khan held a number of managerial positions at alfa group starting in 1992. with alfa-eco restructured as the trading arm of the alfa group, khan was alfa-eco's head of trade operations until 1996 and its director of commodity trading from 1995 to 1998. he became president in 1996, where for his two-year tenure he was instrumental in directing the company to focus on export and the oil trade. the company started by purchasing crude, securing contracts with refiners to process it, and then selling the refined product. in 1997, alfa group consortium together with access industries and renova group acquired the state-owned tnk oil company (tyumen oil company). alfa group purchased 40% of tnk's shares. when alfa bought tyumen oil (tnk), he joined the board and remained involved in m&a deals. khan was appointed deputy chairman of the management board of tnk in 2000, retaining the role until 2003.