According to Forbes Russia, the wealthiest individuals in Russia increased their wealth by $152 billion over the previous year, helped by strong natural resource prices and recovering from the significant loss of fortunes they experienced immediately after the start of the Ukraine war.
The Russian version of Forbes said that 110 Russians made the list of official billionaires, an increase of 22 from the previous year, and that their combined fortune climbed from $353 billion to $505 billion since the 2022 list was first revealed.
Five millionaires who gave up their Russian citizenship were co-founders of JetBrains, Sergei Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov, Timur Turlov, creator of Freedom Finance, and DST Global founder Yuri Milner, according to Forbes.
"Last year's rating results were also influenced by apocalyptic predictions about the Russian economy," Forbes said, adding that the total wealth of Russia's billionaires was $606 billion in 2021, before the war began.
The West placed what it calls the most punitive sanctions in modern history on Russia's economy - and some of its wealthiest people - when President Vladimir Putin ordered soldiers into Ukraine on February 24 of last year in an effort to punish Putin for the war.
Putin claimed that the West was attempting to destroy Russia, and he has frequently bragged about how Western sanctions have failed to ruin the Russian economy or even to halt the import of Western luxury products, let alone essential components.
Under the weight of Western sanctions, Russia's economy contracted 2.1% in 2022, but it was still able to export oil, metals, and other natural resources to other markets, particularly China, India, and the Middle East.
The International Monetary Fund increased its projection for Russian growth in 2023 from 0.3% to 0.7% this month, but cut its forecast for 2024 from 2.1% to 1.3% because it anticipated that labour shortages and the migration of Western corporations would hurt the nation's economy.
The price of Urals oil, which powers the Russian economy, increased from $69 per barrel in 2021 to an average of $76.09 per barrel in 2022. The cost of fertiliser was also high last year.
Forbes classified fertiliser tycoon Andrei Melnichenko as the wealthiest person in Russia with an estimated net worth of $25.2 billion, more than doubling the figure for the previous year. For a quick response on the Forbes rating, Melnichenko was unavailable.
With a net worth of $23.7 billion, Vladimir Potanin, president and the largest shareholder of Nornickel, the largest producer of refined nickel and palladium in the world, was voted second richest person in Russia. Potanin could not be reached right away to provide a response regarding the Forbes rating.
Vladimir Lisin, the steelmaker NLMK's controlling shareholder and last year's richest man in Russia, came in third on the Forbes Russia list with a net worth of $22.1 billion. When contacted for a comment regarding the Forbes rating, Lisin was unavailable.
Many millionaires in Russia view Western sanctions as an ineffective and even racist instrument.
A small number of businessmen known as the "oligarchs," who amassed wealth as the Soviet Union disintegrated, convinced the Kremlin, led by the late President Boris Yeltsin, to grant them control over some of the largest oil and metals corporations in the world.
The privatisation transactions frequently catapulted the tycoons into the ranks of the ultra-wealthy, earning them the enduring resentment of millions of Russians living in poverty.
However, under Putin, some of the original oligarchs lost control of their wealth, like Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky. These assets eventually fell under the control of state firms frequently headed by ex-spies.
Forbes' list of newly added Russian names includes billionaires who made their money in the snack, grocery, chemical, construction, and pharmaceutical industries, demonstrating that domestic demand in Russia has remained strong despite the sanctions.
(Source:www.usnews.com)
The Russian version of Forbes said that 110 Russians made the list of official billionaires, an increase of 22 from the previous year, and that their combined fortune climbed from $353 billion to $505 billion since the 2022 list was first revealed.
Five millionaires who gave up their Russian citizenship were co-founders of JetBrains, Sergei Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov, Timur Turlov, creator of Freedom Finance, and DST Global founder Yuri Milner, according to Forbes.
"Last year's rating results were also influenced by apocalyptic predictions about the Russian economy," Forbes said, adding that the total wealth of Russia's billionaires was $606 billion in 2021, before the war began.
The West placed what it calls the most punitive sanctions in modern history on Russia's economy - and some of its wealthiest people - when President Vladimir Putin ordered soldiers into Ukraine on February 24 of last year in an effort to punish Putin for the war.
Putin claimed that the West was attempting to destroy Russia, and he has frequently bragged about how Western sanctions have failed to ruin the Russian economy or even to halt the import of Western luxury products, let alone essential components.
Under the weight of Western sanctions, Russia's economy contracted 2.1% in 2022, but it was still able to export oil, metals, and other natural resources to other markets, particularly China, India, and the Middle East.
The International Monetary Fund increased its projection for Russian growth in 2023 from 0.3% to 0.7% this month, but cut its forecast for 2024 from 2.1% to 1.3% because it anticipated that labour shortages and the migration of Western corporations would hurt the nation's economy.
The price of Urals oil, which powers the Russian economy, increased from $69 per barrel in 2021 to an average of $76.09 per barrel in 2022. The cost of fertiliser was also high last year.
Forbes classified fertiliser tycoon Andrei Melnichenko as the wealthiest person in Russia with an estimated net worth of $25.2 billion, more than doubling the figure for the previous year. For a quick response on the Forbes rating, Melnichenko was unavailable.
With a net worth of $23.7 billion, Vladimir Potanin, president and the largest shareholder of Nornickel, the largest producer of refined nickel and palladium in the world, was voted second richest person in Russia. Potanin could not be reached right away to provide a response regarding the Forbes rating.
Vladimir Lisin, the steelmaker NLMK's controlling shareholder and last year's richest man in Russia, came in third on the Forbes Russia list with a net worth of $22.1 billion. When contacted for a comment regarding the Forbes rating, Lisin was unavailable.
Many millionaires in Russia view Western sanctions as an ineffective and even racist instrument.
A small number of businessmen known as the "oligarchs," who amassed wealth as the Soviet Union disintegrated, convinced the Kremlin, led by the late President Boris Yeltsin, to grant them control over some of the largest oil and metals corporations in the world.
The privatisation transactions frequently catapulted the tycoons into the ranks of the ultra-wealthy, earning them the enduring resentment of millions of Russians living in poverty.
However, under Putin, some of the original oligarchs lost control of their wealth, like Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky. These assets eventually fell under the control of state firms frequently headed by ex-spies.
Forbes' list of newly added Russian names includes billionaires who made their money in the snack, grocery, chemical, construction, and pharmaceutical industries, demonstrating that domestic demand in Russia has remained strong despite the sanctions.
(Source:www.usnews.com)
