Viktor Vekselberg, Russian billionaire and co-owner of RusAl aluminium giant and TNK-BP oil venture, has teamed up with the founder of BHP Billiton Brian Gilbertson to produce jewelry under the famous Faberge trademark.
Popularity: 3% [?]
April 16, 2007
The maker of luxury cars, Aston Martin, is set to expand its global dealership network to Russia. The Aston Martin franchise has been awarded to Andrei Lomakin and Andrei Boiko, who also jointly own A.G. Marine, one of the leading sellers of luxury yachts in Moscow.
Popularity: 2% [?]
December 18, 2006A $1.3 million diamond-encrusted cellphone, a $500,000 racehorse and a $70,000 mini airplane are among the items on display at the Millionaire Fair held in Moscow this week — a screaming showcase of the country’s oil-driven wealth and the free-spending ways of its nouveau riche, The Associated Press reports.
Popularity: 1% [?]
November 3, 2006Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is building an 80 million pounds ($151 million)hospital in Moscow that is likely to become the first port of call for Russia’s rich and famous, The Sunday Times weekly reports.
The Moscow Medical Centre — which is financed by Millhouse LLC, Abramovich’s holding company — will be the country’s most luxurious and technologically advanced hospital.
Located in an 8.7-acre park on the southern edge of the capital a couple of miles from Rublyovka, Moscow’s version of Beverly Hills, the clinic will employ a medical staff of 700 to care for 400 people, including 80 in-house patients.
VIP patients will stay in 750 sq ft suites — the size of an ordinary two-bedroom Russian flat — with their own lavish bathroom and living room equipped with flat-screen television, internet access and fax machine to allow them to keep an eye on their businesses from their sickbeds.
The hospital, which is due to be completed next year, will be “as good as a five-star hotelâ€, said one of the managers overseeing the project.
“It’s aimed at Russia’s growing middle classes as well as the elite, including businessmen and members of the government.â€
“Abramovich is very keen to do his part to improve medical care in Russia,†said John Mann, the billionaire’s spokesman.
Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club with an estimated fortune of more than ?10 billion, is Russia’s richest man. He also backs a fund to help to train young health professionals.
Abramovich’s clinic will be in stark contrast to the majority of Russian hospitals, where the equipment sometimes dates back to the 1970s. Ordinary Russians — who under communism had free access to medical care — are at the mercy of a ruthless system dominated by bribes. Without greasing the palms of doctors and nurses, patients are condemned to long queues and negligent care.
When Abramovich, 40, bought Chelsea more than three years ago, he was criticized at home for not investing enough to improve life in Russia. His new hospital is unlikely to quell Russians’ deep resentment towards their fabulously rich oligarchs.
Popularity: 2% [?]
October 30, 2006
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