Albert Avdolyan: The Golden Boy of Russian Telecommunication

Everybody has heard about Russia's oligarchs, among them some of the country's richest men, such as Alisher UsmanovAlisher Usmanov, Roman AbramovichRoman Abramovich or Mikhail ProkhorovMikhail Prokhorov. These business magnates are successful entrepreneurs who started under GorbachevGorbachev during his period of market liberalization. Once Boris Yeltsin took office, they emerged as well-connected entrepreneurs who started from nearly nothing and got rich through participation in the market via connections to the corrupt, but democratically elected, government of Russia during the state’s transition to a market-based economy. But times have changed and a new generation of Russian entrepreneurs has emerged.

These game changers were kids when the USSR collapsed and they don’t have the same reflexes as the so-called oligarchs who have strongly links to the Kremlin. They feel more inspired by Sergey BrinSergey Brin than Alex Konanykhin. They count on expertise, technology and rational business models.

As the founder of Expatel, one of Russia’s leaders in WiMax technology (4G), a protocol which is likely to revolutionize the future of mobile Internet worldwide, Albert Avdolyan is one of the most successful examples of the new entrepreneurs who started their businesses from scratch and without any governmental support.

Expatel is now the rising star of the Russian IT sector and Albert Avdolyan has become the new golden boy of Russian telecommunications. He only needed two years to become a leader in 4G technology. How long will it take for him to conquer the rest of the world? The man is young, highly ambitious and hopes to establish a global brand.

Of course, such success has attracted attention. The Kremlin wants its own Silicon Valley to appear - a new version based on the excellence of the Russian educational and research system. President Dmitri Medvedyev, who cultivates the image of a tech-savvy liberal, wants young entrepreneurs to draw inspiration from people like Albert Avdolyan. Medvedyev also wants to launch a new deal in Russia’s business scene. The old generation of Russian entrepreneurs has siphoned a huge amount of wealth out of Russia to well-developed countries. The new generation is re-establishing Russia’s technological glory days and building a bright new future in their country.