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Unlike a certain other internet mogul we could name, Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t actually been to Russia - though not for lack of trying.
When we caught up with him to talk about Russian firm DST’s $200m investment in Facebook (our earlier coverage is here and here), he confessed to having tried - and failed - to get into Russia when he took time off last year to travel around Europe.
Mr Zuckerberg’s description of what happened sounds like something that any other 20-something ex-college student on a European backpacking tour could relate to (even if they don’t own their own internet companies.)
First he tried to get a visa through the consulate but hit a language barrier. So instead he waited until he was in Finland to look for a way in:
You should be able to get there from Helsinki, right? It’s like an hour boat ride to St Petersburg. But apparently they celebrate labour day for two weeks there. The consulate was closed and I couldn’t get a visa.
That shouldn’t be a problem in future. DST can call on some influential connections, not least Alisher Usmanov, an oligarch with interests in metals and steel who has branched out into other investments, not least his controversial attempt to build a stake in London football club Arsenal. While confirming his involvement as an investor, Mr Milner would not confirm the size of Mr Usmanov’s interest in DST, but a report from Russian newspaper Kommersant (itself owned by the billionaire investor) this week put it at nearly 32 per cent.
This is how the FT described Mr Usmanov when he bought his first shares in Arsenal two years ago:
Mr Usmanov … with an estimated fortune of Dollars 5.5bn (Pounds 2.7bn), is a political survivor who has cultivated close ties to President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin, and in particular to Dmitry Medvedev, the chairman of gas group Gazprom, who is seen as a potential 2008 presidential candidate. One of the few powerbrokers to survive a regime change at Gazprom, when Mr Putin became president, Mr Usmanov runs Gazprominvestholding, its finance arm.
That sounds like a calling card Mr Zuckerberg should remember to carry next time he tries to get to Moscow.
David Gelles, Joseph Menn, Chris Nuttall and Richard Waters in the FT's San Francisco bureau upload their views - plus tech insights from writers in New York, London and Tokyo
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