Suleyman Kerimov

Suleyman Abusaidovich Kerimov (Russian: Сулейма́н Абусаи́дович Кери́мов; Lezgian: Керимрин Абусаидан хва Сулейман; born 12 March 1966) is a Russian billionaire, oligarch, philanthropist and politician of the Lezgin descent. Kerimov has close ties to Vladimir Putin's government in Russia, and used to have close ties to Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader. Recently, Kerimov and Kadyrov have been at odds.

He entered politics in the 1990s. By 1999, he won control of Nafta Moskva, a former state-oil trader. In the 2000s, Kerimov obtained billions of dollars in loans from big Russian state-owned banks, such as Sberbank and VTB. Through these loans, he became a major stakeholder in Gazprom and Uralkali, as well as Sberbank. By 2008, his fortune had risen to $21 billion, and by 2022, it had decreased to $11 billion.

Since 2008, Kerimov has represented the Republic of Dagestan in the Federation Council of Russia.

He bought the football club FC Anzhi Makhachkala in 2011, which subsequently made numerous high-profile signings. The club bought Samuel Eto'o, making him the highest-paid player in the world. In 2013, Kerimov drastically and abruptly cut the team's funding, prompting a firesale of players.

In April 2018, he was placed under sanctions by the United States Department of Treasury. In the wake of 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Kerimov was sanctioned as a Russian oligarch close to President Putin, by the US, UK and EU on 15 March 2022. Suleiman Kerimov has been the focus of scrutiny in the U.S. for years.

Kerimov's son Said Kerimov resigned from the board of Polyus Gold in April 2022 and the family sold its stake in the company worth $6.3 billion relinquishing the majority shareholder position of Polyus Gold.