Vladimir Potanin
Vladimir Potanin
Vladimir Olegovich Potaninis a Russian billionaire and entrepreneur. He acquired his wealth notably through the controversial loans-for-shares program in Russia. He is one of the wealthiest men in Russia, with an estimated net worth of $13.5 billion. His long-term business partner was Mikhail Prokhorov until they decided to split in 2008. Subsequently, they put their mutual assets in a holding company, Folletina Trading, until their asset division was agreed upon...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth3 January 1961
CountryRussian Federation
For a rich and reasonably successful guy, it is impossible not to enjoy your job; otherwise, why would you spend so much time and effort doing it? I am a great fan of Norilsk, and I like this kind of challenge.
I am not trying to say that I am poor and that I don't like beautiful things. But I don't like luxury for luxury sake or in the sense of showing off luxury.
Many people say the privatisation was unfair: that is true - it was unfair. That is a fact: some people became rich and others did not. Unfair does not mean illegal, but it was inevitably unfair.
There are ways of fighting for your interests. I never do something in business that I wouldn't do in life.
When you supervise something, it is one thing. When you are in the middle of something, there is a different pace of life.
Frankly speaking, I decided to become a businessman at the moment when I understood that it is possible, because I grew up in a country where it was not possible. There existed even a special article in the penal code of the Soviet Union which punished entrepreneurial activity.