The era of the Russian oligarch "is now drawing to a close, as the oil price crash and the collapse in the Russian currency leaves some of the world's richest men nursing huge losses," according to John Ficenec of the London TELEGRAPH. Chelsea Owner Roman Abramovich, who made billions from the sale of oil firm Sibneft, is "nursing losses" of around $820M, while Alisher Usmanov, the steel tycoon who owns a third of Arsenal, is estimated to have lost $910M "since the start of the year." Industrial sectors from steel to mining "have been in the vanguard of the sell-off in Russian stocks," while the Russian ruble has dropped in value to "new lows." In total the 13 richest Russians, who control around $130B between them, have lost as much as $11.1B "since the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index." Given the uncertain political landscape in Russia and the "opaque network of allegiances" that surrounds President Vladimir Putin, many oligarchs "have chosen to take their money out of the country." This creates a situation of vast wealth on paper, but assets such as luxury houses "tend to generate little cash unless rented out, and assets such as yachts, private jets, helicopters and football teams can cost millions to support each year." The man "most usually associated with leaving Russia behind to make London his home" is Abramovich. He built his fortune by selling a stake in Russia steel group Rusal for up to $3B in '03, and earned in the region of $10B from the sale of oil company Sibneft to state-owned Gazprom two years later, "and on top of that it is estimated he may have earned" $5B in dividends and share sales. Abramovich's 29.1% stake in steel and mining firm Evraz, "which is held through the Lanebrook investment vehicle located in Cyprus," has fallen in value by 60% from £670M ($954.3M) "during the past 12 months." To "make matters worse Evraz halted dividend payments" in '13. Abramovich's property holdings "have fared much better." He "steadily accumulated flats in London's exclusive Lowndes Square, before putting them on the market three years ago." There is also a £90M ($128M) Kensington mansion and £50M ($71.2M) N.Y. mansion on Fifth Avenue. Holiday homes in the Caribbean, Aspen, Sardinia and the South of France "will all spread risk" (TELEGRAPH, 1/17).
