Heads of fuel and energy complex and industry

Alekperov Vagit Yusufovich

Vagit Alekperov was born in 1950 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. The Azeri father worked as an oilman and died when Vagit was a boy. The mother of Vagit Alekperov is a Russian woman. Vagit Alekperov graduated from the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry in 1974.
Alekperov moved to Western Siberia in 1979 and worked at Surgutneftegaz from 1979 to 1985, earning a reputation as an industry expert. He rose through the ranks and by 1985 became the first deputy general director of the Bashneft production company. In 1987, he became the general director of the newly created production company Kogalymneftegaz.
In 1990, Alekperov was appointed Deputy Minister of the Oil and Gas Industry of the Soviet Union and became the youngest Deputy Minister of Energy in Soviet history. At that time, Alekperov promoted the creation of vertically integrated state-owned energy companies that would bring together a wide range of organizations in the energy sector, which at that time were subordinate to various Soviet bureaucratic institutions.
It was at this time that Western oil companies began to actively seek partners in Russia. While visiting British Petroleum facilities in the United Kingdom in 1990, Alekperov personally led the Russian negotiating delegation. Rondo Felberg, chief executive of BP, told the NY Times that Alekperov took control of the agenda during that 1990 trip, sternly asking BP executives to explain how a modern oil company should be created.
became a joint-stock company "LUKOIL", and Alekperov became its president and chairman of the board. By 2002, Alekperov owned 10.4% of the company.
In 2000, Alekperov stepped down as head of Lukoil's board of directors, but retained his position as president of the company. In May 2008, Alekperov bought 11.13 million shares (1.3%) of Lukoil, thereby increasing his stake to 20.4% and becoming the company's largest shareholder.
Lukoil was the first Russian company to acquire an American company. In November 2000, Lukoil acquired Getty Petroleum Marketing and its 1,300 gas stations in the United States. Like many other Russian oligarchs, Alekperov also ventured into banking and the media. In May 2006, Alekperov was one of the two main owners of IFD Kapital Group.
In 2018, Alekperov first said in an interview that he was looking for a successor to his position, according to him, personnel changes could occur in the company in 2023.
Alekperov is included in the list of Russian "oligarchs" for 2017, as reported in an unclassified CAATSA report to the US Congress.
In April 2022, Alekperov was sanctioned by Australia and the United Kingdom. On April 21, Lukoil released a statement saying that Alekperov had resigned and left the board of directors after 29 years. In May 2022, Canada also imposed sanctions on Alekperov. In October 2022, New Zealand imposed sanctions against Alekperov.
Alekperov is married to Larisa Viktorovna Alekperova, they have a son, Yusuf, born in 1990. In 2023, he founded the WellTech company, which is engaged in the repair of LUKOIL wells.
Alekperov's hobby is numismatics. The exact composition of his collection is unknown, but, according to some sources, this is one of the three largest private collections in Russia. According to Forbes, Alekperov's private museum of numismatics has more than 700 coins on display, which is about a quarter of the entire collection. It consists mainly of gold coins, from antiquity to modern Russia, a few silver coins, as well as a few platinum coins of the Russian Empire.
In 2007, Alekperov founded the Our Future Foundation. to promote social entrepreneurship in Russia. Alekperov has repeatedly publicly stated and confirmed that, according to his will, his share in Lukoil (more than 20% of the company) will be transferred to a specially created charitable foundation.
first degree for "great contribution to the development of the fuel and energy complex and many years of conscientious work."