The wealth of the richest people in Russia increased in the last year / “They are richer than ever, with a total value of 14,200 billion dollars”

The richest people in Russia added $72 billion to their fortunes in the past year, their collective wealth totaling $577 billion, Forbes magazine announced on Tuesday, according to Vaghit Alekperov (pictured), the former chairman of the oil company Lukoil , has the largest fortune in Russia, Reuters reports, News.ro transmits.

In 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Forbes estimated the total wealth of Russian billionaires at $606 billion. The high prices of raw materials in the last two years and the economic growth of Russia, focused on the war and which has cushioned the impact of Western sanctions, have helped to return to this figure.

Many Russian billionaires have fallen under Western sanctions as the West has tried to punish President Vladimir Putin and those considered close to him for launching the war in Ukraine. Their total wealth had dropped to $353 billion in 2022.

Alekperov’s fortune rose to $28.6 billion from $20.5 billion in the past year, according to Forbes. He took over the top spot in Russia from Andrei Melnicenko, now in seventh place, who made his fortune in the fertilizer business and whose fortune fell from $25.2 billion to $21.1 billion.

Leonid Mikhelson, the head of the Russian natural gas producer Novatek, is ranked second by Forbes, his fortune increasing by 5.8 billion dollars, to 27.4 billion dollars.

Forbes stated that today, worldwide, there are more billionaires than ever before – 2,781. Alekperov is ranked 59th globally.

“They are richer than ever, with a total value of 14,200 billion dollars, an increase of 2,000 billion dollars compared to 2023,” said Forbes about the world’s rich.

Putin has repeatedly boasted about the failure of Western sanctions to destroy the Russian economy and pointed out that Russia’s economy grew faster last year – with GDP growth of 3.6% – than any of the Group of Seven countries ( G7), mostly responsible for imposing sanctions.

Boasting vast natural resources, Russia’s economy has rebounded strongly from the 2022 crisis, but growth relies heavily on state-funded production of arms and ammunition for the war in Ukraine, masking problems preventing an improvement in the standard of living of the Russians.

This year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Russian GDP to grow by 2.6%, but anticipates tough times for the economy due to people leaving and a lack of technology.

Russian businessmen have particularly benefited from the Western corporate exodus, with dozens of companies selling off assets at low prices or having their Russian operations seized and local managers installed in their place.