MOSCOW, February 6. / TASS /. The head and beneficiary of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Potanin, took the first spot in the Russian rating of the international Forbes richest people list, according to the Forbes Real Time billionaire index released on Thursday.

According to the publication, Potanin’s fortune increased during the day (February 6, 2020) by $ 418 million, to $ 25.1 billion.

"This happened due to the consistent increase in the shares of Norilsk Nickel, the main asset of Potanin (now the billionaire owns 34.6% of the company). Since the beginning of 2019, the securities of the metallurgical giant have added about 60%. If a year ago they were trading at the Moscow Exchange at the level of 13, 500 ($213) rubles apiece, then today rose to 21,426 rubles per share," Forbes reported.

The head of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov with a fortune of $ 25 billion is second in the rating, while the head of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson ($ 24.9 billion) closes the top three.

 

Shareholders of Norilsk Nickel signed the new shareholders agreement in 2012, providing in particular for payment of dividends based on the floating rate computed as the EBITDA ratio linked to the debt level. According to the dividend policy, the minimum level of dividends by 2022 is set as $1 bln. Norilsk Nickel is the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium, the leading producer of platinum, cobalt, copper and rhodium in the world. The company also produces gold, silver, iridium, selenium, ruthenium and tellurium. The production units of the Norilsk Nickel group of companies are located in Russia in the Norilsk industrial region, on the Kola Peninsula and in the Trans-Baikal Territory, as well as in Finland and South Africa.