these assets were merged into the National Telecommunications holding and a year later sold to a consortium of investors led by Yuri Kovalchuk’s National Media Group CJSC for $1.5 billion.
At the end of 2006, together with the government of the capital, it was announced the creation of the United Hotel Company, to which the shares of more than 20 hotels on the balance sheet of the city were transferred (including Balchug, Metropol, National and Radisson-Slavyanskaya ). It was assumed that Nafta would be one of the leaders in the Moscow hotel market.
Among the businessman’s other Russian assets at that time were the companies Metronom AG and the operator of the Mercado supermarket chain.
In February 2009, Nafta became the owner of 75% of Glavstroy SPb. In the spring of 2009, under the auspices of the entrepreneur, the reconstruction of the Moscow Hotel began, as a result of which the five-star Four Seasons Hotel with offices and apartments, as well as the Fashion Season shopping gallery, was opened there. In 2015, he first sold the gallery and then the hotel to Alexey Khotin.
In the second quarter of 2009, his structures bought 25% of PIK Group, the largest developer in Russia, whose financial position at that time was precarious. During the first couple of years of his leadership, the group regained financial stability and strengthened its position in the market. In the winter of 2013, the entire stake (which at that time was 38.3%) was sold to Sergei Gordeev and Alexander Mamut.
In the same 2009, Nafta-Moscow bought 37% of Polus Gold, the largest gold producer in the country, from Vladimir Potanin. Over time, this figure increased to 40.22%. In 2012, Polyus held an IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and at the end of 2015, the rights to 95% of the holding were transferred to it.
In April 2009, he bought 19.71% of the shares and became one of the owners of MFK Bank.
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In June 2010, together with his partners, he acquired 53% of Uralkali (the size of the transaction was estimated at $5.3 billion). For this purchase, he had to take out a decent loan from VTB. In December 2013, he sold a stake in Uralkali to Mikhail Prokhorov (21.75%) and Dmitry Mazepin (19.99%).
In January 2011, Anzhi Makhachkala, part of the Russian football Premier League, came into his possession. In addition, near Makhachkala, a modern Anzhi Arena stadium with a functioning children's Football Academy was built at the billionaire's expense.
In 2013-2014 he sold off most of his resources, while his son, a young businessman Abusaid, bought Cinema Park, a large chain of cinemas, from V. Potanin (the deal was valued at $300 million).
Political activity
From 1999 to 2003, he was a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the third convocation, and was a member of its security committee. Then, until 2007, he was a deputy of the Duma of the 4th convocation, and also served as deputy chairman of the committee on physical culture, sports and youth affairs.
Since 2008, he has been a member of the Federation Council (FC), and since March 2011 he has represented Dagestan in the upper house of the Russian parliament.
At the end of September 2016, it became known that the oligarch was re-elected to the Federation Council. The decision was made at the People's Assembly, all 86 deputies from the republic voted in favor.
Charity and patronage
In November 2006, in Nice, he was in a car accident and received severe burns. After this, the entrepreneur donated 1 million euros to the Pinocchio charity, which helps children cope with burn injuries.
At the end of 2013, all assets of the enterprises he owned were transferred to the Suleyman Kerimov Foundation, which was founded by the billionaire in 2007. One of his most ambitious undertakings is the reconstruction of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, the annual Hajj for several thousand Muslims, international youth and cultural festivals, and more.
In 2014, according to Forbes magazine, he was the third among the richest people in Russia who provided financial assistance to charity projects in 2013.
Among other things, he has headed the board of trustees since the founding of the Russian Wrestling Federation in 2006. For many years, his foundation was the main sponsor of this organization, financing, along with the New Perspective support fund, the national program for the development of freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Awards
On March 10, 2016, he was awarded the honorary badge of the Dagestan Republic “For love of his native land.”
In turn, FILA awarded him its most prestigious award, the “Golden Order”.
According to the Forbes list, the businessman’s material well-being flourished in 2007-2008: at first he was the seventh richest businessman in the Russian Federation - his fortune was estimated at $12.8 billion. The next year, he took eighth place in the ranking, while his fortune grew to $18.4 billion.
In 2016, he was in 45th place with $1.6 billion, in 2017 he became 21st, increasing his fortune to $6.3 billion. In 2018, he rose one place, taking 20th place (his fortune was estimated at $6.4 billion).
