Boris Zingarevich

In the early 1990s Boris Zingarevich and his business partner Zakhar Smuskhin got involved in barter trading with Russian pulp and paper mills.Later that decade, during the country's privatization phase, they bought their first plant, the Kotlas pulp and paper mill.The partners' Ilim Group formed a joint venture in 2007 with multinational firm International Paper; the venture operates in Russia as Ilim Group.As part of the deal, International Paper purchased 50% of Ilim for approximately $650 million, most of which was cash.Zingarevich also controls Ilim Timber, a large Russian processed timber firm.