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Russian Forbes names Alisher Usmanov entrepreneur of year

During the year, Usmanov conducted a record number of large transactions

Alisher Usmanov Sergei Savostianov/TASS

Alisher Usmanov

© Sergei Savostianov/TASS

MOSCOW, December 20. / TASS /. Russian-Uzbek business magnate Alisher Usmanov, co-owner of the USM holding, which controls the manufacturer of iron ore products Metalloinvest and the cellular operator Megafon, has been chosen by the Russian version of Forbes magazine, the publication said on Thursday.

Usmanov Holding is also a co-owner of the Internet Company Mail.ru Group through a joint venture with Megafon and Gazprombank. "This year, Forbes chose Alisher Usmanov, the main owner of the USM Holding Company, as a businessman of the year," the report said.

During the year, Usmanov conducted a record number of large transactions: he transferred USM Holdings from offshore jurisdiction to Russia, brought Megafon from the London Stock Exchange, and together with Rostec, the CPRT started creating the Unified National Product Marking System (tobacco, clothes, shoes and etc. ), noted in Forbes. In addition, the entrepreneur sold his stake for 550 million pounds sterling (696.4 million dollars) in the Arsenal football club and agreed with Alibaba owner Jack Ma on the joint development of AliExpress in Russia. Last year, according to Forbes, the entrepreneur of the year was Alfa Group’s founder and largest shareholder of LetterOne Luxembourg holding, Mikhail Fridman, and in 2016, the owner of the largest stake (29.9%) of the construction PIK Group of Companies Sergey Gordeev.

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