Mr Basov graduated from New York University (USA), specialising in economics and finance, international business, and philosophy. He worked at Citibank, Renaissance Capital and McKinsey. He later held executive positions at Severstal, Kuzbassugol, Severstal-Resource, Interpipe and Metalloinvest.

On July 6, 2009, Mr Basov was appointed CEO of Rusagro Group (LLC) and headed Rusagro Group (OJSC) since its creation.