Forbes report: Russian billionaires have become richer despite the war
Despite the war in Ukraine and severe sanctions, the Russian super-rich have managed to add 152 billion dollars to their wealth last year. According to the Russian edition of “Forbes” magazine, the number of billionaires in Russia has increased to 110 people.
The Russian version of “Forbes” magazine has reported that the rich Russians added another 152 billion dollars to their wealth during the last year due to the jump in the price of natural resources, thus compensating to a large extent the huge financial losses caused by the sanctions of the Ukraine war.
In its report, this magazine has published a list of 110 Russian billionaires, to which 22 new names have been added compared to last year’s list. The total wealth of these billionaires has increased from 353 billion dollars in 2022 to 505 billion dollars in 2023.
The total assets of these oligarchs reached 606 billion dollars by 2021 and before the start of the war in Ukraine.
Shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, the Western countries implemented severe sanctions with the aim of weakening the Russian economy and hitting the Russian oligarchs, although Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly called these sanctions ineffective in his speeches and emphasized that these restrictions have an effect. They will not affect the Russian economy.
Although Russia’s economy shrank by 1.2 percent last year as a result of sanctions, the country managed to sell its natural resources on global markets.
China, India and Middle Eastern countries were the main buyers of Russian oil and gas products last year. Last year, a barrel of Russian Urals oil cost an average of 76 dollars and 9 cents, and fertilizer and other important Russian export products also faced price increases.
According to Forbes, the richest man in Russia is Andrey Melenishenko, the major shareholder of the chemical industry company “EuroChem” and also the owner of the Siberian Coal Energy Company. His assets are estimated to be more than 25 billion dollars, which is more than double the previous year. Most of Melenishenko’s income is provided by the sale of chemical fertilizers.
On the second place in the list of billionaires is Vladimir Potanin, a 62-year-old oligarch who is the head and largest shareholder of Nornikel. Nornickel is the largest producer of refined palladium and nickel in the world. Potanin’s assets are estimated at 23 billion and 700 million dollars.
Vladimir Lysin, the owner and chairman of the board of directors of Novolipstek, Russia’s largest steel company, is ranked third in this list with a fortune of 22.1 billion dollars.
Many Russian oligarchs called the Western sanctions against Russia a “rebellious” and “racist” act, and some of them even took citizenship of another country to escape the sanctions by renouncing their Russian citizenship.
Read: How effective have Western sanctions against Russia been?
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, a small group of capitalists known as oligarchs convinced the Kremlin under Boris Yeltsin to give them control of some of the world’s largest oil and metals companies. Privatization contracts made these investors enter the world’s billions.
But during Putin’s presidency, some of these oligarchs, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky, were deprived of their assets. The companies under their ownership are taken over by government institutions and companies, which are often run by people who used to be spies.
After becoming one of Putin’s opponents, Berezovsky took refuge in England and settled in the suburbs of London. His body was found in his home in 2013.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was unexpectedly pardoned and released from prison in 2013 after spending several years in prison on charges of oil theft and money laundering. He now lives in London with his family