Hobbies
In addition to football and martial arts, he loves to surf the sea - for this he owns two yachts - Ice and Millenium, purchased in 2005-2006. One curious fact is connected with the four-deck, ninety-meter yacht Ice - for example, in 2012, its crew rescued nine people whose pleasure boat capsized. In the media, the owner of the ship was awarded another medal for this - “For saving drowning people.”
To travel by air, they use an equally luxurious vehicle - the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) 737-700.
Family status
He met his future wife, Firuza Nazimovna Khanbalaeva, at the university - they studied at the same faculty. The couple have three children. In 1990, a daughter, Gulnara, was born, and five years later, a son, Abusaid. The youngest daughter, Aminat, was born in 2003.
Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov was born on March 12, 1966 in Derbent (Dagestan). In 1983 he graduated from high school (with a gold medal) and entered the construction department of the Dagestan Polytechnic Institute. After the first year, he was drafted into the army (deferment for full-time university students was then cancelled). In 1984-1986 he served in the Strategic Missile Forces. He received the rank of senior sergeant and was the head of the Strategic Missile Forces crew. In the army I did a lot of sports - I became the champion of the division in kettlebell lifting.
Returning from the army in 1986, Kerimov transferred to the Faculty of Economics of the Dagestan State University (DSU). During his studies, he was deputy chairman of the university trade union committee. In 1989, he graduated from high school with a diploma in "Accounting and Analysis of Economic Activities" and went to work at the Eltav plant of the Ministry of Electronic Industry - one of the best enterprises in the defense industry. He worked at the plant until 1995, rising from an ordinary economist to assistant general director for economic issues.
In 1995, thanks to the established circle of acquaintances among Moscow businessmen and officials, Kerimov received an offer to become deputy general director of the Soyuz-Finance company. This Moscow company worked in the domestic aviation business, raw materials industries and the banking sector. Kerimov accepted the offer.
In April 1997, Kerimov became a researcher at the International Institute of Corporations (Moscow), and in February 1999 he was appointed vice president of this non-profit organization.
It was in the 1990s that Kerimov, according to media reports, earned his initial capital. In October 1998, for $50 million, Kerimov acquired 55 percent of the shares of the investment company OJSC Nafta-Moscow (traded oil and petroleum products, was created on the basis of the Soyuznefteexport association) from its management, within a year he increased his stake in the company to 100 percent and This is how he became the owner of the company.
In December 1999, Kerimov was dismissed from the post of vice-president of the International Institute of Corporations in connection with his election as a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (he entered the Duma of the third convocation on the federal list from the Zhirinovsky Bloc).
Having become a deputy, Karimov did not retire. According to his friends, he still had full control of his company, and the source of Kerimov’s capital was the purchase of assets. At that time, according to media reports, a “soft” (without affiliated structures) business alliance developed between Kerimov and Roman Abramovich, and later business relations were established with the owner of Basic Element, Oleg Deripaska (according to some reports, the alliance existed by November 2006).
In 2000, Nafta-Moscow bought the Varyeganneftegaz company. In 2001, Kerimov, together with the structures of Abramovich and Deripaska, received a share in the business of Andrei Andreev, which consisted of more than a hundred companies: Avtobank (by 2006 it became part of the Uralsib corporation), Ingosstrakh, Ingosstrakh-Russia Insurance Company (now Russia"), Ingosstrakh-Soyuz Bank (now Soyuz), Nosta and others. At the same time, Kerimov’s company, which was once one of the largest oil traders in Russia, moved further and further from its original activities and in 2002 practically curtailed oil trading.
On December 7, 2003, Kerimov was re-elected to the State Duma. He entered the Duma of the fourth convocation on the federal list from the LDPR. The deputy was appointed deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, and was also included in the security committee.
At the end of 2003 and in 2004, Nafta began buying land in the Moscow region on Novorizhskoye Highway. On these lands it was planned to build 2.7 million square meters of luxury housing and entertainment complexes. The cost of the project was estimated at $3 billion. The project was named the private city "Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye". By 2006, it already occupied 430 hectares of land.
In November 2005, the International Federation of United Wrestling Styles (FILA) presented Kerimov with one of the most prestigious awards - the Golden Order. FILA President Rafael Martinetti expressed a desire to personally present the award to the deputy in order to “express gratitude and respect to the person who supports wrestling in Russia and around the world” (by 2005, Nafta-Moscow became the general sponsor of the Russian national freestyle wrestling team).
