Former ship-yard worker nets £192m

A Russian metals magnate and friend of Roman Abramovich has added £192m to his fortune after the £749m sale of his metals business

Alexander Nesis, the former ship-yard worker turned metals magnate, stands to make about £192m from his stake in Oriel Resources, a chrome producer being bought by stainless steel maker Mechel for almost $1.5bn.

Nesis, who controls Russia's largest silver producer, Polimetall through holding company IST Group, holds a the largest stake out of a group of shareholders that collectively control 47% of Oriel, according to the Moscow Times.

Alexander Mamut, formerly of Troika Dialog, is also understood to have a stake in the company, while Israel's Baran group holds a minority stake.

The sale will see Nesis, who is a friend of Roman Abramovich, jump a few places from his current ranking of 59th richest Russian, according to Forbes magazine, which last year credited him with a fortune of $410m.

Nesis began his career as a skilled workman at the Baltic Shipbuilding Plant (which he now co-owns), before getting into non-ferrous metals businesses in the 1990s.

Chrome, which is one of the ingredients of stainless steel, has shot up in price since supply problems affected production in South Africa.

 Source: Seanews