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«An oligarch's very public feud; Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska is on a PR blitz to persuade British investors to back him in his fight for the world's biggest nickel miner. Will it work?». Русский олигарх О.Дерипаска в ходе роуд-шоу пытался убедить британских инвесторов в том, чтобы они поддержали его в борьбе за получение контроля над «Норильским никелем». Его собственная группа «Русал», получившая поддержку от правительства России во время кризиса, в настоящее время обременена долгами. Поэтому он добивается больших дивидендов от «Норильского никеля». О.Дерипаска, который в 90-х годах вел жесткую борьбу за контроль над алюминиевым рынком России, был связан с организованной преступностью. Он также имел проблемы с получением визы в Америку. Эти обстоятельства вряд ли дадут обнадеживающий сигнал для западных инвесторов, полагают эксперты. (The Sunday Times. 10.10.10. Andrew Davidson)
Smack in the middle of a Moscow traffic jam, Oleg Deripaska, the 42-year-old Russian oligarch, is making his point.
«We have been on an extended roadshow,» he says in his halting English. «We're just explaining to investors our main concerns and ...» Then he sighs.
Deripaska, boss of Rusal, the world's biggest aluminium group, has a way of making the extraordinary sound matter of fact. He is perhaps best known in Britain as the billionaire who hosted that infamous Corfu meeting of Lord Mandelson and George Osborne in 2008.
But right now he is engaged in a ferocious struggle for control of Norilsk Nickel, the world's biggest nickel miner, listed in Moscow, London and New York. His opponent is another oligarch, Vladimir Potanin. The collateral damage could be Norilsk's British and American shareholders.
«No,» says Deripaska firmly when I suggest it. «We believe the assets of Norilsk will actually grow much more.»
His struggle with Potanin centres on a row over dividends and directors. Both men own 25% of the company, though Potanin in effect controls it. Deripaska has called an extraordinary meeting on October 21, hoping to install his own hand-picked directors.
Why don't they just sort it out, man to man? «Because I have no personal relations with Mr Potanin,» sniffs Deripaska.
And why are so many Russian businesses riven by these private feuds? «It's not a private battle,» protests Deripaska. «It's public. I just want my stake to have a proper price and for the company to pay proper dividends.» He then goes into a long explanation of why his group first bought into Norilsk Nickel, and how the nickel market makes a useful hedge against fluctuations in the price of aluminium. The problem, he says, is that the business is so badly run.
For Norilsk shareholders over here — and they include Fidelity, Schroder, Baring, Threadneedle, Gartmore, HSBC and Standard Life — the stand-off is threatening. The company's management is lobbying against Deripaska — unsurprisingly, as he wants to remove them. Deripaska has been touring the investment institutions, putting his side of the argument.
And so he calls me, stuck in that jam on one of the last sunny days of the Russian autumn. «Next week,» he says gloomily, «it's winter.»
His pitch to investors at Norilsk is more optimistic. The business has huge potential but needs professional management.
The chief executive, he points out, is a former KGB colonel with little experience of mining.
The company is also responsible for severe pollution. It has a history of making bad acquisitions.
That, says Deripaska, tells you enough.
«I think investors now understand how complex this business is, and what an opportunity there is if we bring in proper corporate governance to world-class assets.»
Young and ambitious, Deripaska may also have other plans for Norilsk. His own Rusal group, listed in Hong Kong, had to be rescued by the Russian government during the slump two years ago, and now carries heavy debt. One reason he might want bigger dividends from Norilsk could be to ease Rusal's position.
A merger of the two would help even more. Both groups reported revenues of more than $8 billion (£5 billion) last year. Some think Deripaska wants to build a natural resources giant to challenge BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
He denies it. «Rusal will remain as a stand-alone company.
We just want to see how management can improve Norilsk Nickel.» Anyway, he adds, why would he want to bring Potanin onto his shareholder list? «I think it's not nice to have the distraction of that.»
There has been enough already, perhaps. You couldn't make up half the stories that have swept round Norilsk and Rusal in recent times.
Only three years ago Potanin's former business partner, Mikhail Prokhorov, who ran Norilsk until 2007, was accused of procuring prostitutes by the French authorities in Courchevel. That case was dismissed two years later.
Deripaska, a workaholic who fought a tough battle to gain control of Russia's aluminium assets in the 1990s, has been linked to organised crime — smears that infuriate him, he says, and which have been spread by his rivals. He has also had problems obtaining visas to visit America.
It hardly sends a reassuring message to western investors. That brings a snort from Deripaska.
