Heavy Hitter

Alexander Medvedev, the hockey-playing deputy head of Gazprom, isn't afraid to slam opponents into the boards

Oleg Nikishin-Epsilon for TIME

Alexander Medvedev of Gazprom Export in his office at Gazprom Export headquarters in Moscow, Russia.

Passions were riding high Jan. 8, as the hockey team of Russia's state-run energy giant Gazprom locked horns with the Belarus national team in the final game of the annual Belarus President's international hockey tournament in Minsk. In a desperate moment, a Belarusian tripped the Gazprom captain with his stick, but the Russian scrambled back to his feet to pass the puck in a lightning movement that led to a goal. Gazprom won the game 4-3, and the cup. And well it should, smiled the Gazprom captain Alexander Medvedev, 51, because Gazprom always wins.

Just ask Shell or Yukos or Ukraine. Don't...

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