View source for Vagit Alekperov

{{short description|'''Russian oil executive; co-founder and former president of Lukoil; sanctioned by the UK in 2022'''}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vagit Alekperov
| image = Vagit Alekperov (Kremlin press service).jpg
| caption = Vagit Alekperov
| birth_date = {{Start date|1950}}
| birth_place = Baku, Azerbaijan
| nationality = Russia
| occupation = Oil executive
| known_for = Founder and long-time president of [[Lukoil]]
| education = Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry
}}

'''Vagit Yusufovich Alekperov''' (born 1950) is a Russian oil executive who set up [[Lukoil]] in 1991 and served as its president until April 2022. That month he resigned as president and as a director, days after the United Kingdom imposed an asset freeze and travel ban on him.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/vagit-alekperov.json Forbes profile record for Vagit Alekperov (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/vagit-alekperov/)] ''Forbes'', live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="lk_res22">PJSC LUKOIL, [https://www.lukoil.com/PressCenter/Pressreleases/Pressrelease/information-statement Information statement (press release)] ''LUKOIL'', 21 April 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="uk_178">Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Elizabeth Truss, [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-178-russian-separatists-in-breakaway-regions UK sanctions 178 Russian separatists in breakaway regions (press release)] ''GOV.UK'', 13 April 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> He was earlier a deputy oil minister of the Soviet Union.<ref name="gu_alek22">Rob Davies, [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/21/alekperov-resigns-president-russia-lukoil-putin-oil-eu-uk-sanctions Putin ally Alekperov resigns as president of Russia's Lukoil] ''The Guardian'', 21 April 2022 (amended 26 April 2022), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In October 2025 the [[United States Department of the Treasury|US Treasury]] designated Lukoil itself.<ref name="ofac_sb0290">US Department of the Treasury, [https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0290 Treasury sanctions major Russian oil companies, calls on Moscow to immediately agree to ceasefire (press release SB0290)] ''US Department of the Treasury'', 22 October 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> On 20 October 2026 the [[Forbes]] Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Vagit Alekperov 78th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$29.48 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Oil.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" /><ref name="ForbesRTB">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed] ''Forbes'', live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref> In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Vagit Alekperov 81st, at US$29.5 billion.<ref name="ForbesAnnual">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/billionaires/2026/position/true.json Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read)] ''Forbes'', annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>

== Early life and education ==
The ''Guardian'' reports that Alekperov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. Forbes gives his birth year as 1950 and lists an engineering degree from the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry.<ref name="gu_alek22" /><ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" />

== Career ==
According to Forbes and the ''Guardian'', Alekperov began as an oil-rig worker in the Caspian Sea and rose to become a deputy minister for the oil and gas industry in the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union broke up, he took control of three large state-controlled oil fields and founded [[Lukoil]] in 1991. The ''Guardian'' describes Lukoil as Russia's second-largest oil company after Rosneft, and the largest that is not state-owned.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" /><ref name="gu_alek22" />

On 21 April 2022 Lukoil announced that he had decided to resign as a member of its board of directors and to step down early as president.<ref name="lk_res22" /> The next day the board named first executive vice-president Vadim Vorobyev as temporary president, and Alekperov also gave up the chairmanship of the management board.<ref name="lk_vor22">PJSC LUKOIL, [https://www.lukoil.com/PressCenter/Pressreleases/Pressrelease/the-board-of-directors-appoints-temporary Board of Directors appoints temporary individual executive body of PJSC LUKOIL (press release)] ''LUKOIL'', 22 April 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Forbes reports that Alekperov wrote a book called ''Oil of Russia: Past, Present and Future''.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" />

== Lukoil shareholding ==
In its April 2022 statement, [[Lukoil]] said that on 31 March 2022 Alekperov owned and voted 3.12% of its shares. He was also a beneficiary, including through family trusts or mutual funds, of a further 5.43%, over which he had no voting rights. On that basis the company said he was not a controlling shareholder.<ref name="lk_res22" /> The UK government described him as a minority shareholder, and the ''Guardian'' reported an 8.5% equity stake worth £3 billion before Lukoil's London shares were suspended.<ref name="uk_178" /><ref name="gu_alek22" /> By contrast, Forbes's current profile says he owns about 30% of Lukoil (see the source conflict noted in the verification report).<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" />

== Sanctions ==
On 13 April 2022 the UK government imposed a travel ban and an asset freeze on Alekperov. It described him as president and a minority shareholder of [[Lukoil]] and gave his reported net worth as about £18 billion.<ref name="uk_178" /> The ''Guardian'' reported that Australia had also sanctioned him, and that Lukoil itself was not under sanctions at the time.<ref name="gu_alek22" />

