In the face of war, Vladimir Olegovich Potanin has become Russia’s richest man and the world’s 34th richest person
Feyisayo Ajayi
2 min read
Russia’s richest man, Vladimir Olegovich Potanin is now the 34th richest person in the world, the Bloomberg billionaires index shows.
Potanin is the CEO of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest high-grade nickel producer. He owns nearly a third of the corporation situated in Dudinka, Russia, which generated revenue of $17.9 billion in 2021. Potanin also owns a controlling interest in Petrovax Pharm, a Russian pharmaceutical company.
Potanin acquired his money in the post-Iron Curtain loans-for-shares auctions in Russia, which allowed him and others in his network to purchase large amounts of shares in formerly state-owned Soviet enterprises.
After sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear missile program were lifted in 2016, Potanin’s enterprises became the first to acquire a suite of assets in the country.
It was earlier reported in March that Russia’s biggest businessman had advised the Kremlin against seizing assets from corporations that fled Ukraine during the invasion, claiming that doing so would throw the country back more than a century.
According to Vladimir Potanin, head of metals giant Norilsk Nickel (NILSY) and its largest shareholder, Russia risks reverting to the turbulent days of the 1917 revolution,
He advised the Russian authorities to proceed with prudence when it came to asset seizures.
Vladimir Potanin, a Russian oligarch, stepped down from the Guggenheim Trusteeship in March, following Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Vladimir Potanin, 61, has been a Guggenheim Museum contributor for 20 years and is the latest oligarch to be touched by the growing concern over the crisis in Ukraine.
According to Forbes, during Russia’s privatization in 1995, Vladimir Potanin bought a stake in Norilsk Nickel and now owns slightly over a third of the firm.
Potanin was Boris Yeltsin’s deputy prime minister and is close to President Vladimir Putin.
Potanin invested $2.5 billion in Rosa Khutor, a ski resort, snowboard park, and freestyle skiing center built for the 2014 Olympics, and he still owns a piece of the company.
Norilsk Nickel was fined $2 billion in February 2021 for a massive oil spill in the Arctic. The corporation contested the amount, claiming it would only cost $300 million.
The United Kingdom Court of Appeal overruled a lower court judgment in May 2021, allowing Potanin’s ex-wife Natalia to pursue her $6 billion divorce claim in London.
