But how much do we know about Antonov and his group of companies? I know that I don't know much, and therefore some facts from Reuters were very interesting. A short summary:
- He was born in 1975 in Uzbekistan, where his father worked at a uranium enrichment plant. He graduated from the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics.
- In an interview on his website, www.vladimirantonov.org, he says he made his fortune while trading Russian debt at a bank called Lefco Bank during the 1998 crisis and then cheaply bought a Russian bank, Akademkhimbank, in 1999. He says he specialises in turning troubled companies around.
- Antonov's key assets now include Lithuanian Snoras bank, which was the fifth-largest bank by assets totaling 7.7 billion litas ($3.2 billion) at the end of 2010. Conversbank acquired a majority stake at Snoras in 2003, and Antonov become direct holder of 68.1 percent in 2007. Antonov is chairman of the bank's supervisory board and his father is also on the board.
For all the fact check out the article over at Reuters.