Russia's wealthiest oligarchs lose $16bn in the day after US imposes sanctions

Siberian nickel miner Vladimir Potanin saw $2.25bn wiped off his fortune

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin talk during a photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, 11 November 2017 (REUTERS/Jorge Silva)

It was a painful day to be a Russian billionaire. The combined net worth of the country’s wealthiest people fell by $16bn (£11.3bn) on Monday — erasing all of their year-to-year gains — following last week’s US-imposed sanctions.

All but one of the 27 Russian tycoons listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index lost money, led by Siberian nickel miner Vladimir Potanin, whose fortune declined $2.25bn.

Lukoil chief executive Vagit Alekperov saw his wealth tumble $1.37bn, while Viktor Vekselberg of Renova Group lost $1.28bn.

​Vekselberg is one of seven Russian tycoons sanctioned last week by the Trump administration in retaliation for Moscow meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. He took steps on Monday to limit the exposure of his Swiss holdings to the sanctions.

Oleg Deripaska, who was also among those sanctioned, lost $905m on Monday and has seen his fortune dwindle by more than $2bn over the past two trading days.

His losses stemmed from his industrial conglomerate En+ Group, whose shares have plunged 54 per cent since Thursday, according to London Stock Exchange data. Through EN+, Deripaska owns half of Rusal, the giant aluminum producer that was also slapped with sanctions.

The MOEX Russia Index of stocks climbed 1.4 per cent by 1:21 p.m., after falling 8.3 per cent Monday, the most in four years. The ruble weakened 3.2 per cent to 62.67 versus the dollar, extending its slump this week to 7.2 per cent.

Bloomberg