Russian oligarchs are getting richer from the war in Ukraine

One might think that Russia's war on Ukraine has had a negative effect on the wealthiest Russians, however, it seems that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Forbes Russia has reported that the country’s top billionaires gained 152 billion US dollars in 2022, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed by Western countries.

Business Insider cites a report by Swiss bank UBS, which claims that overall Russian millionaires went from 56,000 to 408,000 in 2022 while the country earned over 600 billion US dollars.

In fact, Reuters highlights that the war in Ukraine might have helped made Russia’s wealthy elite even more wealthy.

According to French newspaper Le Monde, almost half of Russia's top billionaires are profiting from the war, with some believing some 80 people out of the 200 most affluent Russians being financially involved in the conflict.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the Western backlash in the form of sanctions and other measures badly affected the rich.

However, Russia’s top moneymakers, such as Vladimir Lisin pictured here, have managed to rebound thanks to skyrocketing prices for natural resources.

Reuters writes that despite the Russian economy shrinking 2.1% under the pressure of Western sanctions, the country was able to sell oil, gas, metals, and fertilizer to China, India, and countries in Latin America and the Middle East.

The price of oil from the Urals, described by Reuters as the lifeblood of the Russian economy, went from $69 per barrel in 2021 to $76.09.

Local demand has also increased in face of the sanctions, with Reuters highlighting a rise in such areas as food, pharmaceuticals, and supermarkets.

The International Monetary Fund also changed its Russian economy forecast for the end of 2023, predicting a 0.7% growth, instead of 0.3%.

Not everything is good for the ruble, though. The IMF also changed its 2024 predictions from 2.1% to 1.3%, citing the impact of labor shortages and Western companies departing the country.

According to Business Insider, Russia had 110 billionaires in March 2023, 22 more than the year before with a collective wealth of about 505 billion US dollars.

Indeed, Bloomberg reports that there are at least 25 Russians among the 500 richest people in the world, out of which there are 8 in the top 100.

This is a stark contrast to the situation for billionaires in China and the United States, where fears of recession and economic stagnation have seen the collective value of billionaires reduce.

Data from Forbes Russia reveals that the country’s wealthy elite have yet to recover pre-war numbers when 117 billionaires were worth circa 580 billion US dollars.

Reuters pointed out that the list could have been longer if it wasn’t for the billionaires who resigned their Russian citizenship in the wake of the war with Ukraine.

These are Revolut founder Nikolay Storonsky (pictured), Yuri Milner from DST Global, Freedom Finance’s Timur Tirlov and JetBrains co-founders Sergei Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov.

Forbes Russia still lists Telegram founder Pavel Durov (pictured) and online gaming company owners Dmitry and Igor Bukhman as Russian billionaires.

However, Durov adopted UAE citizenship in 2021 and has been living in Dubai after continuous clashes with Russian authorities. Elsewhere, the Bukhman brothers have been listed elsewhere as Russian-born Israeli entrepreneurs.

Business Insider reports that coal and fertilizer entrepreneur Andrei Melnichenko has been reported in the past as the wealthiest man in Russia.

Pictured: Melnichenko and Alexei Mordashov during a meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs with Vladimir Putin in March 2023.

Melnichenko’s fortune went from 11.1 billion to 24.8 billion US dollars in January 2024, thanks to soaring commodity prices.

Steel industry businessman Alexei Mordashov, despite facing sanctions from the US, the EU, and the UK, saw his own personal wealth go from 13.2 billion US dollars in March 2022 to 22.2 billion in January 2024.

Finally, Bloomberg reports that steel magnate Vladimir Lisin manages to get ahead from Mordashov and Melnichenko with a net worth calculated above 25 billion US dollars.

Others haven’t been so lucky. Business Insider singled out the case of Russian businessman Petr Aven who, after being sanctioned by the UK and the EU, went from having 5.3 billion US dollars in March 2021 to 4.2 billion in March 2023.

This raises the question of how effective Western sanctions have been in pressuring Putin and his circle of allied oligarchs.