Russia’s oligarchs lose $67B in one year since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s richest individuals have seen their vast fortunes dented in the one year since Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The 23 Russian oligarchs listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index have lost a combined $67 billion in wealth in the past year, the outlet reported Friday.

The collective fortunes of Putin’s main toadies are down 20% since hostilities began.

The Russian invasion triggered a wave of economic sanctions from the US and other Western nations. Many Russian oligarchs were individually sanctioned or had international assets, such as luxury superyachts, seized by Western authorities due to their ties to the Kremlin.

Alexei Mordashov, the majority owner of Russian steel giant Severstal PJSC, suffered the biggest lost among the country’s billionaires. His estimated fortune has plummeted by a $6.7 billion since the start of the war – though he still has a net worth of $19.8 billion.

Vladimir Lisin, the chairman of Novolipetsk Steel PJSC, ranked second among Russia’s biggest losers with a $5.8 billion plunge in net worth.

High-profile Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich had the third-largest loss of $5.6 billion. Notably, Abramovich was forced to sell the English soccer club Chelsea FC to a group of US investors that included Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly last May.

Industrialist Andrey Melnichenko experienced the fourth largest wealth wipeout of $4.5 billion, followed by Gennedy Timchenko with a $4.2 billion loss.

The losses, while severe, were actually smaller than they were in the earliest days of the invasion. Bloomberg noted the economic sanctions targeting Russia’s elite seem to “have a limited long-term effect.”

At one point in early March of last year, Russian’s wealthiest billionaires were down by a combined $92 billion as the West began its crackdown over the war.

Not all of Russia’s top business executives have suffered financial losses. Andrey Guryev, the founder of Phosagro, added more than $2 billion to his estimated fortune during a spike in the price of fertilizer over the last year.

The US and its allies have taken a series of punitive actions against Russia’s economy, including enacting a price cap or outright ban on its energy shipments and disconnecting the Kremlin from the SWIFT international banking system.