BUSINESS

Abramovich Tops Latest Forbes List Of Richest

By Simon Shuster

Staff Writer

MOSCOW — Roman Abramovich held on to his top spot on Forbes Russia’s rich list, released Thursday, with his fortune edging up 5 percent to $19.2 billion.

But the pack of challengers is closing, with the top 100 Russians increasing their wealth by an average of 36 percent over the last year.

The biggest gainer on the list was banking-to-vodka mogul Rustam Tariko, whose fortune more than doubled to $5.5 billion from last year, Forbes deputy editor Kirill Vishnepolsky said.

Second place went to Russian Aluminum owner Oleg Deripaska with $16.8 billion, a prime example of natural resource wealth flowing back into industries ranging from construction to banking and insurance, Vishnepolsky said.

Novolipetsk steel baron Vladimir Lisin came in third with $15.1 billion. Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov, who split up their Interros holding, were tied in fourth and fifth place with $15 billion. Alfa Group’s Mikhail Fridman was sixth with $13.5 billion, ahead of Nafta Moskva’s Suleiman Kerimov, with $12.8 billion. LUKoil’s Vagit Alekperov, Severstal’s Alexei Mordashov and TNK-BP’s Viktor Vekselberg also made the top 10.

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