Suleyman Kerimov

Suleyman Abusaidan xva Kerimov (Lezgian: Сулейман Абусаидан хва Керимов, _ru. Сулейман Абусаидович Керимов) (Lezgi, born March 12, 1966 in Derbent, Dagestan, USSR) is a member of the Federation Council of Russia. He is a member of United Russia, after leaving the LDPR when still a State Duma member in 2007. He has a degree in construction from the Dagestan Polytechnic Institute and in economics from Dagestan State University. [http://www.usrbc.org/Members-Only/Russian%20Government%20and%20Regions/duma/deputy.htm] He is a billionaire and is known as "Russia's Richest Civil Servant".Fact|date=February 2007 Listed no. 36 on Forbes' World's Richest People List, however, there seems to be controversy over his ranking since his assets appear to have been financed by significant debts about which no public disclosure has been made. Kerimov is thought to control Nafta-Moskva, a successor to the Soviet oil trader Soyuzneftexport and SWIRU Holding AG of Lucerne, and has built up his wealth investing in Gazprom and Sberbank. Nafta-Moskva owns 5% of Sberbank and 20% of BINBank, from whom it borrows to finance its leveraged investments in resource companies, using the acquired shares as collateral pledges. He is an enigmatic figure who claims to eschew publicity but advertises a lavish lifestyle in the media.

Further controversy surrounds the original source of wealth preceding the heavy borrowings of the years 2003-2005. In December 2005, Kerimov reportedly bought Polimetall, one of the country's largest gold and silver mines, using a $1 billion short term loan from Sberbank. In 2006 he tried and failed to IPO 25% of Polimetall on the London Stock Exchange for the original $1 billion price that he bought all of the company for. Allen Vine is the CEO of Nafta-Moskva and remains affiliated with Merrill Lynch, which also advises Nafta-Moskva.

Nafta-Moskva was named by the United States Department of Justice along with Vladimir Zhirinovsky (head of the LDPR Party) and US oil company Bayoil in the U.N. Oil for Food scandals of 2005. Zhirinovsky and Kerimov both visited Iraq in 1998 on an airplane provided by Kerimov's airline company at the time.

Accident in Nice, France

On November 26, 2006, in Nice, France Kerimov was seriously injured in a road accident on the Promenade des Anglais, while driving a Ferrari Enzo, belonging to Swiru Holding AG' s president Alexander Studhalter. The car went over the sidewalk, crashing into a nearby tree and bursting into flames [fr icon [http://www.nice-matin.fr/paper_viewer.php?filename=NICE_nice&h=1004&w=1260 "Nice matin" local newspaper front page, with picture] ] . He suffered severe burns and doctors were not sure he would recover. [fr icon [http://www.nicerendezvous.com/FR/actu-2095.html "Nice rendez-vous" article] ] Alerted by smoke, the firemen of the Airport Nice Riviera extinguished the fire of the car. Kerimov was transported by helicopter to the Regional Burns Center at the Conception Hospital in Marseille, where he was placed on a respirator. "His condition is very worrying and the next 48 hours will be critical," declared a spokesman for the Assistance Publique of the Hospitals of Marseilles (APHM).

The passenger, Russian television presenter Tina Kandelaki, was only slightly wounded in the crash and was for a short time hospitalized in Nice. After returning to Moscow, she at first denied having been in Nice at the time. It is still not entirely clear why Kerimov's car left the road on the western entry of the Promenade des Anglais in mid-afternoon, though Tina Kandelaki claimed Kerimov had wanted to avoid an unknown pedestrian who had suddenly appeared before the car [ [http://lenta.ru/lib/14173055/] , biography of Tina Kandelaki on Lentapedia (accessed on 07-03-2008). ] . Considering the identity of the principal victim, the investigation was entrusted to the Criminal Investigation Department of Nice.

Shortly after the accident, Kerimov was transported to the Military Hospital at Neder-Over-Heembeek, Belgium for treatment. This VIP treatment had been arranged by relatives and by friends living in Belgium, who contacted the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and the Belgian Minister of Defence André Flahaut [Humo, Belgian weekly, article by Raf Sauvillier on 04-03-2008, pages 150-152] . According to statements by the Belgian Department of Defense, all costs of the treatment were paid for by Kerimov himself.

After the accident Kerimov announced that he would donate $100 million towards the construction of a mosque in Moscow. This descision was made after Kerimov met with Chairman of Russian Mufti Council Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin. [http://johnfenzel.typepad.com/john_fenzels_blog/2007/04/legislator_dona.html John Fenzel]

On February 16, 2008, news broke in Belgian papers that treatment by Belgian hospital staff had been ongoing in Russia since Kerimov's release from the hospital. The new Belgian Minister of Defence, Pieter De Crem, wanted the home treatment by Belgian medical staff suspended immediately.

As a result of treatment Kerimov donated €1 million to the non-profit organisation Pinocchio. The non-profit organisation, which works with children suffering from burns, has an annual budget of between €250-300 thousand. [ [http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie.english/news/080709_RussianBillionaire_pinocchio Article on deredatie.be, with video, July 9, 2008] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Suleiman-Kerimov_FDAK.html Forbes' World's Richest People List]
* [http://www.mineweb.net/gold_silver/918181.htm Mineweb Article on Polimetall]
* [http://forums.mineweb.net/viewtopic.php?t=146 Mineweb Message Board]
* [http://yachts.monacoeye.com/yachtsbysize/pages/ice01.html Ice] Photos of Suleyman Kerimov's
* [http://greatfunplace.blogspot.com/2006/12/ferrari-enzo-crashed-by-russian.html Kerimov's crash] Kerimov's crash