At the end of 2005, Nafta bought Polymetal, Russia's second gold mining company, for $900 million and planned to list about 25 percent of its shares on the stock exchange. In February 2006, Kerimov decided to turn Nafta-Moscow into a full-fledged investment company, turning it into a leading private equity fund.
By 2006, Nafta, according to official data, owned more than 6 percent of the shares of Sberbank (about $1.6 billion at current prices) and more than 4 percent of the shares of Gazprom ($10.4 billion), cable television operators in Moscow and St. Petersburg - Mosteleset (Nafta owns 59 percent of the shares of the enterprise) and National Cable Networks, almost 20 percent of the shares of Bin-Bank, two percent of the shares of OJSC MGTS and 91 percent of the shares of the Krasnopresnensky Sugar Refinery Plant (in August 2006, shares of the plant, bought by Nafta from two rival companies were sold to the PIK group (according to media reports, Kerimov made money on resale).In addition, the company owned 50 percent of the shares of the Mercado supermarket chain.
By that time, resale transactions, including in the real estate market, had become Kerimov’s strong point. In April 2006, his Nafta became a co-owner of Mosstroyekonombank, which owns Smolensky Passage, in June it gained control of the Razvitie SEC, which unites three construction companies, and in July notified the mayor of Moscow that it owns 17 percent of the holding's shares." Mospromstroy". None of these acquisitions remained with Nafta: Development was bought by Deripaska's Basic Element, Mospromstroy and Mosstroyekonombank - the BIN group.
In May 2006, Kerimov headed the Board of Trustees of the Russian Wrestling Federation. According to the president of the federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili, the decision to establish a Board of Trustees and appoint its head was made because, for the effective implementation of the tasks facing the Russian Wrestling Federation, long-term interaction with state sports management bodies and large national business structures has become crucial.
Soon after this, information appeared in the press that the Dynamo football club could be bought by Kerimov, since the owner of this club and the Fedcominvest company, Alexey Fedorychev, intended to completely abandon his sports business in Russia. This information was based on the fact that Kerimov had already tried to enter the football business more than once. In 2004, representatives of Nafta-Moscow negotiated the purchase of a controlling stake in the Italian Roma (the deal did not take place); a little later, Kerimov almost concluded an agreement with the government of the Moscow region on financing the Saturn football club (a deal worth 60 million dollars fell through at the last moment). In 2005, the Nafta-Moscow company became one of the sponsors of the Russian Football Union.
In July, Kerimov, together with Deripaska and Abramovich, acquired a stake in the state oil company Rosneft (the company that at the end of 2004 bought the former subsidiary of the Yukos oil company, Yuganskneftegaz). And in August 2006, reports appeared in the press that Nafta-Moscow intended to buy out the debts of NK YUKOS (On August 1, the Moscow Arbitration Court declared YUKOS bankrupt, and from that moment on, any third-party investor could pay off creditors " Yukos" to actually gain control over its assets). It was alleged that Kerimov negotiated such a possibility with Yukos President Stephen Theede. Later, the Nafta press service officially denied these reports.
In mid-November 2006, journalists learned that Kerimov had decided to start a hotel business in Moscow. On November 21, 2006, the Nafta company and the Moscow government announced the creation of the United Hotel Company OJSC (authorized capital - $ 2 billion), to which the shares of more than 20 hotels on the city's balance sheet were transferred (including Balchug, Metropol ", "National" and "Radisson-Slavyanskaya"). It was assumed that participation in the project would make Nafta one of the leaders in the Moscow hotel market.
In the list of the richest people in the world compiled by Forbes magazine in 2006, Kerimov took 72nd place. His fortune, according to the magazine, reached $7.1 billion. In addition, according to media reports, back in August 2005, Kerimov became one of the 50 richest Russians who own their own aircraft - he purchased a BBJ airliner (a business version of the Boeing 737-700, worth approximately $50 million).
On November 25, 2006, Kerimov was in a car accident. According to the newspaper Nice Matin, the car in which the deputy and his companion were driving along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice crashed into a tree and caught fire. Kerimov was taken to the specialized hospital de la Timone in Marseille with severe burns. According to eyewitnesses of the accident, he managed to get out of the car himself and tried to knock out the flames from his clothes. The businessman's companion, TV presenter of the STS channel Tina Kandelaki, according to journalists, suffered less. She was taken to Saint-Roch Hospital and discharged the same day.
