German Borisovich Khan, the CEO of TNK-BP Management and one of the co-owners of the Alfa Group company.
He is also an executive director and board member of TNK-VR Management, a co-owner of the Alfa Group company, and a member of the board of directors of Alfa-Bank and Slavneft Oil Company. Previously, he served as the CEO and Deputy Chairman of TNK (2000–2003), First Vice President and Deputy Chairman of TNK (1998–1999), and President of Alfa-Eco (1996–1998). In 1989, he was one of the co-founders of the Soviet-Swiss joint venture, Alfa-Eco. In 2008, he was listed among the top ten Russian billionaires in Forbes magazine’s ranking.
German Khan’s childhood
German Borisovich Khan was born on October 24, 1961, in Kiev, in a family of a scientist who was a well-known specialist in metallurgy. After finishing school, Khan worked as an apprentice fitter and fitter at the Kiev Experimental and Experimental Plant for Non-Standard Equipment.
In 1978, Khan entered the Kiev Industrial Pedagogical Technical School, immediately starting on the second year. In 1982, he graduated from the technical school with honors and entered the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS) without exams, specializing in the casting of ferrous metals (excellent students for hazardous specialties were admitted through interviews at that time). In 1988, Khan graduated from the institute.
The beginning of German Khan’s career
After graduating from university, Khan began working in cooperatives called “Poisk” and “Kosmos”. Regarding the latter, he mentioned that this cooperative rented spaces in the Central Universal Department Store (TsUM) and engaged in wholesale sales of various garment items, footwear, and jewelry. His first business partner was Alexander Borisovich Furman. Together, they formed their own cooperative called “Alexandrina”: Furman was responsible for clothing production, while Khan was in charge of supply and sales, serving as the deputy chairman of the cooperative. After some time, the partners sold the business: Furman decided to leave due to family circumstances, and Khan did not want to continue alone. Left without a job, Khan even considered emigrating, according to his own words.
“Alfa-Eco” and German Khan
In March 1989, Khan accidentally met another MISiS graduate, Mikhail Fridman, who by that time had a Soviet-Swiss joint venture called “Alfa-Eco”. According to Khan, “Alfa-Eco” was involved in selling everything: Fridman had “plans in the garment business” and promised to help. From that time on, they started communicating closely. In 1990, Khan took a position as the head of wholesale trade, and in 1992, he became the head of the export department of “Alfa-Eco” company. He started with the carpet business: acquaintances of “Alfa” employees would buy handmade carpets in Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, and then those carpets were rented out to art salons. In addition, “Alfa-Eco” traded in perfumes, Czech lamps, agricultural products, sugar under Cuban contracts, spirits, and tea.
Alfa team and German Khan
In 1995, Khan became the director of the raw materials department at Alfa-Eco LLC. According to him, shortly before that, the Alfa team began to look into the coal, oil, and metallurgical businesses. Several superficial studies were conducted on the raw materials sectors, and Khan was tasked with leading the raw materials direction. In the end, their most successful venture was in the oil sector. After some time, they were processing up to one million tons of oil at several Russian oil refineries. They also started exporting oil, with Khan being responsible for delivering the raw materials to the Russian border, and another MISiS graduate named Alexei Kuzmichev selling the product abroad. In 1996, Khan assumed the position of President of AOZT Alfa-Eco.
In the same year, Khan joined the boards of directors of two major oil companies: OAO Siberian-Far Eastern Oil Company (SIDANKO) and OAO Saratovneftegaz, which is part of the former. In the same year, as a member of the board of directors of the Alfa-Group consortium (representing Alfa-Eco) and as a representative of ONEKSIMbank’s interests, Khan participated in negotiations to create the Volga Company.
In 1997, Khan became one of the founders of AOZT Novy Holding, representing the interests of Alfa-Bank at the auction for the sale of 632 million shares of Tyumenskaya Oil Company (TNK). It is known that Novy Holding, established on a parity basis by Renova and Alfa-Eco, won the investment competition for the sale of this stake, offering $810 million for it.
In the same year, 1997, Khan became a member of the board of directors of TNK. In February 1998, he assumed the position of First Vice President of the company and Deputy Chairman of the Board of OAO TNK.
