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The richest Russians increased their wealth by $72 billion in 2023 and weigh a total of $577 billion, Forbes reports.
According to the same source, Vagit Alekperov, the former president of the oil company Lukoil, is now the richest man in Russia.
In 2021, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Forbes estimated the total wealth of Russian billionaires at $606 billion. High commodity prices over the past two years and Russia's war-driven economic growth, which is softening the impact of Western sanctions, have helped the recovery and return to that amount, Reuters reports.
The target of Western sanctions
Many Russian billionaires have become targets of Western sanctions as the West sought to punish President Vladimir Putin and his close associates over the war in Ukraine. Their total wealth fell to $353 billion in 2022.
Alekperov's fortune grew from $20.5 billion to $28.6 billion in 2023, Forbes reported.
He took over the top spot in Russia from Andrei Melnychenko, now in seventh place, who made his fortune in trash and whose fortune fell from $25.2 billion to $21.1 billion.
Leonid Mikhelson, the head of Russian natural gas producer Novatek, ranked second on the Forbes list. His fortune increased by $5.8 billion to a total of $27.4 billion.
No more billionaires
Forbes announced that there are the most billionaires in the world so far – 2,781. The first 20 on the list hold most of the wealth, and Alekperov is now 59th in the world.
"They are wealthier than ever, with a total worth of $14.2 trillion, an increase of $2 trillion from 2023," Forbes reported.
Putin has repeatedly boasted that Western sanctions have failed to destroy Russia's economy and noted that it expanded faster last year, with GDP growth of 3.6 percent, than any of the G7 countries, largely responsible for the sanctions.
Russia's economy has rebounded sharply after a 2022 slump, but growth relies heavily on state-funded arms and munitions production for the war in Ukraine, masking problems that prevent the Russian people from improving their living standards.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Russian GDP to grow by 2.6 percent this year, but predicts a poor outlook for the economy in the future due to the exodus of people and a lack of technology.
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