Manasir's construction company, which holds close ties with the state-owned gas producer Gazprom, reportedly earned more than $11 billion (annual sales) in 2012. That same year, the company put into operation the Portovaya pumping station, which transmits gas through the Nord Stream pipeline system. Besides the gas monopoly, Stroygazconsulting's other big clients include Rosavtodor, a federal agency behind road construction in Russia. A Jordan native, he first went to Russia as an exchange student at the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute. It was during his studies that he started buying and selling computers and cars, after which he switched to trading yellow phosphorus, timber and oil products. By the mid-1990s, he had already bought a construction factory in Tyumen that built residences for Gazprom workers there. What he started eventually turned into today's Stroygazconsulting.
