Alisher Usmanov

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Burkhanovich and the family name is Usmanov.
Alisher Usmanov
Алишер Усманов
Usmanov in 2013
Born (1953-09-09) 9 September 1953 (age 71)
Chust, Namangan Region, Soviet Union
Alma materMoscow Institute of International Relations
Known forShareholder of USM Holdings (49%)
former President of Fédération Internationale d'Escrime
Spouse
​
(div. 2022)​
Awards

Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (Uzbek: Alisher Burxonovich Usmonov, Russian: Алишер Бурханович Усманов; born 9 September 1953) is a Russian oligarch[1][2] from Uzbekistan. He is sanctioned by the US, EU, UK, and Ukrainian governments. By 2023, Usmanov had an estimated net worth of $14.5 billion and was among the world's 100 wealthiest people.[3]

Usmanov made his wealth after the collapse of the Soviet Union, through metal and mining operations, and investments.[4][5] He is a shareholder of 49% of Metalloinvest, a Russian industrial conglomerate, which consolidated in 2006 JSC Metalloinvest's assets (Mikhailovsky GOK and Ural Steel) with those of Gazmetall JSC (Lebedinsky GOK and the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant).[6]

He owns the Kommersant publishing house. He is also a co-owner of Russia's second-largest mobile telephone operator, MegaFon, and co-owner of Udokan copper which develops one of the largest copper deposits in the world. Usmanov eventually teamed up with Yuri Milner[7] and became the largest investor of Digital Sky Technologies ("DST"). On 16 September 2010, DST changed its name to "Mail.ru Group".[8] He also holds shares of a number of international technology companies.[9] He was the president of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime, the international governing body of the sport of fencing, from 2008 until 2022.[10][11]

On 28 February 2022, in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union blacklisted Usmanov, imposing an EU-wide travel ban on him and freezing all his assets.[12] On 3 March, the United States imposed similar sanctions on him, with some exceptions for his companies.[13][14][15] Usmanov was named in the Official Journal of the European Union, the publication of record of the EU, as a "pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin [who is] one of Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs."[11] Usmanov denied these allegations and filed an appeal in the European Court of Justice in an attempt to lift the sanctions. On 7 February 2024, the appeal was dismissed.[16] His political activity includes the suppression of freedom of speech by taking over the VK social network.[17]

He spent six years in a Soviet prison in the 1980s on charges of fraud and embezzlement, but his conviction was later overturned. In 2000, he was eventually rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan, which ruled that the case against him was trumped up and no crime had been committed.[18]

  1. ^ "Report to Congress Pursuant to Section 241 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 Regarding Senior Foreign Political Figures and Oligarchs in the Russian Federation and Russian Parastatal Entities". Financial Times. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 8 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ Times, The Sunday. "Alisher Usmanov net worth — Sunday Times Rich List 2021". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Sanctioning an Oligarch Is Not So Easy: Why the Money Trail of Alisher Usmanov, One of Russia's Wealthiest Men, Is Difficult to Follow". OCCRP. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  4. ^ Foy, Henry (3 January 2020). "Alisher Usmanov: 'I was never what you could call an oligarch'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Alisher Usmanov". Forbes. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Metalloinvest History". metalloinvest.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. ^ Kremlin Cash Behind Billionaire's Twitter and Facebook Investments Archived 14 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine (The New York Times)
  8. ^ "Digital Sky Technologies ("DST") Changes Name to Mail.ru Group". Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  9. ^ "USM Holdings – Internet". Usm-group.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  10. ^ Russian Capitalist Wiki contributors, "Alisher Usmanov" Archived 12 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Russian Capitalist Wiki. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Oligarch Usmanov stands aside as FIE President in wake of EU sanctions". www.insidethegames.biz. 1 March 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  12. ^ Valentina Pop; Sam Fleming; Max Seddon (28 February 2022). "EU freezes assets of Russia's leading oligarchs and allies of Putin". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  13. ^ Nick Wadhams; Jennifer Jacobs (3 March 2022). "U.S. Sanctions Usmanov, Prigozhin, Tokarev, Other Russian Elites". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  14. ^ "US oligarch sanctions list exempts Usmanov's companies". www.intellinews.com. 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Russians Bankrolling Putin and Russia-Backed Influence Actors". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  16. ^ "EU court dismisses Russian oligarch Usmanov's appeal against sanctions". Reuters. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  17. ^ [1] Archived 31 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine | RSF | 23 May 2017
  18. ^ "Russia's richest man is out to prove a point". Reuters. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.