In Russia, over the last year, the number of billionaires increased from 125 to 146, and their combined wealth grew from $577 billion to a record $625.5 billion, calculated Forbes. The total wealth of Russian billionaires almost matched the size of the Central Bank's international reserves, which amounted to $632.35 billion as of March 1.
The first place in the Russian Forbes list is held for the second year in a row by the founder and largest shareholder of the oil company "Lukoil," Vagit Alekperov, with a fortune of $28.7 billion. The second spot is occupied by the owner of "Severstal," Alexey Mordashov, with $28.6 billion. In third place is the co-owner of "Novatek" and "Sibur," Leonid Mikhelson, whose fortune is estimated by the publication at $28.4 billion.
The ranking saw the addition of 15 new billionaires from various industries. They earned their fortunes in coal, finance, IT, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food, housing construction, trade, transport, and electric power. Among them are three heirs: the widow of banker Vladimir Kogan, Lyudmila Kogan ($1.3 billion), and the elder children of "Lukoil" co-owner Leonid Fedun, Anton and Ekaterina (each with $1.1 billion). Another nine people returned, once again surpassing the $1 billion mark.
Four people left the list: Pavel Golubkov (shares of his construction company "Samolyot" fell 2.5 times over the year), UGMK minority shareholder Igor Kudryashkin (the coal industry as a whole showed negative results), and last year's newcomers Denis Frolov (shares of "Astra" plummeted) and Vladislav Sviblov, who took on large loans to launch new projects.