ALFA Group, one of the biggest private investment consortiums in Russia, began as a company called Alfaeco in 1989 engaged primarily in commodity trading. Later a number of subsidiaries were established, including TNK in oil and gas, Alfa Bank (finance and banking), Perekriostok Group (retail), and Alfa Telecom (telecommunications). The latest mentioned was renamed Altimo in December 2005.

Alfa Group is jointly owned by businessmen Mikhail Fridm