Nikolai Buinov

Nikolai Buinov (born June 19, 1967, Krasnoyarsk, Russia) is a Russia businessman and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Irkutsk Oil Company (INK), the largest private oil company in Russia. Buinov has been president of INK since 2011 and he currently serves as chairman of the board. In 2018, his net worth was estimated at $2.3 billion.

Buinov's career after college began at a timber company in the early 1990s. Buinov founded Bodaibo Energy with his father in 1995. The company supplied Siberian gold miners with fuel and materials for their mining operations in Irkutsk.Buinov first heard about eastern Siberia's potential for oil production from Boris Sinyavsky, a Russian geologist. Two years later, Buinov purchased an oil field license which would go on to become Irkutsk Oil Company. Buinov founded Irkutsk Oil Company with his father and Sinyavsky in 2000. In 2017, Buinov announced that INK would increase crude oil production to 8.5 million tons per year.

Buinov is married and has two children. He lives in Irkutsk, Russia.