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Estimated Worth:
$1.5 billion
Current Position:
Chairman of the board of directors, Basic Element Company
Major Holdings:
Russian Aluminum
Other Interests:
Ingosstrakh Insurance; aircraft builder Aviacor; the GAZ
automobile company; several bus builders and paper and
pulp interests.
Political Connections:
Deripaska is married to Polina Yumashev, the daughter
of former President Boris Yeltsin's chief of staff. Deripaska's
father-in-law in turn married Yeltsin's daughter, which
makes Deripaska a grandson of Yeltsin by marriage. In
the current political climate of struggles between the
Kremlin and oligarchs, Russian news media speculated in
July 2003 that Deripaska would be "next in line"
for investigations of his business practice by the Kremlin.
One of Deripaska's deputies at Russian Aluminum, the executive
in charge of contacts with state agencies, is running
in the December 2003 election for the State Duma (the
lower chamber of the Russian parliament) on the ticket
of the center-right, ruling Liberal Democratic Party of
Russia.
New Plays:
In October 2003, Deripaska bought an additional 25 percent
stake of Russian Aluminum for an estimated $2 billion
from fellow oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Lifestyle:
For more than a year, Deripaska has flown by private jet
to London every week to improve his English. Yet, unlike
his fellow oligarchs, Deripaska says he has no interest
in leaving Russia. In addition to his home in Moscow,
Deripaska owns a country house in the wild southern region
of Khakassia.
Notoriety:
In late 2000, a competitor filed a civil suit for racketeering
against Deripaska and his company in a New York court,
including charges of bribery, judicial corruption and
armed force. The judge dismissed the case on jurisdictional
grounds. Deripaska was barred from travel to the United
States and from entrance to the Davos economic summit
in Switzerland. Deripaska has also become an outspoken
opponent of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization,
clashing on the issue with U.S. ambassador to Russia Alexander
Vershbow.
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