Rusal’s stock price collapse was the main event of the day, but the sanctions did not only hit Oleg Deripaska’s fortune – many Forbes list members became poorer today
The U.S. authorities imposed new sanctions on April 6, expanding the list by 26 people and 15 companies. Investors reacted immediately and began to sell off Russian assets, which caused the ruble and the RTS index to plummet. A total of Russian dollar billionaires lost more than $12 billion during the day, according to Forbes.
Oleg Deripaska #50 was the hardest hit by the new sanctions. His holding company En+, US Rusal and six other Deripaska-affiliated companies fell under the restrictions. In the morning on April 9, Rusal said that the U.S. sanctions put it under the threat of technical default. After that, the aluminum producer’s quotations on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell more than 50%, and Deripaska’s fortune dropped by $1.3 billion.
His partner in Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Potanin #2, lost the same amount – even though he is not on the sanctions list. Norilsk Nickel, where Potanin owns 32.9% (Deripaska’s share is 27.8%), dropped more than 16% in the morning and is now trading at 9,000 rubles apiece.
At the bottom of the three “anti-leaders” is Viktor Vekselberg 22, who together with his partners (through SUAL Partners) owns 26.5 percent of Rusal. His losses amounted to nearly $1 billion.
Russia’s richest man Vladimir Lisin # 1 was not included in the new sanctions list, but lost about $540 million, Severstal’s largest shareholder Alexei Mordashov # 5 – about $530 million, co-owner of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson # 4 – about $800 million, and Senator Suleiman Kerimov # 28 – $840 million.
Russian authorities have already said that companies subject to U.S. sanctions will receive support. “The government is doing everything necessary to minimize the consequences of the negative effect,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov promised.
