The 10 wealthiest Russians
Brandomania, August 2008 |
Their fortunes are estimated at USD 471bn, twice Russian government revenue in 2007 of USD 229bn, or 30 percent of GNP. Any comparison with the Serbian budget, which was planned to be supplemented with USD 12bn, is in this case pointless. A particular curio is the fact that in the space of just six years (the first Russian billionaires appeared on the Forbes list in 2002), Russia has shot to second place in terms of the number of the world`s richest people. Only the US, way ahead with 469 billionaires, stands above it.
The richest Russian with a fortune of USD 28bn is Oleg Deripaska (40), who stands ninth in the world Top 10 rich list. Last year alone, his fortune expanded by USD 11.8bn. Deripaska, in Russia known as the “aluminium and nickel king”, is also well known in Serbia as his Basic Element company took part in one of the two unsuccessful tenders for the Bor copper mine (one of four in Europe). Back in 2006 he deposed Roman Abramovich, the owner of the biggest steel foundry in Russia, as the country’s wealthiest oligarch. While Deripaska last year almost doubled his wealth, in the same period, Abramovich’s wealth rose “only” USD 2bn to USD 23.5bn, enough to secure him 15th place on the Forbes list. His most high-profile investment, however, was the purchase of Chelsea FC. Russia’s other wealthiest billionaires include Aleksei Mordashov (ranked 18th, with 21.2bn), Mikhail Fridman (20th, with 20.8bn), Vladimir Lisin (21st, 20.3bn), Prokhorov (24th, 19.5bn) and Vladimir Potanin (25th, 19.3bn).
The ten richest Russians (in brackets to the left is their position on the Forbes list)
01 (9) Oleg Deripaska (40)
Wealth: USD 28bn. A metals trader, he survived a gangster war in the post-Soviet aluminium industry. His holding company Basic Element today comprises the Rusal aluminium company, car maker GAZ, aircraft manufacturer Aviacor and the Ingosstrah insurance company. Rusal, SU AL and Swiss Glencore International merged in 2006 to form the United Company Rusal, the world`s biggest aluminium producer today. He has expanded to Nigeria and China. He diversified into coal production in Kazakhstan, while he is also investing in the construction of a nuclear plant in eastern Russia. He is trying to become a co-owner of Norilsk Nickel, a move strongly opposed by the company’s other co-owner, fellow billionaire, Vladimir Potanin. Deripaska is married to a cousin of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
02 (15) Roman Abramovich (41)
Bogatstvo: 23,5 milijarde dolara Abramovič je još kao mali ostao bez roditelja. Napustio je fakultet i u seriji kontroverznih izvoznih poslova sa naftom, u ranim ’90-im, stekao veliko bogatstvo. Veliki uzlet doživeo je kada se 1995. godine udružio sa, danas takođe milijarderom, Borisom Berezovskim, kako bi, ispod realne tržišne cene, kupili naftnog giganta „Sibneft“. Kada je Berezovski 2000. godine pobegao iz Rusije, svoj deo je prodao upravo Abramoviču. Tokom 2003. i 2004. godine, Abramovič je Olegu Deripaski prodao svoj udeo u „Rusalu“, a 2005. godine prodao je i 72,6 odsto „Sibnefta“, državnom energetskom gigantu „Gaspromu“ za 13 milijardi dolara. Godinu dana kasnije kupio je akcije „Evraz grupe“, najvećeg proizvođača čelika u Rusiji, koji posluje kao deo britanske kompanije „Highland Gold“. Deo novca potrošio je i na kupovinu londonskog fudbalskog kluba „Čelsi“. Sa Irinom, od koje se razveo, ima petoro dece. Iako se drži podalje od očiju javnosti, ponekad ga je moguće videti u društvu Darie Žukove, za koju se veruje da mu je nova devojka.
