Ruslan Baisarov

Baysarov was born on August 9, 1968 in Prigorodnoye village, which is in the Grozny district, Russia, to Sulym and Kasirat Baysarov. He is one of many siblings.[3] After graduating from school in 1985, he moved to Moscow, to study at the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, and supported himself by reselling imported computers adapted for Russian-speaking users.[4] He served in the army from 1986 to 1988, and upon his return transferred to the Oil Institute in Grozny,[3] graduating in 1996 with a degree in engineering economics. In 2001, he received a master's degree in sociology from Moscow State University.[2] In 2018, Baisarov received a Ph.D. in technical sciences from the National University of Science and Technology MiSiS.[5]

In the 1990s Baisarov opened a beauty salon, a nightclub, a small casino, and an external parking lot in World Trade Center Moscow.[3]

In the early 2000s he entered the oil business when he joined the Russian Fuel Union's board of directors.[6] From 2001 until 2004 he served as vice-president of the Moscow Fuel Company, formerly named the Association of Independent Gasoline Stations. He then became vice-president of the Moscow Oil and Gas Company in 2005 and first vice-president of the company in 2007, a role which he kept until 2010.[7]

In 2008, Baisarov acquired a stake in Sibir Energy,[3] which he sold to Gazprom Neft, for approximately $740 million in 2010.[8]

In 2011[4] he became owner and general director of the Tuva Energy Industrial Corporation (TEPK).[2] In 2013, the company obtained a license to develop the Elegest coal mine, one of the largest in Russia, with a total area of 84 km2 and reserves of 855 million t of coal.[9] In April 2018, TEPK entered a 30-year concession agreement with the Russian government, according to which TEPK Kyzyl-Kuragino, a subsidiary of TEPK, would lead the development and operation of the Elegest-Kyzyl-Kuragino railroad.[10] In April 2019, TEPK Kyzyl–Kuragino entered an agreement with Russian Railways, making the state-owned railway company the official general contractor for the construction of the Elegest-Kyzyl–Kuragino line.[11] The integrated development project of the Elegest coal mine includes the construction of a coal terminal port in Khabarovsk Krai scheduled to be officially commissioned in the third quarter of 2023.[11]

In 2015, Baisarov acquired 25% of the SK Most Group of Companies,[12] a major Russian construction corporation, and in 2016 he became controlling shareholder (56%) and assumed the post of chairman of the board of directors.[3]

In December 2016, SK Most Group of Companies began building a double-lane highway cable-stayed bridge in the Blagoveshchensky district of Amur Oblast, connecting between Blagoveshchensk, Russia and Heihe, China across the Amur River.[13] Russia's investment in the project is estimated at 14 billion rubles and China's is estimated at 5.2 billion. The bridge is scheduled to open at the end of 2019.[14] Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge, the first railway bridge over the Amur River, connecting Russia and China, was partially completed in 2019.

In 2017, SK Most Group of Companies began working on broadening the Sakhalin Oblast region railroad section of the Far Eastern Railway.[15] The project is to be completed by 2020.[16]

In January 2019, the company completed the construction of a number of units in the, Sabetta Arctic Port,[17] which is part of the large-scale Yamal LNG project.[18] As part of the Baikal–Amur Mainline and Trans-Siberian Railway modernization project, SK Most Group of Companies is involved in the construction of the second line of the Baikal tunnel, which will double the carrying capacity of the site and significantly expand the rail traffic volume of the East Siberian Railway.[19]

In 2016, Baisarov proposed the creation of a nationwide marketplace similar to the Chinese Alibaba[20] as well as a payment system that would compete with Visa and MasterCard in the Russian Federation.[4] However, the idea was rejected by the Ministry of Economic Development.[21] In August 2016 he provided a loan to PimPay, a Russian fintech services company. The loan was issued on the security of co-founder Evgeny Chernov's 97% share in the company.[22]

Baisarov is married and the father of six children.[2]

In a 2009 charity auction, Baisarov acquired the right to cast a female role in the film Stalingrad by Russian director Fyodor Bondarchuk for €200,000. The money went to support children suffering from cancer.[23]