V ladimir Potanin is one of Russia's most powerful and wealthiest oligarchs. He is the president and largest shareholder of Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), the world's largest producer of refined nickel and palladium, both of which are critical metals for the automotive (catalytic converters and EV batteries) and electronics industries. A former high-ranking official in the Soviet trade ministry, he used his connections to build a private bank, Onexim Bank, in the early 1990s.

He was one of the key architects of the controversial 'loans-for-shares' auctions of the mid-1990s, a scheme in which a handful of well-connected businessmen acquired control of Russia's most valuable state-owned industrial assets for a fraction of their true value. It was through this scheme that he gained control of the massive Norilsk Nickel mining and metallurgical complex. He has since maintained his position as a dominant force in the global metals market. He has been sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.