Sources close to Kerimov told reporters that his life was not in danger. At the same time, an employee in the management of the hospital de la Timone told Vedomosti that Kerimov was connected to an artificial respiration apparatus and was in an induced coma. The doctor did not predict the patient’s condition, saying only that Kerimov “is stable and is under medical supervision.” It was also reported that in addition to burns, the deputy also received a traumatic brain injury. As for Kerimov’s companion, according to Alexander Rodnyansky, president of CTC Media (the company where Kandelaki works), on November 26 she was already in Moscow.
Initially, the investigation assumed that Kerimov, who was driving the car, lost control when he overtook. The police were inclined to this version because the speed limit on the embankment was 50 miles per hour, that is, about 70 kilometers per hour. According to the police, as a result of Kerimov's maneuver, the car - a Ferrari Enzo, worth 675 thousand euros - hit the pavement, then it was thrown into a tree, and the impact hit the gas tank.
Kandelaki did not confirm her participation in the road accident for some time, insisting that she had not been to Nice at all, but was at home in Moscow because she had contracted the mumps. Later, the TV presenter admitted that she was with Kerimov in his car, and added that she told about the mumps only to hide her relationship with the deputy. Kandelaki told reporters that a man suddenly jumped out onto the road in front of Karimov’s car. To avoid hitting him, the deputy turned the steering wheel sharply, and this caused the accident.
On December 5, 2006, the Belgian newspaper RTL, citing a representative of the Belgian Ministry of Defense, announced that Kerimov was transported to the Queen Astrid military hospital in Brussels. According to the publication, Kerimov was transported to Belgium at the request of Professor Jean-Louis Vincennes from the Erasme hospital, who even asked the Belgian Defense Minister Andre Flahaut to allocate “as an exception” a specially equipped aircraft and a team of Belgian military doctors to transport “one patient.” In addition, the professor promised that all costs associated with transportation “will be fully reimbursed by the patient or his relatives.”
On January 24, 2007, it became known that Kerimov returned to Moscow and began work. As a source close to the management of OJSC GNK (formerly Nafta-Moscow), which Kerimov owns, told the Interfax news agency, the businessman has “almost completely recovered after the accident” and “works on a daily basis and in full.”
On April 6, 2007, it became known that Kerimov wrote a statement about leaving the LDPR faction. As a representative of the State Duma Committee on Regulations stated, Kerimov did not justify his decision in any way. According to the Rules Committee, Kerimov did not write any additional statements about joining another Duma faction. On the same day, it became known that deputy Oleg Malyshkin, who ran for the presidency of Russia in 2004 from the LDPR, left the faction (and at the same time the LDPR party). The parliamentarian told reporters that he intends to continue to remain an independent deputy. Vice Speaker of the State Duma, leader of the Liberal Democrats Vladimir Zhirinovsky, commenting on Kerimov’s departure, told reporters that the reason for his departure from the faction was a gross violation of party discipline. According to Zhirinovsky, the deputy did not take proper part in election campaigns in his region.
On April 12, 2007, the media reported that Kerimov wrote another statement - this time about joining the United Russia faction (its consideration was scheduled for April 17).
On April 19, 2007, the Russian version of Forbes magazine published a ranking of the richest citizens of Russia. The list of the hundred richest Russians was headed by Chukotka Governor Roman Abramovich, whose fortune by the spring of 2007 reached $19.2 billion. Kerimov took seventh place with $12.8 billion.
On May 11, 2007, it became known that the presidium of the United Russia faction decided to accept the deputy into the faction. Formally, the issue of accepting Kerimov should have been discussed at a meeting of subgroups of factions, but in fact the issue could already be considered resolved.
In December 2007, Kerimov was elected as a representative of the People's Assembly of Dagestan in the Federation Council. His candidacy was supported by all 56 deputies present at the meeting of the republican parliament. The speaker of the Dagestan parliament, Magomed Suleymanov, proposed electing Kerimov. According to him, Kerimov is a fairly well-known politician who “provides support to Dagestan, especially to the republic’s athletes.” On February 20, 2008, Kerimov became a senator: the Federation Council confirmed his powers as a representative of the People's Assembly of Dagestan.
