Vladimir Potanin
This time we will talk about Vladimir Potanin, another Russian oligarch who earned his fortune in the foreign economy and is actively giving it away to charity, and who is part of the "2P" tandem with Mikhail Prokhorov.
Business interests
Vladimir PotaninPotanin, currently president of Interros, was born January 3, 1961, in Moscow into the family of a diplomat and a doctor. Having decided to follow in his father's footsteps, Potanin graduated from MGIMO as an international economist with knowledge of foreign languages.
After graduation, Vladimir Potavin worked for 7 years in the structure of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of the USSR. But after the abolition of the state monopoly on foreign trade in the spring of 1990, he created and led his life's work - the Foreign Economic Association "Interroswhich it still manages today.
Even during the formation of Interros, Potanin was actively interested in investments, especially in the banking sector. Thus, from 1992 to 1993, he was vice president and president of Bank International Finance Companyand, since 1993, President of ONEXIM Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of MFK.
At the end of 1994, the Interros Foreign Economic Association was transformed into the Interros Financial and Industrial Group. Vladimir Potanin became the chairman of the board and director of the group.
The presence of serious business and large investments did not prevent Potanin from holding public office. Thus, on August 14, 1996, he was appointed first deputy chairman of the government of Russia. In addition, Potanin led the work of the Ministry of Economy, the Antimonopoly Committee and a number of other government services and commissions. Eight months later he resigned from this position.
1997 was a media year for Vladimir Potanin. In the middle of the year, Potanin's structures acquired a controlling stake in the Izvestia newspaper. In the fall of the same year, the Prof-Media HoldingIn 1998, they included the newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russkiy Telegraph, and Izvestia. In 1998, they were joined by the magazine Expert. All publications were purchased by ONEXIM Bank.
But the interest in larger and more massive productions did not end there. On February 6, 2001, the Power Machines concern was created, the controlling stake in which belongs to the Interros holding. The concern includes the Leningrad Metal Works, Elektrosila JSC, Kaluga Turbine Works, Energomashexport JSC, and LMZ-Engineering.
Potanin Foundation
Vladimir Potanin is also known as a generous philanthropist and patron of the arts. In 1999, he founded "Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundationwho is in charge of support young students and professors, giving grants to students of the native MGIMO, Norilsk University and other Russian universities. In addition, the Foundation funds the Russian Orthodox University and the Commission for the Organization of Managerial Personnel Training for the Russian National Economy.
In addition to supporting students, Vladimir Potanin also supports the arts. For example, in April 2002, he donated one million dollars to buy for the Hermitage a painting by Kazimir Malevich "Black Square" from the collection of Inkombank.
Potanin donated $10 million a year to charity until 2010, when he decided to increase that amount to $25 million and bequeathed all his capital to charitable organizations after his death.
Active philanthropic activities have not been overlooked by the Russian government. On June 28, 2005 Vladimir Potanin was received by President Vladimir Putin. According to the presidential administration, the meeting "discussed the development of hydrogen energy and educational projects. On January 24, 2006, at the first meeting of the Public Chamber, Potanin was elected chairman of the Public Chamber Commission on the Development of Charity, Charity and Volunteering.
Personal Life
Potanin is fluent in English and French and enjoys alpine skiing, chess and soccer. As a student he was a champion in soccer, judo, arm wrestling, karate and table tennis. He spends his vacations with his family abroad, at ski resorts in Switzerland and Austria.
He is married and has three children: a daughter, Anastasia, and two sons, Ivan and Vasily.
Biographical information is taken from public sources.