BBI: Wealth of Russian businessmen rises by $16.8 bln in Jan

MOSCOW, Feb 2 (PRIME) -- The combined wealth of Russian billionaires grew by U.S. $16.8 billion in January, Bloomberg said in a report accompanying its Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI) released late Thursday.

The index is calculated based on capitalization and financial reports of companies owned by businessmen, or on a ratio between capitalization and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) or a ratio between a share price and earning per share.

Alexei Mordashov, the majority shareholder of Russian steelmaker Severstal, has remained the wealthiest businessman with assets rising by $1.04 billion to $20.7 billion.

Vladimir Potanin, president of metals giant Norilsk Nickel, ranked second with a wealth growing by $1.17 billion to $20.1 billion. Assets of Vladimir Lisin, chairman of the board of directors of steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), rose by $1.1 billion to $19.1 billion.

The fortune of Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of independent gas producer Novatek, rose by $1.55 billion to $18.2 billion.

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