Russian oligarchs received $11 billion in dividends in 15 months thanks to the boom in the military economy
According to Bloomberg, a large part of these oligarchs have close ties with Russian President Putin.
Russian businessmen earned billions of dollars in dividends as their companies resumed or increased payouts amid easing economic uncertainty over the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. About this informs Bloomberg.
According to the data, at least a dozen businessmen earned more than 1 trillion rubles ($11.3 billion) in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. Many have close ties to President Vladimir Putin and include those targeted by sanctions over the war, now in its third year.
The list was topped by Vagit Alekperov, a key shareholder and former president of the oil giant PJSC Lukoil, who received approximately 186 billion rubles in dividends. He is under sanctions from the UK and Australia, but has so far avoided sanctions from the US and the European Union.
Next on the list are billionaires Oleksiy Mordashov from PJSC Severstal and Volodymyr Lisin from PJSC Novolypetsk Metallurgical Plant, who received 148 billion and 121 billion rubles, respectively. Mordashov is under US, UK and EU sanctions, while Lisin has not yet come under serious restrictions.
The list also includes Putin’s billionaire ally Gennady Timchenko and Tetiana Lytvynenko, who received a stake in PJSC PhosAgro before her husband Volodymyr came under US sanctions in 2023. Volodymyr Lytvynenko is rector of St. Petersburg Mining University, where Putin received his doctorate in 1997, and has served as the president’s campaign manager in the city for three elections.
Many state-owned corporations, such as PJSC Gazprom Nafto and PJSC Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, continued to pay dividends, earning record profits during the war. Last month, Sberbank shareholders approved a record dividend of 752 billion rubles for 2023.
However, after the numerous sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation, Russian tycoons faced the problem of where to invest their dividends, as the sanctions forced many to return to the domestic market, which has limited opportunities.
In May, private investors invested 116.3 billion rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange, which is a monthly record since 2024.
