A look at Russian super-rich facing Ukraine sanctions

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced sanctions on three of Russia’s wealthiest people on Tuesday as part of the British government’s response to the escalating conflict in Ukraine.

Here’s a look at the billionaires facing asset freezes, UK travel bans and trade restrictions.

Gennady Timchenko

Timchenko, 69, controls the Volga Group, a Russia-based investment firm with interests in energy, transportation and construction businesses. His biggest holdings include major holdings in publicly traded natural gas producer Novatek and chemical maker Sibur. The billionaire sold a stake in oil trading firm Gunvor Group, before facing US sanctions over Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The son of a Soviet military officer, Timchenko met and befriended Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg in the early 1990s. Putin eventually became president of a judo club Timchenko co-founded and is now president of the Russian Federation.

Timchenko has a net worth of about $16 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Boris Rottenberg

Rotenberg, 65, founded the Stroygazmontazh gas pipeline construction company with his older brother, Arkady, and turned it into Gazprom, one of the world’s largest state-controlled companies. In 2014, he sold his stake to Arkady when both brothers also received US sanctions for the Russian invasion of Crimea.

Rotenberg owns a stake in SMP Bank, which is also being sanctioned.

Boris Rotenberg has a net worth of about $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Wealth Index, while Arkady is worth $2.1 billion.

Igor Rottenberg

Arkady’s eldest son, Igor, 48, owns a stake in the Gazprom Bureniye drilling company and the toll system operator Platon. His father, who started judo with Putin when they were both teenagers, sold Stroygazmontazh in 2019 for about $1.3 billion.

Even before the UK announced sanctions on the Rotenberg family and Timchenko, as well as imposing restrictions on five banks, Russia’s super-rich were already being financially affected by the situation in Ukraine.

So far this year, Russian billionaires among the world’s top 500 have lost $35 billion in combined wealth, with Timchenko accounting for almost a fifth of the total, according to the Bloomberg index.