how did roman abromovich make so much money?many say he is a member of russian oil mafia? what do you think?

Answer 1

Roman Arkadievich Abramovich (Russian: Рома́н Арка́дьевич Абрамо́вич; born October 24, 1966 in Saratov, Russia) is a Russian oil billionaire, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs. In March 2006 he was listed by Forbes Magazine as the richest Russian, 2nd richest person in Britain and the 11th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $18.2 billion. Everyone above him in the list was at least ten years older. Abramovich is most famous outside of Russia as the owner of Chelsea F.C., an English Premiership football club, his wider involvement in European football. Despite his high profile around the world Abramovich makes virtually no public statements about his activities. Biographers and journalists can only speculate about the motives and objectives underlying his improbable life.

Mr Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in the city of Ukhta in Komi, before he was drafted into the Soviet army. His interest in oil began early as he concentrated his business activities on trading oil products out of Russia's largest refinery in Omsk, western Siberia.
Mr Abramovich's big break came in 1992, when Boris Berezovsky, then the most powerful of Russia's tycoons, befriended him and brought him into the inner circle of former president Boris Yeltsin.

Nine years later, when Mr Berezovsky fell out of favour with the new Putin regime, and went into exile to Britain following a criminal investigation into fraud charges, the pupil took over from the master.

Neatly stepping into his mentor's shoes, Mr Abramovich began building up his financial empire. He accumulated 80% of Sibneft, Russia's fifth-largest oil company, 50% of Rusal, the Russian aluminium oil monopoly, and 26% of Aeroflot, Russia's national airline.

Along the way, came the inevitable accusation of financial shenanigans as the Russian economy went through its own version of robber baron capitalism. In 1992, he was investigated, but eventually cleared, for alleged misappropriation of 55 railroad wagons full of diesel fuel from the Ukhtinsky petroleum processing plant. Recently, Mr Abramovich branched out into politics, following in the footsteps of other oligarchs who became regional governors - men who wield enormous power locally and nationally through the control of vast chunks of natural resources.

In December, 2000, he won 92% of the vote to become governor of Chukotka, a desolate province in northeastern Russia. Since then, he has been pouring money into a frozen province which has a population of just 73,000.

According to a Time magazine article last December, Mr Abramovich spent $200m (£120.2m) to $300m of his own money to build everything from hotels and cinemas to supermarkets.

Such largesse has aroused suspicions from Mr Abramovich's critics, who think he is using Chukotka as a springboard for higher political office. But he told Time: "It's a new endeavour for me. I've never run a territory. I've never talked publicly to people. I've got to try it just to see whether I like it."

He even brought staff from Sibneft to run the province. Despite all his efforts, the region was recently declared bankrupt and public sector salaries went unpaid for months.

Mr Abramovich already had a British connection before his surprise move for Chelsea. His multibillion dollar assets are controlled through Millhouse Capital, a British-registered investment fund. Also, this is not his first move into sport, as he already owns a hockey team.

Sport and rich men, it's a familiar mix. CNN tycoon Ted Turner once owned the Atlanta Braves baseball team and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation owns the Los Angeles Dodger, another baseball team.

Answer 2

Abrahamovic was the equivalent of the Governer of Siberia when the Russian government decided to privatise the oil industry. When it was privatised, the oil fields would go to the highest bidder at an auction that was fully advertised and arranged by the Governer of the affected territory. Basically, the advertising was so sub-standard that Mr. Abramovic had no real opposition to speak of when it came to bidding on and winning all the oil fields, and paying a relative pittance for them. If you look into this matter a little further, you will find that most of the richest people in Russia made their money in the same way.

Answer 3

I am not sure how he came into the position of owning certain companies, however, he was certainly a big player in the growing russian oil firms of the nineties. His principal firm Sibneft made him a fortune through normal operating profits. However, the Russian decided to national Sibtnet and a number of other firms which netted Abramovich Billions. He also had shares in a number of other firms that were nationalised.

Abramovich has now moved a great deal of his personal fortune into Russain Steel, mineral ores and vehicle firms - all of which when finally sold will increase his wealth yet further still. The only investment where he loses money is Chelsea. But I suspect he bought that as a plaything (the equivalent of a billionaire's toy) and as a way to squander money out of the Russain tax collector's hands.

Answer 4

Abramovich obtained the majority of his wealth thanks to assets acquired cheaply during president Boris Yeltsin's program of privatizing state companies in the mid-90's. With the help of his then-partner Boris Berezovsky, he became the majority shareholder in Sibneft, a major oil company. He later acquired aluminium assets from private owners and merged them with the metals assets of Oleg Deripaska to form Russian Aluminium, the world's second-largest aluminium producer.

Abramovich and Berezovsky acquired half their shares in Sibneft through the so-called "loans for shares" program, in which the state mortgaged and later sold shares in several major enterprises to obtain loans for the government. The other half of the company was privatized through a series of auctions in the mid-1990s.

In 1999 Abramovich was elected to the State Duma as the representative for Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far East. He has used Chukotka as a tax haven for Sibneft.

In May 2006 he announced plans to buy a 40% stake in Evraz, one of the Russia's biggest steel producers, for $3bn – his first big investment in Russia since he sold his aluminium and oil assets.

Answer 5

He sold his stake in the Russian oil company - Siberneft. It made him a billionaire.He's not in the mafia.He got out of Russia to get away from all that nonsense!

Answer 6

well your right in one part it was from him owneing lots of oil however it was not for the mafia i hear he can not go to lots of places in russia because of this and once flew 11 hours to watch a football game i hope this helps you for whatever reason.

Answer 7

he bought shares in the russian oil industry when it was privatised, many years ago, and it has just been sold for billions.

Answer 8

last year he was 21st In the list of RICHEST MEN IN THE WORLD, by Forbes, he's supposed to have money, isn't it!!!!

Answer 9

Why ask if you know the answer yourself!

Answer 10

and many were right