«Everyone must be careful about what they invest in. Investors in America have to be careful in case they invest in General Motors rather than Toyota.»
Those digs are part and parcel of his approach. Fiercely bright, Deripaska started as an engineer and physicist, and went from running one aluminium plant to controlling an empire that includes energy, manufacturing, financial services, aviation and agriculture. Yet he still likes a fight and remains nationalistic.
As for the whispers about his rise to power, all will be revealed, he promises, in a forthcoming court case in London. He is being sued here by a former business partner who claims he is owed a stake in Rusal. Deripaska can't wait.
«This is an important case.
There have been a lot of rumours about me in the 1990s, and I want to prove how things were done. So many times I've been accused of hiding stuff, but I've nothing to hide, and I'll show how things were.»
When? «I don't know. My lawyers say it will be some time in the next two years. And, yeah, it's been very costly. After my experience of your auto manufacturing» — he bought LDV vans here in 2008 before allowing it to collapse when the government refused support — «I think you'd be better off selling your legal system.»
Then he chuckles. Does he still have difficulty getting an entry visa for America? «I have no plans to go there and I am quite busy in Russia.»
That doesn't answer the question.
Well, he says, it's complicated.
At one point the Americans believed he was going to buy General Motors. They stopped him entering the country. So will he walk away from Norilsk if the vote on October 21 goes against him? «No,» he says.
What's unclear is if the Russian government will intervene. It knows Norilsk's 83,000 workers are wary of Deripaska's efficiency drive. Yet it also wants to create vigorous national champions. Deripaska hints that he has its support.
«Believe me, I know what the government wants and what its worries are.»
Anyway, he has other fish to fry. Brought up in the south of Russia, he has put his companies behind big infrastructure investment in the region to prepare for the 2014 winter Olympics. He is also immersed in a project to produce small nuclear reactors.
«I am really excited by this.
We call it a nuclear battery. It will be suitable for small cities in remote areas.»
His heart, he says, remains in engineering. Yet his empire is vast, and he is renowned for working 15-hour days, usually finishing after midnight. What is he working so hard to achieve? He answers that one quickly.
«I work hard because I like to learn more. And increasing the size of your business is not about capital, it's about the human resource. We have 100,000 people trained in everything, and they come in with good ideas, and you can move them and achieve good results.»
And I mustn't keep asking him about his connections — another bugbear.
«You know, there is this simplistic western view that I married well» — his wife is the daughter of the chief of staff of a former Russian president, Boris Yeltsin — «or that I am close to Mr Putin. It's not that. I worked with these people for 15 years in the regions. They know I am not working just for the money, but for my country's interests.»
In short, he is a patriot, and anyway, he says, I shouldn't judge Russian business too harshly. «It's less than 20 years old. It's just a teenager.»
But nor should I ignore it.
«Two billion people in Asia, Africa and South America want better infrastructure and for that you need commodities. Russia has a better platform than any other country to supply them. And with that thought, he thanks me for my time.
Oleg Deripaska's vital statistics
Born: January 2, 1968 Marital status: married with two children, Petr, 9, and Mariya, 7 School: Ust-Labinsk, Krasnodar University: Moscow First job: apprentice electrician Pay: $10m — estimates of his wealth peaked at £14 billion in 2008; it is less now Homes: Moscow, Siberia, southern Russia and Belgravia Car: black Audi Q7 Favourite book: Demons, by Fyodor Dostoevsky Music: Rachmaninoff Film: Heart of a Dog Gadget: Apple iPad
At work and play
WORKING DAY THE Rusal chief executive wakes at his Moscow home at 6am. «I am usually woken by my children, and have breakfast with them before they go to school,» says Oleg Deripaska.
He is driven to his office before 9am. «Most of the time I am taking reports and looking at problems, talking to people, trying to help them.»
He works late and rarely networks politically now. «I did that in the 1990s. Most of the people in power were quite normal then and I worked hand in hand with them.»
He also travels frequently around the empire controlled by his Basic Element investment group. «So my working day differs depending on when I've flown in and when I get up.»
DOWNTIME
OLEG DERIPASKA relaxes by swimming, horse riding and practising yoga. He spends his money on books — «I like novels and poetry» — and is not interested in clothes or houses. «I have enough.» He does, though, have a yacht that he uses for holidays.
Deripaska rarely goes to the cinema or theatre because he works late. «I usually finish after midnight, so I can't be involved in many cultural things.»
He often takes friends with him on his business trips. «I travel with friends, then we can talk,» he says.
Oleg Deripaska is best known for hosting Peter Mandelson and George Osborne in Corfu, which led to a political spat.