The poor also benefit Oligarchs rake in billions from the war despite sanctions
Vagit Alekperov (right) in conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2002: According to Bloomberg, the former head of oil giant Lukoil is now worth 19.6 billion dollars, which corresponds to just under 17.6 billion Swiss francs.
Image: KEYSTONE
Vagit Alekperov and Putin in 2020: According to Bloomberg, the oligarch earned 186 billion roubles from dividends in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, which corresponds to just under 1.9 billion Swiss francs. Great Britain and Australia sanction the Russian.
Image: imago images/Russian Look
In those 15 months, Alexei Mordashov collected 148 billion roubles in dividends, equivalent to 1.5 billion Swiss francs. The 58-year-old is a shareholder in the mining giant PJSC Severstal.
Image: IMAGO/Russian Look
His assets - here his superyacht The Nord - are estimated at 21.2 billion US dollars or 19 billion Swiss francs. Mordashov is on the sanctions lists of the USA, the EU and the UK.
Image: IMAGO/SNA
Vladimir Lissin is the third richest Russian with a fortune of 26.6 billion dollars or just under 23.9 billion Swiss francs. It grew by 121 billion roubles or 1.24 billion francs between January 2023 and March 2024 thanks to dividends.
Image: imago
Lissin is the majority shareholder in steel giant Novolipetsk and is therefore sanctioned by Australia.
Image: IMAGO/SNA
Vagit Alekperov (right) in conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2002: According to Bloomberg, the former head of oil giant Lukoil is now worth 19.6 billion dollars, which corresponds to just under 17.6 billion Swiss francs.
Image: KEYSTONE
Vagit Alekperov and Putin in 2020: According to Bloomberg, the oligarch earned 186 billion roubles from dividends in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, which corresponds to just under 1.9 billion Swiss francs. Great Britain and Australia sanction the Russian.
Image: imago images/Russian Look
In those 15 months, Alexei Mordashov collected 148 billion roubles in dividends, equivalent to 1.5 billion Swiss francs. The 58-year-old is a shareholder in the mining giant PJSC Severstal.
Image: IMAGO/Russian Look
His assets - here his superyacht The Nord - are estimated at 21.2 billion US dollars or 19 billion Swiss francs. Mordashov is on the sanctions lists of the USA, the EU and the UK.
Image: IMAGO/SNA
Vladimir Lissin is the third richest Russian with a fortune of 26.6 billion dollars or just under 23.9 billion Swiss francs. It grew by 121 billion roubles or 1.24 billion francs between January 2023 and March 2024 thanks to dividends.
Image: imago
Lissin is the majority shareholder in steel giant Novolipetsk and is therefore sanctioned by Australia.
Image: IMAGO/SNA
Despite sanctions, the Russian economy is flourishing: the assets of 12 oligarchs have grown by over 10 billion francs through dividends alone. But even the poorest are benefiting from Putin's war economy. Still.
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- In 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, twelve Russian oligarchs collected dividends totaling 10.23 billion francs, according to Bloomberg.
- The figure shows how well the economy is doing despite sanctions: It grew by 5.4 percent in the first quarter.
- In 2023, Russian trade increased by 6.8 percent.
- The World Bank now classifies Russia as a high-income country.
- Poorer people are apparently also benefiting from the war economy.
The war economy is paying off for Russia's oligarchs: Twelve businessmen collected dividends totaling over one trillion rubles, or 10.23 billion francs, in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
This was reported by "Bloomberg", which calculated the total for these 15 months using publicly available information. Many of these oligarchs are close to Putin - and some are on the West's sanctions lists, the report continues. You can find the three top earners in the picture gallery above.
War economy enables social advancement
The fact that dividends in the billions are flowing in shows that Russian big business is still making huge profits despite Western sanctions. Overall, the economy grew by 5.4 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous year. The economy is on the up: in 2023, the average figure was 3.6 percent.
The economy is running so hot that the World Bank now classifies Russia as a high-income country after gross national income reached 14,250 dollars per person. In 2023, growth in trade (6.8 percent), the financial sector (8.7 percent) and construction (6.6 percent) in particular contributed to this.
It is therefore not just the bosses who are benefiting from the current boom: "Some sectors and regions are the winners of Russia's new war economy," analyzes the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). "This is particularly true of some of Russia's poorest regions, where the war has enabled many people to find a social path to the top that was closed to them in the previous decades of Russia's reintegration into the global economy."
Fears of overheating
However, according to the CEPR, this does not mean that everything is fine: because the economy is at its limit, a further increase in production would be accompanied by higher inflation. At currently 8.3 percent, inflation is already relatively high: the aim is actually to keep it below 4 percent. Interest rates are currently 16% and could rise further due to the risk of inflation, which could ruin debtors.
What happens next will be decided at the next meeting of the central bank on July 26. The CEPR also fears that further growth could come at the expense of the civilian economy. At the moment, the Russian state invests 29 percent of its budget in the military.
Experts are therefore also concerned about Russia's economic growth. A growing number of voices are warning of economic overheating, which would be followed by a slowdown that could cause problems for Vladimir Putin.