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Russian super rich see fortunes increasing
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Billionaires add $152 billion over past year
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Forbes says Russia has 110 billionaires, up 22
By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW, April 22 (Reuters) - Russia's richest people
added $152 billion to their wealth over the past year, buoyed by
high prices for natural resources and rebounding from the huge
loss of fortunes they experienced just after the Ukraine war
began, Forbes Russia said.
Russia has 110 official billionaires in the list, up 22 from
last year, according to Forbes' Russian edition, which said
their total wealth increased to $505 billion from $353 billion
when the 2022 list was announced.
The list would have been longer had not five billionaires -
DST Global founder Yuri Milner, Revolut founder Nikolay
Storonsky, Freedom Finance founder Timur Turlov, and JetBrains
co-founders Sergei Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov - renounced
their Russian citizenship, Forbes said.
"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.
After President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine
on Feb. 24 last year, the West imposed what it casts as the most
severe sanctions in modern history on Russia's economy - and
some of its richest people - in an attempt to punish Putin for
the war.
Putin said the West was trying to destroy Russia and has
repeatedly touted the failure of Western sanctions to destroy
the Russian economy, or even stop Western luxury goods - let
alone basic parts - from ending up in Russia.
Russia's economy shrank 2.1% in 2022 under the pressure of
Western sanctions, but it was able to sell oil, metals and other
natural resources to global markets, in particular to China,
India and the Middle East.
The International Monetary Fund this month raised its
forecast for Russian growth in 2023 to 0.7% from 0.3%, but
lowered its 2024 forecast to 1.3% from 2.1%, saying it also
expected labour shortages and the exodus of Western companies to
harm the country's economy.
The price of Urals oil, the lifeblood of the Russian
economy, averaged $76.09 per barrel in 2022, up from $69 in
2021. Fertiliser prices were also high last year.
Andrei Melnichenko, who made a fortune in fertilisers, was
listed as Russia's richest man by Forbes with an estimated worth
of $25.2 billion, more than double what he was estimated to be
worth last year. Melnichenko could not be reached for immediate
comment on the Forbes ranking.
Vladimir Potanin, president and biggest shareholder of
Nornickel , the world's largest producer of palladium
and refined nickel, was ranked as second richest in Russia with
a fortune of $23.7 billion. Potanin could not immediately be
reached for comment on the Forbes ranking.
Vladimir Lisin, who controls steelmaker NLMK and
was ranked last year as Russia's richest man, was placed third
in the Forbes Russia list with a fortune of $22.1 billion. Lisin
could not be immediately reached for comment on the Forbes
ranking.
Many Russian billionaires cast Western sanctions as a
clumsy, and even racist, tool.
Building fortunes as the Soviet Union crumbled, a small group of tycoons known as the oligarchs persuaded the Kremlin under late President Boris Yeltsin to give them control over some of the biggest oil and metals companies in the world. The privatisation deals often propelled the tycoons into the league of the world’s super rich, earning them the enduring dislike of millions of impoverished Russians. But under Putin, some of the original oligarchs, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky, were stripped of their assets, which eventually ended up under the sway of state companies often run by former spies. New Russian names in the Forbes list include billionaires who made their money in snacks, supermarkets, chemicals, building and pharmaceuticals, indicating that Russian domestic demand has remained strong despite the sanctions. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge Editing by Frances Kerry)
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