Russian billionaires’ combined wealth close to US$600 billion – Forbes

The richest people in Russia made US$72 billion more money in the last year, making their total wealth US$577 billion, according to Forbes. Vagit Alekperov, the former president of the oil company Lukoil, is the richest person in Russia.

In 2021, before Russia attacked Ukraine, Forbes said that Russian billionaires had about $606 billion altogether. Expensive things and Russia’s focus on war instead of its economy have helped the economy to improve.

Many rich Russian people were put under punishment by Western countries because they wanted to punish President Vladimir Putin and his friends for starting a war in Ukraine. Their overall money reduced to $353 billion in 2022.

Alekperov’s money went up to $28. 6 billion from US$20. 5 billion in the last year, according to Forbes. He is now in first place in Russia, taking over from Andrei Melnichenko who is now in seventh place. Andrei made his money in fertilizers and his wealth dropped from $25. 2 billion to $21. 1

Leonid Mikhelson is the boss of a Russian gas company called Novatek. Forbes said he is the second richest person, and his money went up by $5. 8 billion to $27. 4

Forbes said there are now more super rich people in the world than ever before, with a total of 2,781 billionaires. The top 20 of them have gained the most wealth. Alekperov was ranked 59th in the world.

Forbes said that they are richer than ever, worth a total of US$14. 2 trillion, which is an increase of US$2 trillion from 2023.

Putin has said many times that the sanctions from Western countries did not hurt Russia’s economy. He also said that Russia’s economy grew faster last year than the economies of the Group of Seven countries, which are the ones who put the sanctions on Russia.

Russia has a lot of natural resources and its economy got much better after a bad time in 2022. But most of the growth comes from making weapons and bullets for the war in Ukraine, so it’s not really improving the lives of the people in Russia.

This year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) thinks that the Russian economy will grow by 2. 6But they also believe that the economy will face difficult times because many people are leaving the country and there is not enough technology.

Russian business people are getting a lot of help from Western companies leaving. Many companies are selling their stuff for cheap, or having their Russian business taken over and run by local managers.