Famous for
Owner of NLMK, a leading Russian steel producer and one of the largest steel companies globally.
Assets
- Owns a 79% stake in Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), a leading international steel producer. Net profit for 2021 of 371.7 billion rubles (about $5 billion). Value as of 2023 approximately 1.063 trillion rubles (approximately $12.5 billion).
- Fully controls Universal Cargo Logistics Holding, an international transport group operating across water and rail transport and shipbuilding. Revenue for 2019 was 154 billion rubles (about $2.4 billion). In 2019, Port One and Freight One were spun off from the holding.
- Wholly owned Freight One, one of the market leaders in the operation of railway wagons in Russia. Net profit in 2022 was 38.4 billion rubles (about $560 million). The value for 2023 was estimated at 220 billion rubles (about $2.6 billion). According to some media reports, the company was sold at the end of 2023 for an undisclosed amount.
- Lisin owns the agribusiness holding company Rumelko-Agro. The company’s revenues in 2022 were 177.5 million rubles (about $2.6 million).
- He owns the Rumedia media holding company, which incorporates several radio and TV stations in Lipetsk, websites, advertising agencies and Russia’s leading business radio station, Business FM.
- He is the owner of the 17th-century Aberuchill Castle in Scotland, which he bought for £6.8 million (about 350 million rubles).
Interests and hobbies
- A master of sport in benchrest shooting, he became head of the Russian Shooting Union in 2002, president of the European Shooting Confederation (ESC) in 2009, and head of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) in 2018. Lisin built Europe’s largest sporting and shooting complex, Lisya Nora (Fox Hole), in Moscow Region.
- Lisin collects folk crafts, including Kasli iron castings. He is considered the owner of one of the most complete private collections of pre-revolutionary Kasli castings, with over 200 items.
Professional history
Vladimir Sergeyevich Lisin was born on 7 May 1956 in Ivanovo, USSR.
From 1975 he worked as an electrician at the Yuzhkuzbassugol coal company.
In 1979 he graduated from the Siberian Metallurgical Institute in Novokuznetsk (now the Siberian State Industrial University). After graduation, he worked at the Tulachermet plant, where he rose to the position of Deputy Workshop Manager.
In 1984 he completed his postgraduate studies at a research institute in the Ukrainian SSR.
From 1985 to 1992 he worked in management positions in metallurgical enterprises in the Kazakh SSR, including export roles.
In 1990 he graduated from the Higher Commercial School of the All-Union Academy of Foreign Trade (now the Russian Foreign Trade Academy, or VAVT), in 1992 from the Academy of National Economy (now the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration), and in 1994 from the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics (now the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics).
In 1992, after moving to Moscow, he met the Cherney brothers, aluminium tycoons linked by the media to criminal activities. Lisin later became a partner in their company, Trans-World Group, and joined the management of leading Russian steel companies, including NLMK.
In 1996 he was awarded a doctorate in technical sciences.
In the same year, Lisin bought his first shares (13%) in NLMK and decided to leave Trans-World Group. Up until 2001, he bought shares from foreign owners and fought corporate wars with another shareholder, Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, until he held 97% of the company.
In 2001, Lisin launched Gazeta, a national political newspaper, with an online publication of the same name. They existed until 2011.
Since 2006, the media have published articles about Rumedia, which is owned by Lisin and combines his media assets. In 2008, the company bought 100% of United Media for $23.5 million (about 564 million rubles), which owned Business FM, the country’s leading business radio station.
In 2011, the company also launched the Chocolat radio station.
He obtained a doctorate in economics in 2006.
Since the mid-2000s, Lisin has been buying up various shipping assets, including the ports of Saint Petersburg, Tuapse and Taganrog, as well as Russia’s largest river shipping companies. In 2007 he merged them into Universal Cargo Logistics Holding, registered in Amsterdam.
In 2001, Lisin founded Independent Transport Company, which was engaged in logistics and cargo transportation.
In 2011, he bought a 75% stake in Freight One from Russian Railways for 125.5 billion rubles (about $4 billion). The two companies were later merged and became part of Universal Cargo Logistics Holding.
In 2019, Freight One was spun off from Universal Cargo Logistics Holding, and the holding’s port assets were spun off into a separate company, Port One.
