Russian billionaires lose $67 bln of wealth amidst Ukraine war
The combined net worth of 23 Russian billionaires among the richest 500 people in the world list declined by $67 billion, which is four times more than other billionaires in Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Al-Arabiya reported on Sunday.
Major Russian steel company, Severstal PJSC’s main shareholder and chairman, Alexey Mordashov, had the biggest loss among the 23 billionaires, as his wealth showed a decline of $6.7 billion since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His net worth is $19.8 billion, and he is still considered the fourth richest in the country.
The second biggest loss among the Russian billionaires is major steel company Novolipetsk Steel PJSC’s chairman, Vladimir Lisin, who lost $5.8 billion during the past year, as his net worth declined to $20.5 billion.
On the other hand, Andrey Guryev’s net worth increased to $2.1 billion since the start of the war, as European chemical holding company PhosAgro PJSC’s shares inclined.
Billionaire Roman Abramovich had to offer his belongings for sale in London, including Chelsea FC. While Mikhail Fridman expressed his shock when he was informed by his lawyer that the imposed sanctions include a travel ban and asset freezing. Viktor Vekselberg’s $90 million Tango yacht in Spain was confiscated after a request by the US in April.
Despite the losses, statistics show that different sanctions imposed by the US, UK and EU will have little to no long-term impact on the Russian billionaires’ wealth.
US authority is planning to observe major Russian businessmen and billionaires’ purchases or sales. Abramovich, Vekselberg and Andrey Melnichenko, were among the names mentioned in the Federal prosecutors’ call notes in New York, who call for high-end auction houses to hand over records of the past few years.
