Roman's Reign

HOW ABRAMOVICH DEFIED THE ODDS

- Ong Xiang Hong

It’s hard to imagine someone who has experienced both the highs and lows of life as Roman Abramovich. Born to poverty and raised in the far north of Russia, Abramovich is now a multi-billionaire and famous for being the owner of Chelsea Football Club.

Despite this, he remains media shy and secretive. He is not a man without controversy, as is any Russian oligarch who got rich in the post-Soviet collapse. However, with his purchase of Chelsea FC, he has given himself somewhat of a status of a man about town. Still, his past continues to haunt him, as does his relationship with the current Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

So how did a Russian orphan rise up to become one of the world’s richest self-made men?

HARSH BEGINNINGS.

Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich was born to a lower middle class family on the Volga River. However, he was orphaned at the age of four, and spent his childhood raised by his grandparents in Komi, a bleak Siberian town 700 miles north of Moscow. There, the harsh region experiences long periods of Arctic cold, darkness and thick permafrost.

Abramovich’s first enterprise came when he was with the Soviet army during compulsory military service. He cut a deal with drivers of his unit to trade gasoline for candy and pastry. He then sold the ‘saved-up’ gasoline to some of the commissioned officers of his unit. At the time, gasoline cost 40 kopeks a litre, while Abramovich sold it at 20 kopeks a litre. The officers could buy gas for their cars at half price, while Abramovich kept some of the profits.