According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Russia’s wealthiest individuals have lost almost a third of their wealth over the previous week owing to Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.
The effect of US and EU sanctions on Russian oligarchs and the loss of the currency has seen their total worth decrease by $80 billion since the start of Moscow’s military campaign, according to the index.
The study claims some saw their fortunes half, with the largest loss in dollar terms being Gennady Timchenko, of investment and asset management business Volga Group, who saw his fortune decrease from $22 billion to $10.3 billion.
Vladimir Potanin, the president of nickel firm Norilsk Nickel, is Russia’s wealthiest man and holds the number 58 place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with $24.4 billion. He has not been sanctioned thus yet, but has still lost nearly a fourth of his fortune.
The CEO of Russian energy firm Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson, the country’s second-richest person, lost $11 billion and is now left with $21.6 billion. He is at the number 69 slot on Bloomberg’s index.
Russia’s third-richest individual, mining billionaire Alexei Mordashov, who has been sanctioned by the EU, saw his wealth plummet by nearly $5 billion to $21.2 billion.
The wealth of Russian magnates began to disappear once Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last week. The country’s wealthiest individuals together lost $39 billion in barely 24 hours.