Vladimir Lisin has been under Australian sanctions since 2022, due to the war in Ukraine. However, he was not on the UK, EU or US sanctions lists.
In late 2023, the media reported the sale of Freight One. Neither the amount of the transaction nor the buyers were explicitly announced.
Deals and ventures
- In 2005, NLMK launched its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, selling 7% of its shares for $609 million (about 17 billion rubles).
- In 2007, Lisin bought a 14.4% stake in Bank Zenit – which incorporates Lipetskcombank, a bank used by Lisin’s companies – for an estimated $250 million (about 6.25 billion rubles). In the following years, his stake in the bank steadily declined until he sold it completely in 2019.
- In 2012, Vladimir Lisin’s Freight One sold a 45.7% stake in Rusagrotrans, the country’s largest grain transporter, for 4.16 billion rubles (about $134 million).
- In 2023, Lisin’s agricultural holding company Rumelko-Agro invested 20 billion rubles (about $235 million) in a cattle breeding complex in the Tver region. According to the project, several milk production facilities are planned to be built.
- At the end of 2023, the media reported that Lisin had sold Freight One. Market participants valued the deal at more than 200 billion rubles (about $2.35 billion).
Achievements
- Ranked first in the Forbes list of Russia’s richest businessmen in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2022.
- Holder of the title of Honoured Metallurgist of Russia and state awards including the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of Honour, and a certificate of honour and gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation.
- He is the author of scientific articles and monographs in the field of metallurgy, as well as general economic and environmental issues. He holds more than 50 patents and copyright certificates in the field of ferrous and non-ferrous metals production.
- In 2001–2012 he was a professor at the Department of Market Problems and Economic Mechanisms of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).
Criticism and disputes
- In 2001, the Accounts Chamber of Russia conducted an audit and found that the state had suffered a loss of $160 million (about 4.64 billion rubles) in the privatization of NLMK. However, the statute of limitations for challenging the privatization expired in 2002 and the case was not pursued.
- In 2007, NLMK acquired Nikolai Maximov’s Maxi-Group, and the latter received half of the sum – $300 million (about 7.5 billion rubles). The remaining money was to be paid after the company had been audited, but it was declared bankrupt. Maximov had a long legal battle with Lisin in Russian and foreign courts, but the case turned against him. Maximov was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released when the statute of limitations expired.
- In 2012, Lisin won a case against The Moscow Post. The Post had published an article about his trial with Nikolai Maximov and pressure allegedly put on journalists. The court ruled that the information was inaccurate and defamed the plaintiff’s reputation.
- In 2023, Lisin sued Tatar-Inform for reporting that his actions had led to Tatar athletes being suspended from the Russian Shooting Cup. The billionaire demanded that the defendants pay him 1 million rubles (about $12,000) and publish a retraction. The court ordered the material to be removed from the online publication’s website.
Attitudes to Russian–Ukrainian conflict
Following the start of hostilities in Ukraine, Lisin’s address to employees was published on social networks and NLMK’s internal portal: “I would like to start by expressing my deep sympathy to all victims of the armed conflict in Ukraine, to the families and relatives of the victims. Human casualties are always a huge tragedy that cannot be justified.
I believe that peaceful, diplomatic solutions to conflicts are always preferable to military action. NLMK is an international company. We operate on three continents and understand better than almost anyone the importance of dialogue between countries and cultures.
I and all my colleagues on the Board of Directors sincerely hope for a speedy conclusion to this conflict.”
Community work
- In 1999, Vladimir Lisin founded Miloserdie, NLMK’s corporate charity. The organization helps more than 30,000 people a year, supports volunteer movements and orphanages, pays medical expenses, develops sporting programmes and implements environmental projects.
- Between 2010 and 2022, Lisin donated more than 9 billion rubles (about $200 million) for the treatment of complex diseases, including paediatric diseases.
- During the coronavirus pandemic, Lisin’s charitable foundation spent significant funds supporting people in need and medical organizations in the regions where NLMK operates. Hundreds of thousands of PPE units, tens of thousands of protective suits, and ventilators and vehicles for hospitals were purchased.
Additional information
Married with three children.
Source for information: Forbes.com, Bloomberg.com, Forbes.ru, Lenta.ru, Tass.ru
