Russian businessman Igor Makarov has an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion as of April 2016 according to Forbes. He is also the 53rd richest person in Russia and ranked 792nd in the list of World Billionaires. Born Igor Viktorovich Makarov in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in 1962, he graduated from Turkmen State University in 1983 and later served in the Army.

Makarov acquired his estimated net worth of $2.1 billion as the founder of Itera, a private group of companies based in Moscow, Russia. It focuses on natural gas exploration and processing with operations in Russia, the CIS countries and Turkmenistan. It also deals with the other fields of energy industry including oil extraction, pipeline transportation and coal mining, civil and industrial engineering, and finance and insurance.

Founded in 1992, Itera was Russia’s main exporter of gas from Turkmenistan during the second half of the 1990's. In 2012, it started a joint venture with the oil company Rosneft which estimated the firm’s business was worth about $3 billion.

Igor Makarov has taken advantage of the gas-rich Turkmenistan as well as his connections with high-ranking officials at the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom. His company acquired its assets for next-to-nothing and he ended up owning big gas fields. However, in 2001, Vladimir Putin shook up the leadership of Gazprom and Itera almost lost its business. He managed to save the firm after he turned over some assets to Gazprom. Itera is also a shareholder in the Dinamo Riga team in the professional hockey league in Russia.

Mr.Makarov was once a member of the Russian cycling team and is currently the President of the Russian Cycling Federation.