An Insight into The Life and Career Boris Ivanov, Former Gazprom Director-General and CEO
Today, Boris Ivanov is a globally celebrated Russian entrepreneur and business leader. He is the founder and Managing Director of the oil and gas multi-national, GPB Global Resources, a company he started in 2011. This iconic business guru has an admirable success journey. Before he jumped into entrepreneurship in 2011, he served as the Director-General of Gazprom, a global oil and gas conglomerate. Here is an insight into the life and career of this Russian businessman.
Childhood and education
Boris Ivanov was born in Russia in 1961 to well-educated parents who both worked as researchers in Soviet Union institutions. As a child, this prosperous entrepreneur spent his free time practicing martial arts and playing soccer. He also had a passion for classical music, which was quite popular at the time.
After his early education, Boris pursued International Relations at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and graduated in 1983. Today, this entrepreneur lives in Monaco with his wife, Natalia Ivanov, and their four children.
Early career and introduction to the oil and gas industry
This iconic businessman got his first job as a diplomat in the USSR’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the mid-1980s, during the Reagan administration Boris Ivanov was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Washington DC. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he moved on to join the business world. Here, the negotiating skills and experience that he had earned while working as a diplomat would prove very useful.
This oil and gas industry entrepreneur got his first job at Unibest Bank in Russia, where he worked as an executive. At Unibest Bank, he got his introduction to the oil and gas industry by spearheading several projects in the sector. Boris Ivanov would later join Gazprombank, where he worked as an advisor to the chairman. He would later be promoted to the Vice President of the company. Thanks to his business prowess and leadership skills, he was appointed the Chief Executive Officer and Director General of Gazprom E.P. International B.V. in 2007. After four years as the head of this global oil and gas conglomerate, he decided to pursue entrepreneurship.