How a mechanical engineer became a central figure in Russia's massive energy industry

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: German Khan rose from a factory apprentice to a billionaire partner in the Alfa Group Consortium. His career, defined by the massive TNK-BP joint venture and the founding of LetterOne, tracks the complex evolution of post-Soviet business, international energy markets, and the subsequent global sanctions that reshaped his life.

Born in Kyiv in 1961, German Khan studied mechanical engineering before entering the wholesale trade sector during the late 1980s. Alongside college peers Mikhail Fridman and Alexei Kuzmichev, he helped build the Alfa Group into a dominant Russian financial and industrial conglomerate. By the mid-1990s, Khan shifted the company's focus toward oil and exports, a strategic pivot that culminated in the 1997 acquisition of the state-owned Tyumen Oil Company (TNK).

In 2003, Khan orchestrated a landmark US$8 billion joint venture between TNK and BP, creating TNK-BP, which became Russia's third-largest oil company. This partnership represented one of the largest foreign investments in Russian history at the time. Following the sale of TNK-BP to Rosneft in 2013 for US$56 billion, Khan co-founded LetterOne, a Luxembourg-based investment firm. Through its L1 Energy fund, the group sought to expand into international projects, including the 2015 acquisition of the German energy company DEA for US$7 billion.

The expansion into international energy assets faced significant geopolitical friction. When LetterOne acquired DEA, the UK government expressed concerns regarding potential sanctions, leading to the forced sale of DEA's North Sea assets. By 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Khan was sanctioned by the EU and the UK. These measures have since been upheld by courts, including the EU General Court in 2025, which affirmed the legality of his inclusion on the sanctions list. Today, Khan's legacy remains tied to both his massive industrial influence and the legal complexities of his later career.

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