Suleiman Kerimov & family

About Suleiman Kerimov & family

Suleiman Kerimov, a native of Dagestan, has represented the republic in Russia's Federation Council since 2008. He was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018. The EU and UK sanctioned him in March 2022.

A trained economist, Kerimov made a career investing in distressed assets in Russia. He also made money on Sberbank and Gazprom shares.

After cashing out in 2007 he invested in global banks such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank right before the 2008 financial meltdown. He got margin calls and lost billions.

He recovered by betting on Polyus, Russia's biggest gold producer, purchased from billionaire Vladimir Potanin. He paid $1.3 billion for 37% of the shares, which have since increased more than 10-fold.

In 2015, to get around a law barring politicians from holding financial assets abroad, he gave shares in Polyus to his son Said. In the beginning of 2022, Kerimov's family owned 76% of Polyus.

Said Kerimov was sanctioned by EU and UK in April 2022, and transferred his stake in Polyus to Akhmet Palankoev , a former colleague of his father's and to the Islamic Organisations Support.