Michail Safarbekowitsch Guzerijew

Mikhail Safarbekovich Gutseriyev (Vorlage:Lang-ru; b. March 9, 1958) is a Russian entrepreneur and owner and previous president of Russneft, a Russian oil company.

Biography

Early life

Gutseriyev was born into a family with many children in Tselinograd, in the then-Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. He graduated from high school in Grozny.

He began his career as a porter, while taking night courses at Dzhambulsky Technological Institute, majoring in chemical engineering. Later, he got degrees from a government financial academy (Russian Federation) and the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, and graduate degrees from Saint Petersburg Law Institute, including a Ph.D. from the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics. He holds degrees in law and a Ph.D. in economics.

Business and political career

From 1976 to 1992 he worked in the Grozny Industrial Association, where he worked his way up from laborer to General Director. Gutseriyev was pioneer in the private banking sector in the Soviet Union—in the late 1980s he founded one of the first cooperative banks in the country.

In 1992 he started B.I.N.Bank, an industrial-financial company, in Moscow, bringing together industrial enterprises, trading companies, and financial institutions.

In 1994 he was named administrative head of the Ingushetia economic aid zone, a Russian Federation government appointment.

In 1995 he was elected deputy to the State Duma, where he acted as a Deputy Chairman.

In 2000 he was elected to the State Duma once again, this time as an independent candidate, for District 12.

On January 14, 2000 Gutseriyev was elected president of NGK Slavneft OAO at a shareholders meeting.

On February 27, 2001 he was elected vice-president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

In September 2002 he started and ran Russneft.

Flight

At the end of July 2007, Mikhail Gutseriyev publicly revealed that unprecedented pressure was being put on him by the Russian government, and announced the sale of Russneft to Bazovy Element ("Basic Element"), a holding company owned by Oleg Deripaska, a businessman loyal to the Kremlin. Gutseriyev quit his post as president of Russneft and announced his retirement from business activities (aside from Russneft, he held a 50% stake in a company named Russian Coal, etc.), and his entry into science.

According to some sources, the pressure brought to bear on Mikhail Gutseriyev by the Russian power structure was a result of his financial opposition to the current president of Ingushetia, Murat Zyazikov.

Alleged murder of his son

On August 22, 2007 Mikhail Gutseriyev's 22-year-old son, Chingiskhan Gutseriyev, suddenly died at home. During this day he was involved in a minor car accident. Someone from an emergency car made him a shot, allegedly with a poison . He came home, called to relatives that he is fine, went to sleep, and died from a heart failure. There was no data on a car accident in the bulletins of the Office of Internal Affairs, .

According to Yulia Latynina, Chingiskhan was murdered to lure his father back to Russia and arrest him there .

Arrest warrant

On August 28, 2007 the Tver Court in Moscow issued a warrant for the arrest in absentia of Gutseriyev in response to a petition from the investigative committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Government and social awards

The Order of Friendship, the Order of the Mark of Distinction, and other orders and medals. He won the Peter the Great National Prize, as well as being named the "Best Mayor of the Year" by the magazine "Kompaniya."

Mikhail Gutseriyev has authored papers and a series of scientific publications on the problems of development of free economic zones and off-shore business in Russia.

He also holds a degree in athletics for the decathlon.

External links

• Official Biography Vorlage:Ru icon
• NK Russneft Vorlage:Ru icon
• Article by Gutseriyev explaining reasons for leaving Russneft Vorlage:Ru icon