Member of the Board of Directors of Alfa-Bank
Mikhail Fridman is Chairman of the Supervisory Board and principal founder of Alfa Group Consortium, one of the leading business enterprises in Russia. He has built Alfa Group into a market leader in Banking, Energy, Telecommunications and Retail. Alfa Group Consortium incorporates: Alfa-Bank, which is one of Russia’s largest privately owned banks, TNK-BP, formed by the historic joint venture between British Petroleum and Tyumen Oil Company which was completed in 2003. Mr. Fridman also serves as Member of the Board of Directors of VimpelCom, the second of three major market leaders in the Russia’s rapidly growing mobile communications market. From February 2008, Mikhail Fridman is a member of the Board of Directors of Alfa-Bank.
Mikhail Fridman is one of Russia’s most influential and successful business leaders. His strategies of acquisition, growth and integration have made Alfa Group among the most attractive partners for international investment in Russia. The historic joint venture with British Petroleum, announced in the summer of 2003, was the largest foreign investment deal in Russian history at that time and was valued at over US$ 7 billion.
The Group has significant investment in cellular communications providers VimpelCom (traded on NYSE, symbol: VIP), MegaFon, and Kyivstar, a leading cellular provider in Ukraine. In addition, the Group has invested in fixed-line and internet provider Golden Telecom (traded on NASDAQ, symbol: GLDN), and Turkcell, a leading GSM operator in Turkey (traded on NYSE and Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB)).
Other interests of the Group include Pyaterochka Holding N. V. (traded on LSE, symbol: FIVE), one of the largest discount grocery retailers in Russia; Perekrestok Group of Companies, which runs a leading chain of supermarkets in Russia; and Russian Technologies, a company focusing on the development of promising new technologies. The Group typically focuses on value-oriented, longer-term opportunities, primarily in Russia and the CIS, but also invests in other markets that fall within the Group’s strategic business objectives.
In November 2005, Mikhail Fridman was elected to Russia’s Public Chamber. The Chamber is comprised of business and social leaders who have made significant contributions to Russia. It oversees official bodies and also reviews and advises on legislative initiatives undertaken by the government.
Fridman is a Member of the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, and his achievements have been recognised by prestigious international publications and organisations in the world of finance and business. He was named as one of ”Europe’s Power 25” by FORTUNE in 2004, and was included in the Financial Times list of ”2004 Leaders of the New Europe”. In 2003, Mikhail Fridman was honoured with the Golden Plate Award of the International Academy of Achievement in Washington, presented by former US President Bill Clinton.
Mikhail Fridman started out in business while still a student at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. He graduated in 1986 and two years later founded Alfa Eco, a trading company out of which Alfa Group Consortium developed. Fridman was born in Lvov, Ukraine on 21 April 1964.
