In this investment, reported in December by Barron's, Mr. Usmanov used the money to buy shares in a struggling British steel company, Corus Group, according to documents of the deal.

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Corus, part of the Tata Group which also owns Jaguar and Land Rover, has 42, 000 workers around the world and says it will try to achieve the 3, 500 cuts through voluntary redundancies.

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Earlier this month, Corus, an Anglo-Dutch steel group, said it will lay off 6, 000 workers and cut production by one-fifth in Britain, where operations have been ravaged by sterling's strength.

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Tata Steel acquired Corus, an Anglo-Dutch firm, which made the Tata group UK's biggest manufacturer.

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Mr Tata would become the chairman of the combined group with Jim Leng as deputy chairman, but he intends to leave the running of Corus to its existing executives, in conjunction with an integration committee that he will head.

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