Pyotr Aven

Petr Olegovich Aven
Aven with Vladimir Putin, 5 April 2002
Born	March 16, 1955 Moscow, Russia
Nationality	Russian
Ethnicity	Russian, Latvian, Russian Jewish
Education	Moscow State University
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Shareholder of Alfa-Bank
Net worth	US$5.2 billion (April 2015)[1]
Spouse(s)	married
Children	two

Petr Olegovich Aven (Petr O. Aven) (Russian: Петр Олегович Авен; b. March 16, 1955) is a Russian businessman, economist and politician. He heads Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest commercial bank.

Early life and education

Born in Moscow, his father, professor of computer science Oleg Aven (Russian: Олег Иванович Авен), was half Latvian and half Russian^[2][3] and his mother was from a Jewish family.^[4] His paternal grandfather Janis Aven was a Latvian rifleman.^[2] Petr Aven graduated from Moscow State University in 1977 and holds a PhD in Economics (1980). Subsequently, Petr was a senior researcher at the All-Union Institute for Systems Studies at the USSR Academy of Sciences and then spent time at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria (1989–1991).

Aven went on to become the Minister of Foreign Economic Relations for the Russian Federation (1991–1992), serving as Russia's representative to the Group of Seven and conducting a number of high-level trade and economic missions to Western capitals. In 1993 he joined the Russia's Choice movement and was a candidate for State Duma.

Career

In October 1994, Aven met Alfa Group's Mikhail Fridman, and soon became an Alfa Bank shareholder serving as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Alfa Group Consortium. From 1994 until June 2011, he served as the President of Alfa-Bank Russia. Currently Aven is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Alfa Banking Group.^[5] Aven is also Chairman of the Board of Directors at AlfaStrakhovanie Group, Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of CTC Media, Inc.^[6] In 2012, the Alfa Group together with Viktor Vekselberg of Renova Group and Leonard Blavatnik of Access Industries sold their aggregate 50% stake in TNK-BP to state-owned Rosneft for $28 billion.^[1]

Public activities

Petr Aven holds a number of public facing positions:

• A member of the Endowment Foundation Board of Trustees of the New Economic School.^[7]
• A trustee of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CERP) in Great Britain.^[8]
• A member of the Board of Trustees of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.
• A trustee of the Board of National Association for National Financial Reporting Standards.
• A member of the Council of Trustees of the Russian Olympians Foundation.^[9]
• A professor at State University Higher School of Economics.^[10]

Since April 2006, Petr Aven has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

In 2007, Mr. Aven became Chairman of the Russia-Latvian Business Council.

Petr Aven is the author of some scientific papers and articles on economic and trade issues and is quoted in the financial and trade press on matters related to the Russian economy and trade policy. Mr. Aven has acted as a guest professor and lecturer at some universities, including Yale University, Bar-Elan University (Israel), and the University of Glasgow and has published two books on econometrics and on economic reform and numerous articles in Russian and international journals, including in Communist Economies and Economic Transformation in Economic Policy. Yale University Press and the Kiel Institute of World Economics, and other scientific and academic institutes have published Mr. Aven's monographs.^[11] Aven is a visitor to Western capitals where he gives lectures on economic developments in Russia.

He has received a number of international awards, including the best manager in the financial services sector in Russia in 2004 by Institutional Investor.^[12]

Petr Aven is a supporter of the arts and theatre in Russia. Aven along with Stan Polovets and three fellow Russian Jewish billionaires, Mikhail Fridman, Alexander Knaster, and German Khan, founded the Genesis Philanthropy Group whose purpose is to develop and enhance Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.^[13][14][4]

References