| Entrepreneur, manager, co-owner and president of the Stroygazconsulting holding [1 Date of Birth: 12.12.1965 Country: Jordan |
Ziyad Manasir was born on December 12, 1965, in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, in a military family of the Kingdom of Jordan. He was one of 12 children. In 1983, he studied in Romania. In 1984, as part of a student exchange program, he came to Moscow and had the option to enroll either in the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas or the M. Azizbekov Baku Institute of Oil and Chemistry. After 15 days, he chose Azerbaijan and enrolled in the M. Azizbekov Baku Institute of Oil and Chemistry, where he specialized in petroleum and gas industry engineering. During his time in the institute, Manasir focused on his studies and had limited social interactions. He developed a friendship with a Syrian student who later became his business partner in Russia.
After completing his studies, Manasir decided not to return to Jordan due to the mandatory military service and instead moved to Moscow. He initially worked as a specialist in foreign economic activities at the Consumer Cooperation Union. Eventually, he became the deputy chairman of the board.
In the early 1990s, Manasir met Victor Polyanychko, who was acquainted with Victor Chernomyrdin. In 1992, Manasir founded the company "MV" with Polyanychko, which traded yellow phosphorus imported from Kazakhstan, processed it in Ukraine, and sold it to the Moscow Chemical Plant, as well as dealt with timber, metal, petroleum products, and other goods. After six months, he established the company "Baltika" engaged in the same business. Polyanychko owned 20% of the shares in this company. However, disagreements arose between Manasir and Polyanychko, leading to Manasir buying out Polyanychko's shares.
In 1993, while working with "Orenburgneft," Manasir started retail sales of petroleum products. He also acquired a house-building plant in Tyumen in the same year. Manasir invited many oil industry professionals, including the then Minister of Energy Yuri Shafranik, to visit his plant during the Tyumen Oil and Energy Forum. Afterward, he began constructing dormitories for "Tyumenburgaz," a subsidiary of Gazprom, which lasted for 6-7 years.
In 1994, Manasir established the company "Stroygazconsulting" based on "Stroybiznesconsulting" together with Alexey Likhachev and Petr Polyanychko (who owned 20% at the time of creation). In the mid-1990s, "Stroygazconsulting" received its first orders from Gazprom.
Manasir returned to Jordan in 1999 while holding Russian citizenship. In the same year, he merged "Stroygazconsulting" with "Urengoy Prom-Grazhdanstroy" (owned by Mikhail Yakibchuk).
In 2001, Olga Grigoryeva (the daughter of Alexander Grigoryev, a friend of Vladimir Putin) became another co-owner of "Stroygazconsulting." In February 2009, Olga Grigoryeva sold her stake in "Stroygazconsulting" to the subsidiary company "Stroygazconsulting-Sever" (owned by Ziyad Manasir, Alexey Likhachev, Mikhail Yakibchuk, and Rosa Prilepa).
Between 2007 and 2009, "Stroygazconsulting" acquired nine construction companies related to Gazprom, with a combined annual revenue of around half a billion dollars (according to the SPARK system).
At the beginning of 2009, Manasir sold his shares in Gazprom. Later in 2009, the "Stroygazconsulting" holding won a tender from Transneft to construct a 415 km oil pipeline within the framework of VSTO-2.
Ziyad Manasir is married to Victoria Manasir and has five children, three daughters, and two sons. He describes his family as leading a very disciplined lifestyle, spending their free time together and frequently dining out. Since 2009, Manasir has been included in the Forbes ranking, occupying positions ranging from 75 (2009) to 78 (2010) with a net worth of $500 million (2009) to $900 million (2010). In 2011, with a personal fortune of $2.1 billion, he ranked 46th on Forbes' list of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia.