Vladimir Potanin

Vladimir Olegovich Potanin (Владимир Олегович Потанин; born 3 January 1961) is a Russian billionaire businessman.

In 1978, he attended the faculty of the International economic relations at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), which groomed students for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Upon graduating MGIMO in 1983, he followed in his father's footsteps and went to work for the all-union foreign trade organization (FTO) Soyuzpromexport, which was an arm of the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

He acquired his wealth notably through the controversial loans-for-shares program in Russia in the early to mid-1990s.

As of February 2024, he is the wealthiest man in Russia and the 48th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $31 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In the 2023 Forbes ranked him as the second-wealthiest person in Russia, with an estimated net worth of $23.7 billion.

Potanin and his long-term business partner Mikhail Prokhorov acquired Norilsk Nickel (or Nornickel) in the early 1990s under the "loans for shares" scheme, owning between them 54% of the firm.

During perestroika, Potanin quit the State's structures of Foreign trade and in 1991 created the private association Interros using his knowledge gathered at Ministry of Foreign trade and his previous professional network.

In 1993, Potanin became president of the newly formed United Export Import Bank (ONEKSIMbank) ("ОНЭКСИМ-банк") (akas: Uneximbank; Onexim Bank; Oneksimbank).

Oneksimbank is the financial twin of MFK and was also known as the ONEKSIMbank-MFK banking group which was also close to Andrey Vavilov.

Potanin is a close supporter of Anatoly Chubais who introduced Potanin to Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

In 1995, Potanin was instrumental in the creation of the "loans for shares" auctions that became a fundamental pillar of Russia's post-Soviet economic reform.

The auctions allowed the selling-off of Russian firms' assets at below market prices and are regarded as the founding moment of Russia's oligarchy.

From 14 August 1996 until 17 March 1997, he worked as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

In 1997, Boris Jordan introduced George Soros to Potanin which led to the Soros Group supported by Potanin, Anatoly Chubais, and Alfred Koch to have the controlling stake in the Russian communications monopoly over the Berezovsky-Gusinsky group.

One year later Soros admitted that his large investment in Svyazinvest was a mistake.

Since August 1998, Potanin has held the positions of both president and chairman of the board of directors of the Interros Company.

On November 25, 1998, Potanin recommended Boris Jordan to be Chairman of Sidanko which Jordan held until February 1999 when he stepped down.

According to the New York Times, the auctions plan was regarded in 1999 "almost universally as an act of colossal criminality."

His long-term business partner was Mikhail Prokhorov until they decided to split in 2007.

Subsequently, they put their mutual assets in a holding company, Folletina Trading, until their asset division was agreed upon.

In 2007, Potanin split with Prokhorov, citing Prokhorov's brief detention by French police over soliciting prostitution as the reason and announced the intent to acquire Prokhorov's Norilsk Nickel assets for a reported $1 billion.

Prokhorov offered to sell his 25% stake for $15 billion.

However, Potanin refused the deal and it never came to pass.

In 2008, Deripaska reached an agreement with Prokhorov for the acquisition of his Norilsk Nickel stake, against Potanin's wishes.

In return, Prokhorov acquired 14% of RUSAL.

In March 2009, he sued Prokhorov for $29 million over a property disagreement in Moscow.

This sparked an ownership conflict between Deripaska and Potanin that was halted in 2012, when Roman Abramovich stepped in as a peacemaker by acquiring 6.5% of Norilsk and thereby maintaining the balance of power between Deripaska and Potanin.

The truce also barred the parties to sell or acquire new stakes.

The deal made Potanin CEO of the company, as he owned roughly 30% of Norilsk, about 2% more than Deripaska.

According to a report published by investigative platform Meduza in 2016, Prokhorov turned to Valentin Yumashev, former Russian president Boris Yeltsin's chief of staff, to appeal to president Vladimir Putin.

Reportedly, Putin "phoned Potanin in Prokhorov's presence and chewed him out, saying, 'It's dishonest to cheat on partners.'" Prokhorov ultimately decided to sell his 25% Norilsk stake to RUSAL's Oleg Deripaska instead.

In January 2018, Potanin appeared on the US Treasury's "Putin list" of 210 individuals closely associated with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

In June 2022, the UK has imposed sanction on Potanin for being one of the major oligarchs in "President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle."

Potanin was born in Moscow, in the former USSR, into a high-ranking Russian communist family.

Potanin owned as of 2018 a 34% stake in the company.

They streamlined operations and turned Norilsk Nickel into a modern corporation.

In February 2018, Potanin offered to buy 4% of Abramovich's stake.

A provisional acquisition agreement was reached in March for Potanin to buy a 2% stake in Norilsk from Abramovich.

The purchase was not yet officially approved as of March 2018, pending a court ruling in May that will decide whether the acquisition would breach the 2012 stakeholder agreement.