In June 2008, the Kommersant newspaper reported that structures controlled by Kerimov sold large stakes in Gazprom and Sberbank that they owned. The share price at the beginning of the year was $15.37 and $5.4 billion, respectively. The newspaper also reported that Kerimov’s structures “sold or are negotiating the sale” of other Russian assets of the businessman - the company Metronom AG, the operator of the Mercado supermarket chain (sold to X5 Retail Group in the fall of 2007 for $200 million), National Telecommunications (the acquirer was the National Media Group, the main shareholder of which was Bank Rossiya of Yuri Kovalchuk) and shares in the Polymetal company (the founder of the ICT group Alexander Nesis, as well as Russian financier Alexander Mamut and structures of the Czech fund PPF were mentioned as acquirers). In addition, according to Kommersant’s sources, Kerimov was going to sell the elite village of Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye, which is under construction. After the sale of land, telecommunications, metallurgical and other assets, according to the publication, the businessman should have virtually no investments left in Russia. It was also reported that Kerimov would invest the funds freed up as a result of the sale of Russian assets in foreign financial institutions (according to the newspaper, at that time he had already acquired about 3 percent of the shares of Deutsche Bank, as well as securities of Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS).
However, in February 2009, information about Kerimov’s acquisitions in Russia was published. It was reported that his Nafta-Moscow became the owner of 75 percent of Glavstroy SPb, a company that in St. Petersburg owns development projects of the Glavstroy corporation (the construction division of Deripaska's Basic Element). A source close to Kerimov’s company from the Kommersant newspaper, which reported on the purchase, confirmed that Nafta-Moscow was “interested in consolidating” all shares of Glavstroy SPb LLC, whose portfolio of projects was estimated at 6 million square meters of various real estate. In the same month, it became known that the Moscow government offered Nafta-Moscow a controlling stake in Dekmos OJSC, which was engaged in the construction of the Moscow Hotel. However, Nafta-Moscow gained partial control over Dekmos OJSC only in January 2010, when it acquired 50 percent of the shares of Konk Select Partners, a company that owned 51 percent of Dekmos OJSC shares. Subsequently, Kerimov continued to buy up Russian development companies. Thus, in April 2009, one of the country's largest developers - the PIK group of companies - officially admitted that Nafta-Moscow had received 25 percent of its shares and submitted a petition to the FAS to purchase another 20 percent of PIK. In May of the same year, a source from the Vedomosti newspaper reported that Nafta Co. Kerimova became a co-owner of the Moscow Voentorg, and several of its representatives joined the board of directors of CJSC Trading House TSVUM, which owns Voentorg. In August, the financial director of Nafta Co. confirmed the information that Nafta Co. owns almost 100 percent of CJSC Trading House TSVUM (Voentorg). He added that the deal was closed in the fall of 2008. Amount it was not named, but Vedomosti's source reported that the department store cost Kerimov's company approximately $300 million - with the condition that it would enter the project only after the reconstruction of Voentorg was completed.
In March 2009, Kommersant reported that the owner of the Interros holding, Vladimir Potanin, was selling 22 percent of the shares of Polyus Gold OJSC to Kerimov's structures. The amount of the transaction was not reported, but the newspaper provided data on the value of Polyus shares based on market quotes on the date of the transaction - 22 percent cost $1.42 billion. Analysts agreed that Kerimov acquired these assets “for a certain period of time for further resale.” In June, the leadership of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) announced that the purchase of a stake in Polyus Gold by Kerimov's company was approved by the government commission on foreign investment. In July 2009, when Polyus Gold revealed its ownership structure, it became known that Kerimov is the beneficiary of 36.88 percent of the company's shares: it was reported that he controls this stake through Wandle Holdings Limited. Despite the fact that 24.59 percent of the shares from this block were sold under a repo transaction (a type of loan, a transaction for the sale of securities with a mandatory subsequent repurchase of securities of the same issue in the same quantity after a certain period at a predetermined, higher price - editor's note), Kerimov retained the right to vote on it. It was not reported with whom the repurchase agreement was concluded and when the businessman has the right to return these shares.
In February 2010, Polyus Gold, which Kerimov actually owned together with Mikhail Prokhorov, acquired 11.4 percent of the shares of RBC Information Systems OJSC, the parent company of the RBC media holding. In April of the same year, Kerimov, having bought 19.71 percent of the shares, became one of the co-owners of the International Financial Club bank (IFC), part of the Onexim group owned by Prokhorov.
