Russia’s oligarchs have bounced back from the global financial crisis and are amassing huge new fortunes, according to the latest annual ranking of the country’s billionaires.
Russia’s oligarchs have bounced back from the global financial crisis and are amassing huge new fortunes, according to the latest annual ranking of the country’s billionaires.
The wealth of the ten richest Russians surged by more than 80 per cent in the past year, boosted by a stock market recovery in company values and a rise in world prices for oil and raw materials. Finans magazine, which compiled the list, said that government bailouts had also helped the billionaire class, which jumped to 77 this year from just 49 in 2009.
Vladimir Lisin, a secretive steel magnate, was named Russia’s richest man for the first time with an estimated $18.8 billion (£12 billion), more than double the $7.7 billion he was said to possess a year ago. He overtook last year’s wealthiest Russian, the playboy bachelor Mikhail Prokhorov, whose fortune rose to $17.85 billion from $14.1 billion.
Related
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was ranked third with $17 billion, $3.1 billion more than last year. Among those making the most spectacular recoveries was Oleg Deripaska, whose $40 billion fortune slumped by almost 90 per cent to $4.9 billion when the financial crisis struck.
To read the full story, visit timesonline.co.uk
Content from our partners
