Russia’s ultrarich have found themselves in a difficult situation. After Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and his invasion of Ukraine in February, 34 current and former Russian billionaires came under US, British or European Union sanctions. Authorities froze their business, tracked down their super yachts and stopped their planes.
So, it’s no surprise that in recent years – and especially in recent months – Forbes has noticed a growing trend: many billionaires associated with Russia are very, very reluctant to be called Russian.
Take, for example, Pavel Durov, who was born in St. Petersburg, created the Russian social network VKontakte, was fired after a conflict with Putin’s government on censorship, and then founded the program to exchange encrypted messages Telegram – now the most important communication tool for Ukrainians.
“Pavel left Russia many years ago without intending to return,” a spokesman told Forbes. After four years on the list of Russian citizens, Durov, who lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, wanted it to be known that he became a French citizen last year. (It is reported that he also has a Saint Kitts and Nevis passport.)
Igor Buchman told a similar story. He and his brother Dmytro grew up in Vologda, where in 2004 they founded the Playrix mobile gaming company. In 2013, they moved their business to Ireland, but thousands of employees are still divided between Russia and Ukraine. The Buchmans, who now live in London, asked Forbes to list them as citizens of Israel, where they immigrated in 2016, not Russia.
Others have much deeper ties with Ukraine’s Russian business and political world. Eugene Schwidler is known as the best friend and business partner of Roman Abramovich, one of the most famous (and under sanctions) Russian oligarchs. In March, the British government imposed sanctions on London resident Schwidler for his close business ties to Abramovich. Schwidler owns stakes in Russia’s steel and nickel companies, but has long insisted he is not Russian. “Mr. Schwidler is not and has never been a citizen of the Russian Federation,” said Schweider’s colleague, who said he did not write on behalf of the billionaire. He was, of course, born in the Soviet region of Russia, but technically, he never had a Russian passport, and he has been a citizen of the United States since 1994 and the United Kingdom since 2010.
Born in Soviet Ukraine, Len Blavatnyk, who grew up in Russia and immigrated to America in 1978 at the age of 21, made his fortune in partnership with oligarch Viktor Vekselberg (under British and US sanctions for ‘close ties’ with Putin). Blavatnik immediately notes that he is a citizen of the United States and Britain, and, as Forbes told his representative in 2018, ‘is not Russian, has never been Russian and is not an oligarch.’
And there is Yuri Milner. The most influential technology investor in Russia, he was one of the first supporters of Facebook and Twitter through his venture fund DST Global. Among his first supporters were Russia’s state-owned VTB Bank and a subsidiary of state oil and gas giant Gazprom, which are currently under sanctions. Another benefactor: Alisher Usmanov, a leading oligarch subject to EU, British and US sanctions (Usmanov called the sanctions “unfair” and promised to “use all legal means to protect [his] honor and reputation”). Milner, now a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital who has not come under sanctions and condemned the war, has long sought to distance himself from Russia. A newsletter published on his website states that Milner, who was born in Moscow and studied physics at Moscow State University, said he was an Israeli citizen, where he moved in 2005, since 1999, and a resident of California since 2014. 97% of Yuri’s personal fortune was created outside of Russia, “Milner said. He “has not been to Russia since 2014″, ‘has no assets in Russia’ and ‘never met with Vladimir Putin”. And, most importantly, of course: “In April 2020, Forbes magazine in its annual list of billionaires reclassified Yuri from its Russian list to its Israeli list, confirming his close ties with the country.”
