Russia’s Deripaska eyes ailing Humvee

With right-wing Americans growling once again at Russia after the invasion of Georgia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the tough Republican governor of California, will be pleased that he has disposed of his fleet of environmentally unsound Hummers. The firm that makes them may be sold to the Russians, in fact, to Oleg Deripaska (pictured), who is said to be Russia's richest man.

On good terms with Vladimir Putin despite being married to one of Boris Yeltsin's closest advisers, Deripaska has held exploratory talks with General Motors to buy its Hummer, the brand of celebrity gas-guzzlers modelled on the US military's armoured Humvees. No deal has yet been signed but Deripaska has recently moved into vehicles, buying the ailing British van maker, LDV, based in the Midlands, and a stake in Magna, the giant Canadian car parts company.

With a fortune estimated at £14 billion, Deripaska has overtaken Roman Abramovich as Russia's wealthiest oligarch, according to Forbes magazine's Rich List. His wealth is derived from ownership of the world's second biggest aluminium company. (Continued below)

His profile in the West is low and though he owns a £25 million house in Belgravia, he prefers spending his time relaxing in the Russian countryside, a legacy of his childhood. After losing his father when he was four, he was brought up in poverty on a farm in southern Russia milking the family's cows and fetching water from a well.

Deripaska takes a dim view of de-industrialisation in Britain and America: "You have almost written off your car industry. I think it was a mistake. You have a very experienced workforce with wonderful engineers."