Vladimir Potanin

Vladimir Potanin
Image	; Vladimir Potanin
Born	1961
Nationality	Russia
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	President of Nornickel; owner of Interros
Education	Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO)

Russian businessman; president of Nornickel and owner of the Interros group; sanctioned by the UK and US in 2022

Vladimir Olegovich Potanin (born 1961) is a Russian businessman. He controls the Interros group, one of the two main shareholders of the metals producer Nornickel (MMC Norilsk Nickel), and has been the company's president and chairman of its management board since 2015.^[1]^[2]^[3] He was a deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin. In 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he bought Rosbank and a stake in Tinkoff Bank, and was then sanctioned by the United Kingdom (June 2022) and the United States (December 2022).^[3]^[4]^[5] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Vladimir Potanin 76th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$29.74 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Metals.^[3]^[6] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Vladimir Potanin 79th, at US$29.7 billion.^[7]

Early life and education

The UK Supreme Court records that Potanin and his first wife were both born in Russia in 1961. They married there in 1983.^[8]^[9] Forbes lists his education as a master's degree in finance from the Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).^[3]

Career

According to Forbes, Potanin used government contacts to co-found Onexim Bank in 1993, and the bank went on to control large industrial companies. Forbes says he acquired a stake in Norilsk Nickel during the 1995 privatisation and served as a deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin. Forbes also says he had earlier owned interests in insurance, media, agriculture, engineering and oil, and that he later split from his early business partner Mikhail Prokhorov.^[3]

Nornickel's 2023 annual report states that he was the company's chief executive from 2012 to 2015. Since 2015 he has been its president, the company's sole executive body, which also chairs the management board.^[1] Forbes says he spent US$2.5 billion developing the Rosa Khutor ski resort for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and still holds a stake in it. It also lists a stake in the pharmaceutical company Petrovax Pharm.^[3]

In spring 2022 he bought Rosbank from Société Générale, which was leaving Russia, and a 35% stake in Tinkoff Bank from its founder Oleg Tinkov, according to Forbes.^[3] The UK government cited both purchases when it sanctioned him.^[4]

Nornickel shareholding

Forbes says Potanin owns just over a third of Nornickel.^[3] Nornickel's 2025 annual report names the Interros Group and En+ Group as its main shareholders at the end of 2025. It reports that about 33% of the shares were in free float, and gives a market capitalisation of about US$29.5 billion on 30 December 2025.^[2]

Sanctions

On 29 June 2022 the UK government sanctioned Potanin. It described him as Russia's second richest man and the owner of Interros. It said he had continued to amass wealth while supporting the Russian government, citing the Rosbank and Tinkoff purchases made since the invasion of Ukraine.^[4]

On 15 December 2022 the US State Department imposed sanctions on Potanin, three members of his immediate family and Interros, and identified his yacht Nirvana as blocked property.^[5] On the same day the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Rosbank, which the Treasury said the Russian central bank regards as a systemically important credit institution.^[10]^[5]

Potanin Foundation (UK charity)

Potanin founded the Potanin Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales in 2006. It made grants to its sister charity in Russia, the Vladimir Potanin Foundation.^[11] A 2026 tribunal judgment records that he was the charity's sole funder and had given it about US$100 million.^[12]

On the day he was sanctioned, the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry. Its position is that people subject to UK financial sanctions cannot control a charity. It reported that the charity had assets of more than £95 million.^[11] On 12 July 2022 the Commission appointed an interim manager, to the exclusion of the trustees.^[13] On 16 June 2023 it removed Potanin as an officer of the charity and ended his membership. On 25 February 2026 the First-tier Tribunal dismissed his appeal.^[12] The tribunal found that his removal was needed to protect the charity's property.^[14] The judgment records the interim manager's recommendation that the charity be wound down.^[12] Civil Society reported in February 2026 that the inquiry was still open.^[14]

Divorce litigation

Potanin and his first wife, Natalia Potanina, married in 1983 and divorced in Russia in 2014. They have three adult children.^[9] The UK Supreme Court records that Russian litigation gave her half the value of the assets held in his name. Most of his wealth, however, was held through trusts and companies and was not treated as marital property.^[8] She then sought a financial remedy in England under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984. The court records also describe related claims in the United States and Cyprus.^[9]^[8]

The High Court first granted her permission at a hearing of which he had no notice, then set that permission aside. The Court of Appeal restored it. On 31 January 2024 the Supreme Court allowed Potanin's appeal by three votes to two ([2024] UKSC 3).^[9]^[8] Forbes's 2026 profile still describes the former couple as fighting over assets in the UK courts.^[3]

Wealth

Forbes gives metals as the source of his wealth.^[3]^[6]

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.^[7]^[3]

Forbes estimates by list year
Year	World's Billionaires rank	Net worth (US$ bn)
2001	272	1.8
2002	234	1.8
2003	222	1.8
2004	85	4.9
2005	117	4.4
2006	89	6.4
2007	38	13.5
2008	25	19.3
2009	318	2.1
2010	61	10.3
2011	34	17.8
2012	46	14.5
2013	58	14.3
2014	86	12.6
2015	60	15.4
2016	78	12.1
2017	77	14.3
2018	83	15.9
2019	58	18.1
2020	41	19.7
2021	55	27.0
2022	97	17.3
2023	62	23.7
2024	85	23.7
2025	81	24.2
2026	79	29.7

Philanthropy

Apart from the Potanin Foundation (see above), the 2026 tribunal judgment notes that his Russian foundation had funded philanthropic projects and made grants to museums and universities abroad.^[12] Forbes says that he left the board of the Guggenheim Museum's foundation after Russia invaded Ukraine; he had served on it for two decades.^[3]

Political activity

Forbes says he served as deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin and keeps ties with President Vladimir Putin.^[3] The State Department called him a close associate of Putin when it sanctioned him.^[5] No party donations 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."