Mikhail Fridman The Alfa Group chairman is no stranger to corporate battles. Last year he won a high-profile battle over a disputed stake in a telecoms company that involved a legal assault on Leonid Reiman, the telecoms minister and an ally of former president Vladimir Putin. He started out in the Gorbachev era with an early flair for the market capitalism being unleashed, selling tickets for the Bolshoi Ballet and window washing. He now has stakes in TNK-BP, Russia's biggest privately-owned bank, its biggest grocery retailer, and one of its largest telecoms groups. At 44, the tycoon is ranked as Russia's seventh-richest man with a fortune of $20.5bn.

Viktor Vekselberg The Renova chairman, known by many as a charming yet steely chameleon, is the second shareholder manager at TNK-BP. He holds the post of executive director for gas business development and chairs TNK-BP management. BP has accused him of playing a key role in engineering visa problems for Robert Dudley, TNK-BP’s outgoing chief executive. Mr Vekselberg wrote to Russia’s Migration Service telling it he could not provide it with a copy of a valid employment contract for Mr Dudley. He is estimated by Forbes to be Russia’s 16th richest man with $11.4bn.