According to the Russian Forbes magazine, five Israeli citizens are ranked among the 20 richest in the country. And also: this is how the fortunes of the oligarchs were damaged due to the sanctions imposed following the war in Ukraine.
The Russian Forbes magazine published the ranking of the 20 Russian billionaires – of which 5 have Israeli citizenship.
In 9th place on the list is ranked Michael Friedman whose value is estimated at 12.6 billion dollars; In 11th place is Moshe Kantor whose value is estimated at 11.3 billion dollars; in 12th place is Michael Prokhorov whose value is estimated at 11.3 billion dollars; In 16th place is Roman Abramovich whose value is estimated at 9.2 billion dollars and in 18th place German Khan whose value is estimated at 8.2 billion dollars.
In 16th place: Roman Abramovich whose value is estimated at 9.2 billion dollars
In 2022, the combined wealth of all Russian billionaires rose from $353 billion to $505 billion. The reason for this is apparently the large transfer of funds by the oligarchs to Russia out of fear that they will be confiscated in the West due to the sanctions against Russia and the oligarchs following the war in Ukraine. However, dozens of Russian billionaires were dropped from the list after their stocks collapsed due to the war and sanctions (88 billionaires out of 140 dropped from the list).
In 2021, the total wealth of the Russian billionaires was estimated at 606 billion dollars, so a significant part of the Russian wealth was also wiped out due to the drop in the ruble exchange rate. In 2022-2023, many billionaires under the threat of sanctions transferred their assets to relatives, friends, partners, managers, trusts and charitable foundations. As a rule, most billionaires are included in the sanctions lists in the West.
And who is in first place?
In the first place ranked in the list of Russia’s richest people is Andrey Malinchenko (51), the founder of Yogorm and SUEK, whose fortune more than doubled in a year to 25.2 billion dollars. Malinchenko, who now lives in the United Arab Emirates, made his fortune from coal, fertilizers and energy. He owns a fleet of yachts, one of which is valued at $255 million. He also owns the largest sailing yacht in the world worth 425 million dollars and which was confiscated in Italy a year ago as part of the European Union sanctions.
In second place is Vladimir Potanin, the largest shareholder of Norilsk Nickel, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at 23.7 billion dollars. In third place: Vladimir Lysin – Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Sports Federation whose equity is estimated at 22.1 billion dollars.
In fourth place on the list is Leonid Michelson, who is Jewish and whose fortune is estimated at 21.6 billion dollars. Michelson is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Novatec PJSC.
According to social activist Alex Tanzer, Forbes Russia is soon to publish the names of all 110 Russian billionaires, and it should be estimated that the list will include several more billionaires who have received Israeli citizenship but live in Russia, England, Switzerland and the USA and come to Israel at best a few weeks a year. “Israeli citizenship is important to them As a refuge for any trouble. It’s time for them to settle here and invest money here.”
April 4, 2023 Published by The Ynet Israel News.
