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EuroChem founder Melnichenko tops Forbes list of richest Russians for first time

To get the real picture, it is better to compare the results of 2023 not with the past, but with 2021

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. Andrey Melnichenko, founder of the EuroChem and SUEK companies, topped the Forbes list of richest Russians in 2023 for the first time.

According to the publication, his fortune is estimated at $25.2 billion.

Head of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Potanin ranks second with a fortune of $23.7 billion. Last year's number one, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NLMK, Vladimir Lisin, slipped to third. Over the year his fortune increased by $3.7 billion to $22.1 billion.

Head of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson sits in fourth place with a fortune of $21.6 billion. Chairman of the Board of Directors of Severstal Alexey Mordashov took fifth: his fortune is estimated at $20.9 billion.

According to Forbes’ 37th annual list of the world’s richest people, the total wealth of Russian billionaires increased from $353 billion to $505 billion over the year, while their number decreased from 123 in 2021 to 110 people in 2023.

As Forbes notes, in 2022 the rating was compiled during a period of severe panic on the markets caused by the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine. Shares of Russian companies collapsed, and only 88 Russian billionaires out of 140 included in the preliminary list compiled by early February remained in the rating.

By March 11, 2022, when share prices and rates were fixed for calculating the fortunes of billionaires around the world, trading in shares of Russian companies remained frozen for more than two weeks, and the ruble exchange rate on the Forex fell to 133 rubles to one dollar. As a result, assessments of the fortunes of Russians dropped significantly. In the new rating, share prices and the ruble exchange rate were fixed as of March 10, 2023, when the ruble exchange rate was 75.9 rubles to one dollar, the publication adds.

To get the real picture, it is better to compare the results of 2023 not with the past, but with 2021. Then the total fortune of Russian billionaires was estimated at $606 billion, Forbes notes.

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