Alexander Abramov

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For the Russian general, see Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov.

Alexander Abramov
Бизнесмен Александр Абрамов.jpeg
Born
Alexander Grigoryevich Abramov

(1959-02-20) February 20, 1959 (age 62)
Moscow, USSR
NationalityRussian
EducationMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-Founder of Evraz
TitleChairman of Evraz
Spouse(s)Married
Children3
AwardsOrder of Friendship

Alexander Grigoryevich Abramov (Russian: Александр Григорьевич Абрамов, born 1959) is a Russian former scientist who became an industrial magnate as one of the two heads of Evraz, Russia's largest steel producer. Beginning in 1998, at one point he had amassed the largest steel and iron empire in Russia, which employed 125,000 people, controlling about 22 percent of the country's total steel output with an annual turnover of $20 billion, leading to him be widely considered a Russian oligarch. A business partner and ally of Aleksandr Frolov and Roman Abramovich, Abramov was in June 2021 listed by Forbes as having an estimated net worth of $8.0 billion.[2]

Early life and education[]

Abramov was born in 1959 in Moscow, Russia, USSR.[3] He is of Jewish descent.[3] He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology with a degree in physics and mathematics.[3][4] He first worked for Russia's space and defense program before becoming a metal trader after government funding declined.[3]

Career[]

EvrazHolding is a product of Russia's growth since the 1998 financial crisis and Abramov is representative of the second wave of Russian magnates who went into business after the best assets had been taken. Unlike the first wave of politically connected oligarchs, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Vladimir Potanin, Abramov had neither political leverage nor financial resources to help him benefit from Russia's chaotic privatisation of the 1990s.

In recent years Evraz-Holding has emerged as one of the most aggressive vertically integrated business groups in Russia. Its assets include three large steel mills, three coal mines and several ore-enriching plants, as well as a large commercial port, Nakhodka, in the east of the country.[5]

Commercial entrepreneurship[]

Trading[]

He used his contacts with Russia's steel mills, which used high-temperature technologies, and offered his services not as a scientist but as a metal trader. Trading was a popular and quick way to make money in Russia in the early 1990s. The economy was shrinking, non-payment was a chronic problem and any offer of cash from a trader was welcomed by factories. By 1997, trading was less profitable and many trading companies, including Abramov's, were owed large sums by producers. Abramov began buying factories and swapped debt for equity in the Nizhny Tagil steel mill, while also buying stakes in its rail-producing plant from other shareholders.

Acquisitions, monopolies and factories[]

While the first wave of Russian oligarchs grabbed whatever assets they could, Mr Abramov acquired them in a much more focused way. He decided to build a monopoly for rail and steel construction products and looked for factories that would give him synergies. The only other big factories making these products were in the industrial region of Kemerovo, also home to Russia's largest coalmines. Using his old trading contacts with coalmine bosses, Abramov was introduced to Aman Tuleev, populist governor of the region.

Pitching job creation in the vacuum of bankrupt factories[]

The two factories Abramov was interested in were in bankruptcy in 1998. Salaries had not been paid for up to eight months and strikes were breaking out.

The deal: managers for factories[]

Tuleev needed good managers. Abramov needed the two factories and soon a deal was made.

As a state creditor, Tuleev would help appoint external managers loyal to EvrazHolding to run the steel mills. Abramov would pay salaries and taxes, guarantee jobs and support Tuleev's social projects.

Competition against Alfa Group[]

This pitched Abramov against Alfa Group, one of the most influential oligarch groups, which controlled one of the factories. While groups such as Alfa were shedding non-core assets, Abramov and his like were building empires.[6] In June 2005 EvrazHolding was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Five months later, Abramov resigned as group president but remains a member of the board.[7] In 2019, Abramov alongside other directors, sold $160m worth of shares in the company.[8]

Acquisitions[]

He has made numerous strategic business acquisitions. For example, in 2007 Abramov acquired Oregon Steel Mills and Claymont Steel.[9]

CAATSA Report[]

Abramov is named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act released by US Treasury in January 2018.[10][11]

Personal life[]

He is married with three children, and lives in Moscow.[2] His hobbies include fishing, swimming, tennis.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ "Alexander Abramov". Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Alexander Abramov". Forbes - The World's Billionaires. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "The world's 50 Richest Jews: 21-30". The Jerusalem Post. 7 September 2010.
  4. ^ DMCP graduates. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Class of 1982
  5. ^ Panibratov, Andrei (2012). Russian Multinationals: From Regional Supremacy to Global Lead. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-61588-4.
  6. ^ The science of forging a steel empire, Financial Times (UK), 27 August 2003
  7. ^ "Board of directors". Evraz.
  8. ^ "Evraz shares lower after main owners sell another tranche for £158M". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  9. ^ Russian Capitalist Wiki contributors (8 November 2013). "Alexander Abramov". Russian Capitalist Wiki. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act".
  11. ^ "Treasury Releases CAATSA Reports, Including on Senior Foreign Political Figures and Oligarchs in the Russian Federation".
  12. ^ "The Russian Olympians Foundation". www.olympians.ru. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
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