Russian Billionaire Kerimov Critical After Crash (Update1)

Russian Billionaire Kerimov Critical After Crash (Update1)

By Rudy Ruitenberg and Todd Prince

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Russian billionaire and parliamentarian Suleiman Kerimov was hospitalized in critical condition at Marseille's major burns center after his Ferrari crashed and burst into flames in Nice on the French Riviera.

Kerimov, 40, was transported by helicopter to the Centre Regional des Grands Brules in Marseille, where he arrived yesterday evening, after his condition was stabilized in Nice, said Denis Burgarella, a spokesman for Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Marseille.

Kerimov, worth $7.1 billion according to Forbes magazine, crashed his Ferrari Enzo around 3:30 p.m. yesterday on the Promenade des Anglais, the boulevard that runs along the Nice shoreline, according to a spokesman for the Police Nationale who declined to be identified according to regulations. The sports car caught fire and Kerimov was ``seriously injured,'' according to the spokesman.

Kerimov ranked No. 72 in Forbes magazine's annual survey of the world's richest people published in March. His wealth derives from stakes in OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas export monopoly, and OAO Sberbank, eastern Europe's largest bank. He also owns OAO MNPO Polymetal, Russia's biggest silver miner.

The native of Dagestan, a republic in Russia's Caucasus region, moved into the banking business following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kerimov went from banking to buying assets in aviation to oil trading, according to Forbes. The future billionaire also made money through corporate raids, including the takeover of AvtoBank, a lender, and Razvitiye, a real estate developer, the magazine said.

Sberbank, Baturina

Many businessmen that have had dealings with Kerimov, ``are afraid to talk about him, limiting themselves to diplomatic expressions,'' Forbes said in June. Kerimov has benefited from close relations with Yelena Baturina, the billionaire wife of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, and Sberbank, which lent him $3.2 billion to buy Gazprom and Sberbank shares, the magazine said.

He hired Merrill Lynch & Co. to make his investment company OAO GNK Nafta Moskva one of the world's top private-equity firms, the London-based Times newspaper reported in August. Kerimov this summer hired Allen Vine, the former head of Merrill Lynch's Moscow office, to chair his company.

Kerimov has been a member of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, since 1999 as a member of the Liberal Democratic party headed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a nationalist known for his controversial behavior.

Prognosis

``He is a visible, strong individual who has played an important role for the party,'' said Alexei Mitrofanov, a parliamentarian and member of the party's executive council, said in a telephone interview in Moscow today.

A female passenger in the black Ferrari was also injured, Agence France-Presse reported, citing police.

Hospital spokesman Burgarella declined to comment on Kerimov's survival chances, saying a patient must be in a stable condition for 48 hours for an assessment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net or Todd Prince in Moscow at tprince2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 26, 2006 15:08 EST