Record number of millionaires in Murmansk Oblast

The number of people in Murmansk Oblast with incomes above one million RUB (app. 2,25 million EUR) has increased considerably in the course of the last year. In the 2008 tax declaration, 2767 people declared they had incomes of one million rubles, which is 70 percent more than in 2007. Five northerners stated incomes of more than one billion rubles, B-port.com reports.

At the same time, the number of Russian dollar billionaires is halved compared to last year. The Russian business magazine Finans every year publishes a ranking over Russia’s 400 wealthiest individuals, The Moscow Times report. This year’s list puts the number of dollar billionaires at 49, down from a record 101 last year and just below the 50 counted in 2006.

In all, the country’s ten richest people saw their combined wealth shed 75,9 billion USD since the magazine’s survey last year, as oil prices plunged, financial markets skidded and the ruble fell, Finans reports.

The list is topped by former Norilsk Nickel co-owner Mikhail Prokhorov with 14,1 billion USD. Prokhorov received 7 billion USD in cash as part of a deal for the 25 percent stake in Norilsk Nickel that he sold last April, before the crisis hit Russia. The list places Abramovich at second, with 13,9 billion USD, followed by Novolipetsk Steel chairman Vladimir Lisin on third with 7,7 billion USD.