Russian oligarchs: Rising share prices and a resurgence in the value of the rouble brought on partly by the prospect of a Trump administration have added approximately $29bn to the fortunes of some of Russia’s richest men, making President Putin’s inner circle among the chief beneficiaries of last November’s presidential election, according to figures compiled and released by Forbes this week.
Among the biggest winners from the forthcoming changing of the White House guard so far has been Gennady Timchencko, whosold his 43% stake in the Guvnor international energy trading company a mere 24 hours before the US Treasury slapped sanctions on him in 2014 in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but who has seen the value of his estimated 23% stake in the publicly traded natural gas producer Novatek rise by $1.8n over the past two months in line with a 16% increase in the company’s share price during the same period.
Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson has fared even better and is now an estimated $1.9bn better off, while the steel magnates Alexey Mordashov and Vladimir Lisin Steel have seen their fortunes increase by $1.6bn and $1.4bn respectively since Trump’s victory
The oligarchs are also enjoying the benefits of a resurgent rouble which rose by 20% over the course of 2016, thanks partly to an increase in oil prices but also on the back of hopes of better relations between Russia and the US.
Just exactly how those relations pan out has been exercising political pundits for weeks and became the subject of even more intense speculation today with the emergence of a dossier written by a former British intelligence officer that claims to describe not just a regular exchange of intelligence between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin but also a lurid sexual episode featuring the president elect, prostitutes and a Moscow Ritz Carlton suite.
Trump victory gifts Russian oligarchs $29bn as energy share prices soar
Source: forbes