Suleiman Kerimov is the youngest child in the family. He has a brother, a doctor by profession, and a sister, a teacher of Russian language and literature. Kerimov's parents and other relatives live in Moscow. The entrepreneur's wife Firuza Kerimova is the daughter of a CPSU functionary; According to some reports, it was to his marriage with her that Kerimov owed much of his early career. According to various sources, Suleiman and Firuza have two or three children. Pop singer Natalya Vetlitskaya, who, according to some sources, has a daughter from him, was also mistakenly indicated as Kerimov’s wife. In 2008, it was reported that another passion of Kerimov, designer Katya Gomiashvili, was expecting a daughter from him.
Suleiman Kerimov was born on March 12, 1966 in Derbent, originally from the village of Karakyure, Dokuzparinsky district. Lezgin by nationality].
Family
Suleiman Kerimov is the youngest in the family. He has a brother, a doctor by profession, and a sister, a teacher of Russian language and literature. In his youth, Kerimov was fond of judo and kettlebell lifting, and was a repeated champion of various championships.
One of the first takeovers attributed to Kerimov was the takeover of Vnukovo Airlines.
Rumor has it that even the trade union leader of Vnukovo Airlines, Gennady Borisov, who tried to fight abuses in the company and Kerimov’s policies, could not stop Kerimov.
After all, in January 1999, Borisov was killed in the entrance of his house. That was the end of it.
Then, in the early 2000s, when loans-for-shares auctions had already died down, Suleiman Kerimov worked quite well with Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska. As a result, he “chopped off” the company “Varyeganneftegaz”, a subsidiary of SIDANCO, in respect of which bankruptcy proceedings were initiated. By that time, Kerimov had gained control of 70% of the shares of Varyeganneft OJSC.
Following this, the Bazhaev brothers began to challenge Nafta’s 38.9% stake in Varyeganneft, accusing Kerimov of forcefully seizing their business. However, of course, they were unable to defeat Suleiman Abusaidovich in the Russian courts. So this takeover was also completed.
Then Kerimov “coveted” the Avtobank group, the main owner of which was former OBKhSS employee Andrei Andreev. In addition to the head bank, it included Ingosstrakh, Ingosstrakh-Soyuz (the future Soyuz Bank), Orsko-Khalilovsky Iron and Steel Works (NOSTA) and several dozen smaller companies.
As a result, the raiders easily seized Andreev’s assets.
The next victim of Suleiman Abusaidovich was the Razvitie SEC, which was building about 1.5 million square meters. m of housing per year. Considering that over the last four years before the raider takeover, the total volume of housing construction in the metropolis, according to official data from the Moscow construction complex, ranged from 4.47 to 5.22 million square meters annually, it is not difficult to calculate the share of SEC. Plus, up to 50% of all building materials used in the city were sold by the same company. By the way, at that time the media publicly wrote about the possible involvement of Mr. Kerimov in this raider takeover.
And a couple of years ago, State Duma deputy from the LDPR Ashot Yeghiazaryan accused Suleiman Kerimov of raider seizure of a controlling stake in Dekmos OJSC http://www.compromat.ru/page_27855.htm (49% of the shares belonged to the Moscow Property Department, and the controlling stake belonged to CJSC "Decorum", behind which Yeghiazaryan stood in particular). This was the final stage of the struggle for control over the reconstruction project of the Moscow Hotel.
After these and other similar scandals, Mr. Kerimov gained a long-lasting reputation as one of the strongest Russian raiders.
International wanted
Addictions, incidents
Accident in Nice
At the end of November 2006, he had a serious accident in Nice: a Ferrari Enzo, driven by Kerimov, for an unknown reason drove off the road and crashed into a tree. As a result of a collision with a tree, burning gasoline spilled from the car’s burst fuel tank onto Kerimov’s back. According to eyewitnesses, Kerimov ran out, engulfed in flames, and rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire; this was only possible after three teenagers who were playing baseball nearby ran up to him.
As a result of a huge traffic jam that formed at the scene of the accident, the entrance to Nice was blocked for about two hours. The helicopter took Kerimov with severe burns to a specialized department of the Conception hospital in Marseille, where he was connected to a ventilator. The victim was in a state of artificial coma. At the same time, Kerimov’s companion, the famous TV presenter Tina Kandelaki, was practically unharmed. The Ferrari, worth around €675,000, was sent to the scrapyard.