Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov sold shares in Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. and bought into technology investments such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in China, one of his advisers said.

“Chinese companies account for about 70 percent to 80 percent of the portfolio of our foreign Internet investments,” Ivan Streshinskiy, head of Usmanov’s asset-management company USM Advisors LLC, said in an interview on March 14 in Moscow. Most of the investment is in “Alibaba, JD.com and some other companies with great potential,” Streshinskiy said.

Usmanov, 60, built his Metalloinvest Holding Co. iron ore business by acquisitions and is Russia’s richest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He bought a stake of about $100 million in Apple last year and sold it recently this year, according to Streshinskiy. The sale follows a gradual reduction of Usmanov’s stake in Facebook, he said.

“We hope that our investments in China’s Internet companies may show the same and even better returns as we had with the American companies,” Streshinskiy said. China is Russia’s largest trading partner.

“Mail.Ru and MegaFon revenue is coming from Russia and people won’t stop making calls and using the Internet,” Streshinskiy said. “If the events will further escalate, we will be buying shares. Crisis is always a good opportunity as valuations become cheap.”

Usmanov’s Metalloinvest, Russia’s largest iron ore producer, may switch to shipping to China and other markets should Europe apply sanctions on its exports due to the crisis in Ukraine’s Crimea region, Streshinskiy also said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week threatened sanctions against Russia if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t halt efforts to seize Crimea.

“We are concerned with the possible sanctions against Russia but don’t see any dramatic repercussions for our business,” Streshinskiy said. “China is unlikely to impose any sanctions. So, we will be trading in rubles, yuan, Hong Kong or Singapore dollars.”

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