Moscow, April 17: The net worth of Russia`s 100
richest people has dropped more than three-fold in the
economic crisis, pushing the 2009 fortunes of the super
wealthy back to the levels of 2004, a report said Friday.
Russia in 2008 had well over 100 billionaires, making it
second only to the United States in the super rich stakes, but
the crisis has scythed that figure down to only 32, the
Russian edition of Forbes magazine said.
Russia`s super rich have been particularly hard hit by
the financial crisis as many made their money in commodities
whose prices have collapsed over the last six months and now
have to pay back colossal debts.
Forbes, in its annual survey of Russia`s rich, said that
the net worth of Russia`s 100 richest people had been whittled
back to only USD 142 billion, compared with over USD 520
billion a year earlier.
It said this had set Russia`s rich back to the start of
the economic boom in 2004 when the net worth of the super rich
was USD 140 billion and it had counted just 36 billionaires.
Confirming figures published by its US sister publication
last month, the magazine said bachelor financier Mikhail
Prokhorov, 43, is now Russia`s richest man with a fortune of
USD 9.5 billion.
Bureau Report