03 (18) Aleksei Mordashov (42)
Wealth: USD 23.5 bn. Abramovich lost both his parents while still young. He dropped out of university and made his fortune in a series of controversial oil export deals in the early Nineties. Joining forces with fellow billionaire Boris Berezovsky in 1995 to buy oil giant Sibneft below market price sent him flying. When Berezovsky fled Russia in 2000, he sold his stake to Abramovich. In 2003 and 2004, Abramovich sold his holding in Rusal to Oleg Deripaska, and in 2005, he sold his 72.6% stake in Sibneft to state-owned energy giant Gazprom for USD 13bn. A year later he bought shares in the Evraz Group, the biggest steel foundry in Russia and a subsidiary of the British company, Highland Gold. He spent part of his money on buying Chelsea FC. He has five children with his ex-wife Irina. Although he tends to keep out of the public eye, he is sometimes seen in the company of Daria Zhukova, who is believed to be his new girlfriend.
04 (20) Mikhail Fridman (43)
Wealth: USD 21.2bn.
Aleksei grew up in a working class family. In the mid-Eighties he studied economics in Leningrad. Later he became financial director of a steel foundry. The elderly managing director once advised him to buy a stake in the company to prevent it from falling into foreign hands. Mordashov bought a controlling stake thus becoming the managing director of a factory that would go on to become a conglomerate comprising car making, coal mining, ports and freight companies. His Severstal company is now the third biggest steel foundry in Russia, with good prospects of become the market leader. Mordashov bought the French Rouge Industries of Dearborn and Italian Lucchini steel foundries, though in 2006 he narrowly lost out to Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal in the battle to buy steel giant Arcelor.
05 (21) Vladimir Lisin (51)
Wealth: USD 20.3bn. Vladimir Lisin’s success is a classic rags to riches story. His first job was as a mechanic in a coal mine. After graduating from the Siberian Metallurgical Institute, he started working at a steel foundry. When in 1991 his boss was appointed as metallurgy minister, Lisin came to Moscow with him. A year later he joined a group of traders in the Trans-World Group company that soon became the leader in steel and aluminium export. While his partners each went their own respective ways, he concentrated on factories and in 2000 became the majority shareholder in the Novolipetsk steel foundry. In early 2004 he bought the port in St Petersburg.
06 (24) Mikhail Prokhorov (42)
Wealth: USD 19.5bn. Together with Vladimir Potanin he set up the Interros holding company, whose activities include metallurgy, construction, agriculture and media. He broke up the partnership with Potanin, dividing their stake in the company equally, soon after his highly publicised arrest in the French ski resort of Courchevel in early 2007 (he was released without any charges). Potanin bought Prokhorov`s share in Norilsk Nickel, the world`s biggest nickel and palladium producer, while Prokhorov bought Potanin’s stake in Russia’s biggest gold producer Polyus Gold.
07 (25) Vladimir Potanin (47)
Wealth: USD 19.3bn. Besides doing business with Prokhorov, Potanin has also held the post of deputy economy minister and was American billionaire George Soros’s partner in the Svyazinvest telecommunications company. He is considered a philanthropist and art lover.
08 (36) Sulejman Kerimov (42)
Wealth: USD 17.5bn. The bulk of his wealth comes from his stake in Gazprom and in one of the largest Russian banks, Sberbank. In autumn 2006 he had a serious car accident after losing control of his Ferrari on the Nice Riviera. In 2007 he floated the shares of his company Polymetal, a gold and silver producer, on the London stock exchange. He is planning to build a big residential complex in the outskirts of Moscow. In early 2008 he was elected a deputy in the Russian Duma for a second consecutive term.
09 (54) German Khan (46)
Wealth: USD 13.9bn
Born in Kiev and graduated from the Moscow State Institute of Steel and Alloys in 1988. The following year, together with Mikhail Fridman, he set up the Alfa-Eco trading company, the forerunner to the Alfa Group. He runs the company’s oil business as the CEO and is a board member at TNK-BP.
10 (56) Vagit Alekperov (57)
Wealth: USD 13bn
Born in Baku where he studied at the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry. He started his career as an oil rig operator in the Caspian Sea in 1972. Held the post of Soviet deputy oil industry minister until 1990. A year later he bought three big state oil fields – Langepas, Uraj and Kogalym (LUK) – and founded Lukoil, which was soon privatised by the management under Alekperov’s control. Thanks to his good relations with Vladimir Putin, he continues to head one of the few remaining private oil companies in Russia. He is currently expanding the gas business to America, Libya and Iraq.
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