Page 3 Profile: Arkadiy Abramovich, oligarch's son

Arkadiy Abramovich, left, with his father, Roman (Rex)

Justin Bieber’s new nemesis?

Look beyond the floppy hair; this is the eldest son of Russian business tycoon and billionaire owner of Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich. A chip off the old block, Arkadiy is a key player in a recently announced £110 million oil deal.

But he looks like he’s still at school

Far from it. The 20-year-old is boldly following in his father’s business footsteps, with a 39 per cent stake in the London-listed oil company Zoltav Resources, which yesterday announced it had signed a multi-million pound agreement to secure the Bortovoy Licence in Saratov, western Russia. The 3,215 square kilometre licence contains a number of gas fields, a processing plant and significant exploration potential.

Tell me more about the mini-oligarch’s empire

Arkadiy is the founder and owner of ARA Capital, a private investment vehicle and Zoltav’s largest shareholder. The former VTB Bank intern’s company is investing £26 million in the deal, which is the largest yet by Zoltav.

Who else is involved?

Another Russian billionaire of course. The gas field deal has been signed with one of Zoltav’s other major shareholders, Cyprus-based Bandbear Ltd, which is controlled by Valentin Bukhtoyarov, who is valued by Forbes at £1.8bn.

Like father, like son

There’s certainly no doubting Arkadiy’s ambition. This is a young man with a finger in many pies : in 2010, he was linked to an unsuccessful attempt to take over the Danish football club FC Copenhagen, so he could soon be emulating his father’s success on the football front too.

What about when he’s not brokering deals?

Arkadiy is one of Roman’s five children with his former wife, Irina Vyacheslavovna Malandina. His parents divorced in 2007, with Irina receiving a settlement thought to be between £1 billion and £2 billion. This included an £18million West Sussex estate, where Arkadiay is said to live. It doesn’t seen unreasonable to assume that he likes to relax on his father’s famous Eclipse yacht from time to time too…