In June 1999, Khan was elected a member of the Political Council of the All-Russia public-political association “Yugra,” which was part of the “All-Russia” electoral bloc (headed by Alexander Filippenko, a member of the Presidium of the Political Council of “All-Russia” and the governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug). In August 1999, the pre-election bloc “Fatherland-All Russia” (OVR) was formed, headed by Yevgeny Primakov and Yuri Luzhkov. Following the elections that took place in December 1999, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the newly formed movement “Unity,” led by the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu, surpassed the OVR, which ended up in third place.
In October 1999, Khan, along with Viktor Vekselberg, was removed from the TNK board of directors. This step was officially explained by the fact that their presence in the company’s operational management was no longer necessary, and now they would focus on the strategic development of the company, while retaining their membership on the board of directors of TNK.
In 2000, Khan became the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO TNK (he was mentioned in the press in this position since May). In May, he also became the Executive Director of the company. Analysts attributed the “aggressive strategy of TNK, which allowed the company to triple in size,” to Khan. It is known that Khan oversaw the company’s relationships with the Western Siberian divisions of Sidanko — Kondpetroleum and Chernogorneft. TNK acquired these companies from Sidanko in the fall of 1999, which led to a conflict between TNK and Sidanko’s largest European shareholder, British Petroleum. Subsequently, TNK returned Chernogorneft to Sidanko in exchange for a blocking package of the company’s shares.
TNK and German Khan
As a representative of the main shareholder (TNK), Khan became a member of the board of directors of OAO ONAKO in November 2000, and in December of that year, a member of the board of directors of OAO Orenburgneft. In June 2001, Khan was re-elected to the board of directors of OAO KIB Alfa-Bank. In February 2003, Khan joined the board of directors of OAO Slavneft and on March 3, 2003, he became the Chairman of its board of directors.
In February 2003, it was announced that the assets of Tyumenskaya Neftyanaya Kompaniya (TNK) would be merged with Russian assets of British Petroleum. At the first meeting of the board of directors of the new company in March 2003, the name “TNK-BP” was approved, and the list of top managers was made public. It was reported that Khan would be the Executive Director of the new company. It was also announced that the parties would register “TNK-BP Management,” which would manage the entire holding. In September of the same year, the legal registration of “TNK-BP” and “TNK-BP Management” was completed. Khan subsequently appeared in the press and on the official website of the company as the Executive Director and a member of the Board of Directors of OAO TNK-BP Management.
German Khan in magazine ratings
In March 2007, Khan entered the top 100 list of the world’s richest people compiled by Forbes, ranking 86th. His fortune was estimated at 8 billion dollars. In 2008, Khan broke into the top ten of Russian billionaires, with his fortune being valued at 15 billion dollars.
According to the website of the Alfa Group Consortium, in 2008, Khan and his co-beneficiary shareholders, Friedman and Kuzmichev, jointly owned controlling stakes (ranging from 73 to 100 percent) in all major companies of the group: ABH Holdings Corp. (Alfa-Bank, AlfaStrakhovanie), Alfa Finance Holdings SA (TNK-BP, Turkcell, CTC Media, Inc), Altimo Holdings and Investments Ltd. (Megafon, Kyivstar, VimpelCom, Golden Telecom Inc.), as well as X5 Retail Group (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok), A1 Group Ltd., and Russian Technologies Ltd. (the stakes of each owner were not disclosed).
In his school years, Khan devoted a lot of time to sports, particularly boxing. The media also reported his interest in Eastern martial arts and extreme tourism. In 2004, Khan mentioned that he and Vekselberg annually traveled on Camel Trophy routes, participating in competitions in China and Mexico as part of the same team. Aside from Vekselberg, Khan also mentioned Friedman and the president and co-owner of Alfa-Bank, Petr Aven, among his friends. “We have many mutual interests. We go hunting together, visit the sauna,” he shared.
Khan is married. He met his future wife on a plane, where she worked as a flight attendant for Transaero Airlines. Khan has two daughters (Eva, born in 1995, and Eleonora, born in 2001) and one son (as of January 2010, he turned four years old).
Genrman Khan’s website — germankhan.online