In this article titled “Vladimir Lisin 101: Who is Famous Businessman?”, we will delve into everything you need to know about the prominent businessman, Vladimir Lisin, who has piqued the curiosity of our readers at Zatrun.com.
Who is Vladimir Lisin?
Vladimir Lisin, born on May 7, 1956, is one of Russia’s leading businessmen. He serves as the chairman and majority shareholder of Novolipetsk (NLMK), which is one of Russia’s top four steel companies. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of April 2021, Lisin is the richest man in Russia with an estimated net worth of $26.6 billion and the 58th richest person in the world. Lisin started his career as a mechanic at a Soviet coal mine in 1975 and then worked as a welding foreman at Tulachermet Metals Works after receiving his education at the Siberian Metallurgical Institute.
He climbed the career ladder by serving as a department manager in 1979, and then as an assistant chief engineer in 1986, at the same factory where he started his career. In 1992, Vladimir Lisin became a part of a group of traders (Trans-World Group) who gained control of Russia’s steel and aluminum industry. When the partners split in 2000, he acquired 13% of the company and later took control of the controlling shares. His former boss was appointed Russia’s Minister of Metallurgy, and in 2000, Lisin became the sole owner of Novolipetsk Steel. Since 1993, he has served as a board member of several Russian metal producers such as NLMK, MMK, Sayansk, and Novokuznetsk Aluminum Plants.
Since 1996, he has been a board member of Novolipetsk Steel and its chairman since 1998. Previously, Lisin worked as the deputy chief engineer and deputy general director of Karaganda Steel Plant, one of the four largest steel factories in Kazakhstan. He was a board member of Zenit Bank. Currently, he serves as a board member of Novolipetskii Metallurgical Combine, one of Russia’s largest steel companies, a position he has held since 1998. He is also an executive at CJSC Chernomorneftegaz and has been a board member of Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Co. since 2002. Since June 2007, he has been the chairman of JSC Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Corporation (OJSC Novolipetsk Steel).
From 2008 to 2012, he served as an independent board member of OJSC United Shipbuilding Corporation. His business activities outside of steel include transportation and logistics (shares in St. Petersburg Port, Tuapse Commercial Sea Port, Northwest Shipping Company, and Volga Shipping Company), energy (shares in Chernomorneftegaz and Severneftegaz), and public utilities (shares in Russian grid companies Federal Grid Company and Center Distribution Grid Company).
Education and Metallurgical Expertise:
In 1979, Vladimir Lisin graduated from the Siberian Metallurgical Institute with a degree in metallurgical engineering, specializing in “Casting of Iron and Non-Ferrous Metals”. He completed his postgraduate studies remotely at UKRNIIMET in Kharkov, Ukraine in 1984. In 1989, he earned a master’s degree in Metal Engineering from the I.P. Bardin Ferroalloy Center Research Institute. In 1990, he received a diploma in “Management and Activities of Joint Ventures in the USSR” from the Higher School of Commerce of the All-Union Academy of Foreign Trade of People’s Friendship Order.
In 1992, he obtained a master’s degree in Economics and Management from the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. In 1996, Lisin earned a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS), and in 1997 he defended his doctoral thesis in Metal Engineering. He became a professor at RANEPA in 1999 and earned a doctorate in economics in 2005.
Vladimir Lisin holds several patents for metallurgical processes and has published over 100 articles on metallurgy and economics, including 15 monographs. He is an Honorary Metallurgist of Russia (1999), a Knight of the Order of Honor of the Russian Federation (2000), and a Knight of the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh (2001). He is also a professor at the National Academy of Economics. Additionally, Lisin was the recipient of the Science and Engineering Council Award in 1989.
Field of Sports:
Vladimir Lisin is an avid sports shooter. He served as the president of the European Shooting Confederation until October 2021, and has also been appointed as the president of the Russian Shooting Union and the deputy president of the Russian Olympic Committee. In 2013, he was appointed as a member of the ISSF Executive Committee. He built one of Europe’s largest shooting complexes in Lisya Nora, near Moscow.
In November 2018, he was elected as the president of the International Shooting Sport Federation, succeeding Olegario Vázquez Raña who had been in the position since 1980. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lisin was sanctioned by Australia, but was supported by Alexander Ratner, the ISSF Secretary General of Russian origin, who claimed that he had no ties to the Russian government. Lisin resisted calls to step down from his presidency.
Personal Life:
Vladimir Lisin is married and has three children. According to Bloomberg L.P., in 2005, Lisin purchased the Aberuchill Castle and surrounding land in Perthshire, Scotland, dating back to the 17th century. Lisin faced sanctions by Australia following the 2022 Russian occupation. In a letter to NLMK employees in March 2022, he called for a peaceful resolution, stating that “lost lives can never be an excuse, it is a great tragedy.
The resolution of conflicts through peaceful diplomacy is always preferable to the use of force.” However, in September 2022, NLMK was accused of supplying materials to Russian firms involved in nuclear weapons development and a tanker owned by Lisin was allegedly involved in circumventing EU sanctions by transferring oil at sea to EU-registered vessels. In October 2022, the US was called upon to impose sanctions on Lisin.
