Yaranga
Abramovich
Roman Arkadievich Abramovich (in English it sounds like 'a-bram-OH-vich) was born on 24 October 1966 in Saratov, Russia.
Roman grew up as an orphan. His mother, Irina Abramovich, died when Roman was 18 months old. His father Arkady Abramovich was killed in an incident on a construction site when Roman was three years old. Abramovich grew up in his uncle's family in Ukhta and with his grandmother in Moscow.
Abramovich later attended the Industrial Institute in the city of Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviet Army. After military service, he studied briefly at the Moscow State Auto Transport Institute before dropping out to go into business. He later earned a correspondence degree from the Moscow State Law Academy.
In 1999 Abramovich was elected to the State Duma (that is the Parliament in the Russian Federation) as the representative for the Chukotka Autonomous region. He then started the charity Pole of Hope to help the people of Chukotka, especially children, and in December 2000 was elected governor of Chukotka with 92 % of the vote. Since then he has invested hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money in Chukotka, which has paid for a college, a hospital, a pre-school and hotels in Anadyr, as well as renovating the airport and funding new or renovated schools in many small towns and villages.
Abramovich said that he would not run for governor again after his term of office expired in 2005. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed the law to abolish elections for regional governors, and on 21 October 2005 Abramovich was reappointed governor for another term. Chris Hutchins, a biographer of Vladimir Putin, claims that the relationship between the Russian president and Abramovich is like that between a father and a favorite son. Abramovich was awarded the Order of Honor for his "huge contribution to the economic development of the autonomous district [of Chukotka]", by a decree signed by Putin, the President of Russia.
Roman is best known not as his role as governor of Chukotka, but for being one of the richest men in the world. According to Forbes Magazine, he has a net worth of $18.7 billion and is the 11th richest man in the world. He was not always rich, but created his fortune after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and the state-run companies of oil, minerals and the national airline were privatized. Mr Abramovich's big break came in 1992, when Boris Berezovsky, then the most powerful of Russia's tycoons, befriended him and brought him into the inner circle of former president Boris Yeltsin. Mr Abramovich began building up his financial empire. He since has accumulated 80% of Sibneft (Siberian Oil), Russia's fifth-largest oil company, 50% of Rusal, the Russian aluminum oil monopoly, and 26% of Aeroflot, Russia's national airline.
Abramovich is most famous outside Russia as the owner of Chelsea, an English Premiership football club, and for his wider involvement in European football. Despite his high profile around the world, Abramovich makes virtually no public statements about his activities.
Abramovich has become the world's greatest spender on luxury yachts, and had four boats in what the media have called "Abramovich's Navy". He owns a private Boeing 767-33A/ER known as "The Bandit" due to its cockpit area paint detail. Abramovich also owns several Eurocopter helicopters based on his super yachts or at his home in Sussex, England. Mr. Abramovich also owns a Ferrari FXX, a $2.2 million dollar race-only car, of which only 30 were built.
Information in this section came from Wikipedia, and the Guardian Unlimited online newspaper
