Western sanctions were supposed to squeeze Russia’s elite. Instead, according to Forbes Russia, the country’s billionaires have pushed their combined wealth to a new all-time high. The magazine’s latest ranking shows that the richest Russians have grown even wealthier, buoyed in large part by surging commodity prices.
The finding is a stark illustration of how sanctions, while disruptive, have not broken the economic backbone of Russia’s oligarch class. Rising prices for oil, metals, and other raw materials — the very resources that underpin Russia’s economy — have padded fortunes even as the war in Ukraine grinds on.
The timing of this revelation is notable. As Der Spiegel separately reported, Russia is threatening to halt the transport of Kazakh oil to the PCK refinery in Schwedt, in the German state of Brandenburg, starting in May. Such a blockade would have “considerable consequences for Germany’s energy supply — particularly in the east,” according to the report. The twin stories paint a picture of a Russia that remains willing and able to wield its energy leverage, with its wealthiest citizens insulated from the economic pain felt elsewhere.
