Business Maverick

Business Maverick

Russian Tycoons Add $3 Billion to Wealth as Trading Resumes

Russian Tycoons Add $3 Billion to Wealth as Trading Resumes
Leonid Mikhelson, billionaire and chief executive officer of Novatek PJSC, moves between halls during the International Arctic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin has been a long-standing supporter of developing oil and gas resources locked under the region’s permafrost.

Against all odds and despite sanctions, Russian tycoons are regaining some of their wealth.

After almost one month of suspension, shares in Moscow climbed on Thursday, with the benchmark MOEX Russia Index rising as much as 12% before closing up 4.4%. While only 33 stocks resumed trading, Russians with fortunes linked to them added $2.7 billion combined, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index tracking the wealthiest 500 people in the world. At one point during the day, they were up more than $10 billion.Also read: Russia Puts Floor Under Stock Market Selloff as Trading Resumes

Scores of Russian billionaires got sanctioned by the European Union and the U.K. after the Kremlin started its war against Ukraine. Some got their possessions in those jurisdictions seized, and others rushed to shift ownership of their stakes while they still could. But for the 10 tycoons whose shares resumed trading, the advances were adding to their paper gains.

Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko each grew their fortunes by more than $1 billion on Thursday. Timchenko got sanctioned by the European Union and the U.K. — and by the U.S. following Crimea’s annexation in 2014 — though Mikhelson didn’t. Vladimir Potanin remains Russia’s richest person with a $26.3 billion fortune.

Also read: Russian Billionaires Reshape Their Fortunes While They Can

The gains on Thursday partly offset a 33% plunge on Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine. Before the trading halt, the 23 tycoons part of the world’s 500 richest people had more than $316 billion of combined wealth, down $58 billion for the year.

The 33 stocks that resumed trading on the Moscow exchange had some restrictions that helped prop up the market: foreigners were not allowed to offload their holdings and short selling was banned.

 

 

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

MavericKids vol 3

How can a child learn to read if they don't have a book?

81% of South African children aged 10 can't read for meaning. You can help by pre-ordering a copy of MavericKids.

For every copy sold we will donate a copy to Gift of The Givers for children in need of reading support.

A South African Hero: You

There’s a 99.8% chance that this isn’t for you. Only 0.2% of our readers have responded to this call for action.

Those 0.2% of our readers are our hidden heroes, who are fuelling our work and impacting the lives of every South African in doing so. They’re the people who contribute to keep Daily Maverick free for all, including you.

The equation is quite simple: the more members we have, the more reporting and investigations we can do, and the greater the impact on the country.

Be part of that 0.2%. Be a Maverick. Be a Maverick Insider.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options