Forbes notes that Lukoil was hit by US sanctions in September 2014.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" /> On 22 October 2025 the [[United States Department of the Treasury|US Treasury]] designated Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia's two largest oil companies, for operating in the Russian energy sector.<ref name="ofac_sb0290" /> OFAC later issued a general licence allowing negotiations on the sale of Lukoil International GmbH, the subsidiary that holds the group's foreign assets.<ref name="ofac_faq1224">Office of Foreign Assets Control, [https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/1224 FAQ 1224: Russia-related General License 131J and the sale of Lukoil International GmbH assets] ''US Department of the Treasury'', undated FAQ, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> On 29 January 2026 Lukoil said it had signed a non-exclusive agreement to sell that subsidiary to the US investment firm [[Carlyle Group|Carlyle]], excluding its assets in Kazakhstan. The deal needed OFAC's permission, and Lukoil said it was still negotiating with other potential buyers.<ref name="lk_carl26">PJSC LUKOIL, [https://www.lukoil.com/PressCenter/Pressreleases/Pressrelease/lukoil-agrees-with-carlyle-on-sale-of LUKOIL agrees with Carlyle on sale of international assets (press release)] ''LUKOIL'', 29 January 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

== Wealth ==
Forbes gives oil as the source of his wealth.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" /><ref name="ForbesRTB" /> Forbes also reports that in 2022 he transferred his ownership of the Dutch shipyard Heesen Yachts, which built his yacht ''Galactica Super Nova'', to a Dutch foundation.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" />

== Wealth history ==
[[Forbes]] has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 26 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2001. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.<ref name="ForbesAnnual" /><ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Forbes estimates by list year
! Year !! World's Billionaires rank !! Net worth (US$ bn)
|-
| 2001 || 387 || 1.3
|-
| 2002 || 327 || 1.4
|-
| 2003 || 329 || 1.3
|-
| 2004 || 186 || 2.7
|-
| 2005 || 122 || 4.3
|-
| 2006 || 37 || 11.0
|-
| 2007 || 48 || 12.4
|-
| 2008 || 56 || 13.0
|-
| 2009 || 57 || 7.8
|-
| 2010 || 58 || 10.6
|-
| 2011 || 50 || 13.9
|-
| 2012 || 56 || 13.5
|-
| 2013 || 55 || 14.8
|-
| 2014 || 76 || 13.6
|-
| 2015 || 96 || 12.2
|-
| 2016 || 124 || 8.9
|-
| 2017 || 74 || 14.5
|-
| 2018 || 78 || 16.4
|-
| 2019 || 47 || 20.7
|-
| 2020 || 65 || 15.2
|-
| 2021 || 66 || 24.9
|-
| 2022 || 188 || 10.5
|-
| 2023 || 80 || 20.5
|-
| 2024 || 59 || 28.6
|-
| 2025 || 62 || 28.7
|-
| 2026 || 81 || 29.5
|}

== Philanthropy ==
No documented philanthropy by Alekperov was found in the sources checked. Forbes reports that he collects old coins and opened an International Numismatic Club in Moscow, where his collection is exhibited.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" />

== Political activity ==
The ''Guardian'' describes him as on good terms with [[Vladimir Putin]]. It reports that he was among the business leaders summoned to the Kremlin in late February 2022, in the days before the invasion of Ukraine.<ref name="gu_alek22" /> No party donations, elected offices or lobbying registrations by him were found in the sources checked.

== International and political links ==
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."

=== Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements) ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Jewish communal charities ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Gulf states ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== China ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Russia ===
Russian national; former Soviet deputy oil minister; founder of [[Lukoil]] and its president until April 2022.<ref name="gu_alek22" /><ref name="lk_res22" />

=== India ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Palestinian or Arab causes ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Home government ===
His home government is Russia's (see above). Sanctioned by the UK on 13 April 2022 and, according to the ''Guardian'', by Australia.<ref name="uk_178" /><ref name="gu_alek22" />

=== Other international links ===
Azerbaijan: born in Baku.<ref name="gu_alek22" /> United States (company-level): [[Lukoil]] was designated by OFAC on 22 October 2025, and Lukoil agreed in January 2026 to sell its foreign-assets subsidiary to [[Carlyle Group|Carlyle]], subject to OFAC approval.<ref name="ofac_sb0290" /><ref name="lk_carl26" /> Kazakhstan (company-level): Lukoil's assets there were excluded from the planned sale.<ref name="lk_carl26" /> Netherlands: Forbes reports the 2022 transfer of the Heesen Yachts shipyard to a Dutch foundation.<ref name="fp_vagit_alekperov" /> United Kingdom and Switzerland (company-level): the ''Guardian'' reported that Lukoil's Swiss trading subsidiary [[Litasco]] had a supply relationship with the Stanlow refinery in England.<ref name="gu_alek22" />

== See also ==
* [[Lukoil]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.lukoil.com/ Lukoil]

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Businesspeople|Alekperov, Vagit]]
[[Category:Living people|Alekperov, Vagit]]
[[Category:Russian billionaires|Alekperov, Vagit]]
[[Category:Sanctioned individuals|Alekperov, Vagit]]
[[Category:Russian businesspeople|Alekperov, Vagit]]
[[Category:Oil Industry|Alekperov, Vagit]]