Leonid Mikhelson

Leonid Mikhelson is the founder and chairman of natural gas producer Novatek. In 2017 he bought a 17% stake in petrochemical company Sibur from Kirill Shamalov, Putin’s reported former son-in-law, increasing his stake to 48%. His partner in both Novatek and Sibur is Gennady Timchenko, a billionaire who is said to have close ties to President Vladimir Putin. Mikhelson began his career as a foreman for a construction company building a gas pipeline in Russia’s Tyumen region.