Billionaire oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia’s richest man well-known as a sports fan, could become the first foreign owner of a major US basketball team after making a bid for the New Jersey Nets.

Prokhorov had offered to fund a new $700m stadium for the NBA team in New York and he would then acquire the Nets for a symbolic $1 stake.

He boasts that if his move is successful, it would be the first time a National Basketball Association club would come under foreign control.

Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, has moved his official address from Moscow to the remote town of Yeruda in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region.

A move that will see his tax contribution go to the local budget, regional authorities said.

The village of Yeruda has the largest gold field in the Kranoyarsk Territory, operated by Polyus Gold, controlled by Prokhorov, who reached the top of Russia’s rich list earlier this year with net wealth of $9.5 billion.