Aleksandr Frolov
| Aleksandr Vladimirovich Frolov | |
|---|---|
| Александр Владимирович Фролов | |
| Born | 17 May 1964 Tula |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Education | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (honours graduate, 1987; PhD in physics and mathematics, 1991) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Employer | Evraz; PJSC Raspadskaya |
| Title | President and chief executive, Evraz (2007 to September 2021); chairman of the board of directors, PJSC Raspadskaya |
| Known for | Leadership of the steel and coal group Evraz |
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Frolov (Russian: Александр Владимирович Фролов; born 17 May 1964) is a Russian businessman who served as president and chief executive of Evraz, one of the largest steel producers, from 2007 to September 2021. Frolov trained as a physicist before entering business in the 1990s, rising over more than a decade to lead the company founded by his business partner Alexander Abramov. He is also described, in the Russian-language source on which this article draws, as chairman of the board of directors of PJSC Raspadskaya, the coal-mining subsidiary into which Evraz consolidated its coal operations in 2020, making the group the largest Russian producer of coking coal.
Frolov was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in connection with the Russo-Ukrainian War, and, according to the Russian-language source, by Ukraine and New Zealand on similar grounds.
Early life and education
Frolov was born on 17 May 1964 in Tula, according to the Russian-language source. He graduated with honours in 1987 from the Department of Molecular and Chemical Physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and received his PhD (kandidat degree) in physics and mathematics from the same institute in 1991. He then worked as a research scientist at the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy in Moscow, where, according to the Russian-language source, he authored a number of scientific publications.
Career
1994 to 2001: entry into Evraz
Frolov became an entrepreneur in 1994. According to the Russian-language source, he began work that year at "EvrazMetall," a company founded on 28 February 1992 by Alexander Abramov. A Swedish-language source instead describes Frolov as a co-founder of Evraz plc and a 10.45 per cent shareholder in the company; this account differs from the English- and Russian-language sources, which place the company's founding two years before Frolov joined it, and the discrepancy is not resolved here.
2002 to 2006: finance director and vice-president
From 2002 to 2004, Frolov served as financial director of the company. The Russian-language source states that, with his direct participation, the holding's consolidated profit reached 600 million US dollars in the first half of 2004. From 2004 to 2006 he was senior executive vice-president of Evraz Group S.A., and from 2006 to 2008 he was chairman of that company's board of directors.
2007 to 2021: president and chief executive
English-language sources describe Frolov as chief executive of Evraz from 2007 until September 2021. The Russian-language source gives a more granular account of titles over the same span: president of Evraz Group S.A. from 2007 to 2012, and president of EVRAZ plc from October 2011 to September 2021. In March 2012, Frolov registered his residence in Novokuznetsk in order to pay taxes in Kuzbass, where the company's largest enterprises operate, according to the Russian-language source. By the end of 2020, Evraz's profit stood at 858 million US dollars, per the same source, which does not tie that figure to specific decisions by Frolov.
March 2022: departure from the board
Frolov's business partner, Alexander Abramov, was chairman of Evraz. Both men resigned from the EVRAZ plc board of directors in March 2022, according to the English-language source; the Russian-language source likewise records Frolov's departure from the board that month.
Sanctions
Frolov was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War. The Russian-language source dates this designation to 2 November 2022 and states it followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, attributing the listing to Frolov's connection with Roman Abramovich and stating that his work "allowed Putin to mobilise Russian industry to support the war." According to the same source, he was placed under sanctions by Ukraine and New Zealand on similar grounds.
Net worth
According to Forbes' list of billionaires, Frolov had a net worth of 2.6 billion US dollars as of August 2022, ranking 1341st on Forbes' global list of billionaires that year. The Russian-language source gives a figure of 2.3 billion US dollars for 2022, placing him 37th among 88 Russian billionaires and 1341st worldwide by Forbes' count, and reports that by 2024 he ranked 54th among 125 Russian billionaires with a fortune of 2.8 billion US dollars. An earlier, Swedish-language source put his fortune at 2.5 billion US dollars as of 15 October 2018, ranking him 915th on Forbes' global list that year.
Personal life
Frolov is married and has a son, according to the English-language source. The Russian-language source names the son as Aleksandr Frolov Jr. (born 1988), who lives in London and is chief executive and co-founder of the venture capital fund Target Global. That source describes the younger Frolov as one of the wealthiest heirs among the children of Russian dollar billionaires, ranking 17th on a Forbes list of billionaires' heirs published 27 May 2022, with his share as his father's only son estimated at 2.7 billion US dollars.
The Russian-language source also states that Frolov is a keen alpine skier, having repeatedly placed first or on the podium in amateur slalom competitions, and that he is one of the main organisers and sponsors of a corporate competition named after Andrei Sevenyuk (1970 to 2004), a senior vice-president of Evraz who died in an accident while fishing in the polar region. The same source states that Frolov has taken part in major charitable projects, including the restoration of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery on Valaam.
Assessment
Frolov's career combines a scientific training, in physics rather than business or engineering, with more than two decades at the top of one of Russia's largest steel and coal producers, including thirteen years as its chief executive or president by the accounts given here. The Russian-language source credits him with a direct role in lifting the holding's profit in the first half of 2004, and the company's profit remained substantial through the end of his tenure in 2020. Against this, the same sources record that Frolov was sanctioned by the UK, Ukraine and New Zealand in 2022 over his connection to the Russo-Ukrainian War, with the UK's stated rationale, as quoted in the Russian-language source, being that his work helped mobilise Russian industry in support of the war. He and his business partner, Alexander Abramov, both left the EVRAZ plc board within months of the invasion of Ukraine.