Who is Alisher Usmanov?
Alisher Usmanov was born in Uzbekistan but has Russian citizenship
and is estimated to be worth more than £3.7 billion.
His links to his native land enabled him to broker a deal with the
daughter of President Karimov of Uzbekistan that gave the Russian
state-owned Gazprom the rights to most of the gas in the former
Soviet satellite state.
The 53-year-old is regarded as one of Russia's most aggressive
bidders for foreign assets.
Gallagher Holdings, his Cyprus-registered investment vehicle,
bought 13.5 per cent of Corus, the Anglo-Dutch steel company, in
2003 and 2004 until he sold his stake after a clash with
management.
Usmanov bought 20 per cent of Mount Gibson, an Australian iron ore
company, last November, while it was engaged in a takeover battle
with a domestic rival.
The oligarch is also president of Gazprominvestholding, the
investment arm of Gazprom. He bought the business newspaper
Kommersant for $200 million (£102 million) last September from a
Georgian billionaire who is close to Boris Berezovsky, the exiled
billionaire and prominent critic of President Putin.
