Billions lost by the superrich
Many of Russia's richest men, who borrowed furiously during Russia's 10-year economic boom to expand and make acquisitions, are struggling to get loans as the global financial crisis bites.
Following is a list of Russia's richest businessmen and some of the potential difficulties faced by each, including their companies' stock losses and debt.
Estimated wealth data is taken from Forbes magazine's May 2008 Russian edition and debt estimates were supplied by a report dated Oct. 10 by state-controlled bank VTB.
Oleg Deripaska
Personal fortune: $28.6 billion
Stock losses: unknown. Many of Deripaska's companies, including United Company RUSAL, are not traded.
Debt includes: estimated $14 billion through UC RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium producer, which is 66 percent owned by Deripaska's private investment vehicle, Basic Element. UC RUSAL, which is also part-owned by commodities trader Glencore, says it has encountered no debt problems.
Basic Element this month divested its $1.4 billion, 20 percent stake in Canadian auto parts maker Magna and its 9.99 percent stake in German builder Hochtief.
Alexei Mordashov Personal fortune: $24.5 billion
Stock losses: Steel company Severstal, majority owned by Mordashov, fell 79 percent between May 16 and Oct. 10.
Debt includes: Severstal short-term debt of $1.4 billion and long-term debt of $3.6 billion at end first-half 2008, versus $3 billion in cash and $600 million in deposits. Severstal signed up to a $1.2 billion syndicated loan facility in September.
Severstal must pay down or refinance revolving facilities of $600 million in the second half of 2008 and a further $325 million in bonds in the first quarter of 2009.
Roman Abramovich
Personal fortune: $24.3 billion
Stock losses: Steel maker Evraz Group, in which Abramovich has a large minority stake, fell 88 percent in London between May 16 and Oct. 10.
Highland Gold Mining Ltd, of which he owns 32 percent, fell 80 percent between March 31 and Oct. 10.
Debt includes: Evraz short-term debt of $3.2 billion and total debt of nearly $10 billion. About $1.6 billion of the short-term debt is non-revolving: $800 million matures in December and $690 million is broken into three quarterly payments of $230 million.
Vladimir Lisin
Personal fortune: $23.9 billion
Stock losses: Novolipetsk Steel, majority owned by Lisin, fell 80 percent between June 30 and Oct. 10.
Debt includes: Novolipetsk total debt of $1.7 billion at end first-half 2008, including short-term debt of $1.6 billion, versus total cash of $1.3 billion. The company has since taken on $3.6 billion in loans to pay for a planned U.S. acquisition.
Mikhail Prokhorov
Personal fortune: $22.6 billion
Prokhorov appears to be in a more comfortable position than some of his peers after accumulating an estimated $7-10 billion selling assets to ex-partner Vladimir Potanin and his one-quarter stake in Norilsk Nickel to UC RUSAL.
Prokhorov last month acquired half of investment bank Renaissance Capital for $500 million and plans to spend the same amount again to piece together a banking giant.
Vladimir Potanin
Personal fortune: $22.4 billion
Stock losses: Potanin is the largest single shareholder in Norilsk Nickel, which lost 79 percent of its market value between May 21 and Oct. 10.
Debt includes: Norilsk is due to repay $640 million to Sberbank in November, after which its next debt repayment is not due until second-half 2009. Potanin, however, is estimated to have taken on several billion dollars in debt to buy out ex-partner Prokhorov from other business ventures.
Mikhail Fridman
Personal fortune: $20.5 billion
Fridman controls a stake in TNK-BP, the oil producer at the centre of a bitter shareholder battle between BP and a group of four Russia-connected billionaires.
Stock losses: Fridman also controls X5 Retail Group, Russia's largest food retailer, which fell 73 percent in value between May 19 and Oct. 10.
X5 gross debt $2.3 billion as of July 1, with net debt estimated at $1.9 billion, of which $712 million payable within one year. Generated cash flow of $300 million in the first half of 2008.
Suleiman Kerimov
Personal fortune: $18.4 billion
Kerimov sold control of gold miner Polymetal for about $2 billion before the crisis began in earnest and has since been reported to be acquiring stakes in Western banks.
Vagit Alekperov
Personal fortune: $14.3 billion
Stock losses: LUKOIL, owned 20 percent by Alekperov, fell 58 percent between May 19 and Oct. 10. Alekperov told Reuters last week his personal investments would be focused solely on raising his stake in the company.
Debt includes: LUKOIL short-term debt $2.3 billion as of June 30, versus cash and cash equivalents of $1.7 billion. About $900 million must be redeemed in 2009, which is more than 20 times covered by estimated core earnings next year.
German Khan
Personal fortune: $13.7 billion
Khan controls a stake in TNK-BP.
Viktor Rashnikov
Personal fortune: $13.3 billion
Stock losses: Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, lost 82 percent between May 20 and Oct. 10 and has announced the possibility of 3,000 job cuts, as well as a 15 percent reduction in October production. Rashnikov is its majority owner.
Debt includes: Magnitogorsk short-term debt of $1.1 billion and long-term debt of $192 million, which can be covered by cash.
Igor Zyuzin
Personal fortune: $13.0 billion
Stock losses: New York-traded Mechel lost 88 percent of its value between May 19 and Oct. 10. It lost half its value in three trading days in July when Zyuzin incurred the scorn of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for his coal pricing policies.
Debt includes: Mechel has $1 billion short-term debt and $2.2 billion long-term debt in the first quarter of 2008, versus $145 million in cash.
Dmitry Rybolovlev
Personal fortune: $13.0 billion
Stock losses: Fertiliser producer Uralkali, majority owned by Rybolovlev, fell 75 percent between June 20 and Oct. 10. Silvinit, a potash miner in which he holds a minority stake, fell 73 percent from July 2.
Debt includes: Uralkali total debt $560 million as of June 30, versus about $1 billion in cash. No repayments are due in 2008 and only $40 million in 2009.
