Russian billionaire buys half of Sibur

ERJ staff report (TB)

Moscow -- Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson has purchased 50 percent of Sibur L.L.C., a major Russian producer of synthetic rubber, petrochemicals and plastics.

Moscow-based Sibur said that half the shares were acquired in the name of a company known as Miracle, which is controlled by Mikhelson, and the other half were purchased by a subsidiary, and which will be re-registered in Miracle's name once Russia's anti-monopoly agency has approved the purchase.

Mikhelson is the head of Novatek, Russia's largest independent producer of natural gas. He ranked No. 189 on Forbes magazine's recent listing of the world's billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $4.4 billion.

At the K 2010 trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany, Sibur President Dimitry Konov told journalists the company was looking to international markets, particularly in China and Europe. Sibur had annual sales of more than $7 billion, he said.

In 2009, Sibur produced 597,000 metric tons of polymers and 339,000 tons of rubber, he said.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

Press release from Sibur