Russian magnates increased their wealth by 72 billion dollars in 2023

They increased their wealth by 72 billion dollars last year, reaching $577 billion, according to Forbes’ report, with Vagit Alekperov, former president of the largest oil company Lukoil, being in first place. Forbes magazine estimated in 2021, before Russia invaded Ukraine, that the total assets of Russian billionaires reached $606 billion. The high commodity prices over the last two years and Russia’s war-focused economic growth, which suppresses the impact of Western sanctions, have contributed to recovery in the direction of this number. Many Russian billionaires suffered Western sanctions, as the West tried to punish President Vladimir Putin and those thought to be close to him, for the start of the war in Ukraine. Their total wealth was reduced to $353 billion in 2022. Alecperov’s fortune increased to $28.6 billion out of $20.5 billion last year, writes Forbes. He passed in first place from the ninth in which Andrey Melnicenko now stands, who created his fortune with fertilizers and whose wealth fell to $21.1 billion out of $25.2 billion. Leonid Mikelson, CEO of the gas company Novatek, which Forbes ranked in second place, saw his property grow by $5.8 billion reaching $27.5 billion. Forbes reports that today around the world there are more billionaires than ever, 2.781 overall and the top 20 represent most of the wealth increase. Alecperov holds the 59th place worldwide. “They are richer than ever, with total wealth reaching $14.2 trillion, increased by $2 trillion from 2023,” Forbes reports. Putin has repeatedly pointed out the failure of Western sanctions to destroy the Russian economy and has highlighted the fact that Russia’s economy developed faster last year – with a GDP increase of 3.6% – than any of the Group of Seven countries that are largely responsible for sanctions. Having huge natural resources, Russia’s economy recovered sharply from the recession of 2022, but growth is largely based on the production of weapons and ammunition for the war in Ukraine, covering problems preventing the improvement of the Russian standard of living. This year the experts of the International Monetary Fund expect growth in Russian GDP by 2.6% , but predict that there will be difficult times for the economy due to the outflow of people and technology shortages Russian entrepreneurs have actually come out of the departure of Western companies, with a number of companies selling their assets cheaply or confiscating their Russian activities and installing local managers in them. Source: RES – ICM