In 1957, he graduated from a secondary school in Baku and entered as a carpenter's apprentice at the construction of the Sumgait Thermal Power Plant.
From 1961 to 1964, he worked at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant as a steelworker's assistant, quality control inspector, senior engineer in the safety and industrial sanitation department.
On 23 December 1992, Kuptsov was dismissed of his post by decree of President Boris Yeltsin, and being replaced by Vladimir Zaytsev, as the acting head.
In 2002, he also put forward his candidacy for participation in the elections of the Head of the Lipetsk Oblast, but on 14 March 2002, he was denied registration.
In 1976, together with three scientists, he patented the invention "Device for protecting liquid metal from interaction with the environment", which, according to the plaintiff, has been used at NLMK since 1992.