FTimes are tough for many Russian oligarchs in the West: luxury yachts are being confiscated; Credit cards blocked, villas and penthouses have become unreachable. But there are a handful of Russian billionaires who have largely escaped sanctions so far. Among them is Vladimir Potanin, who according to “Forbes” magazine is currently the second richest Russian – even if his fortune has decreased by 9.7 billion to 17.3 billion dollars because of the war.
Potanin has made several lucrative deals since Russia attacked Ukraine, while some of his colleagues complained in interviews about their difficult situation because of the punitive measures: First, he bought Rosbank, whose former owner, the major French bank Société Générale, wanted to leave Russia in a hurry . Then he took over the Russian branch of the American financial services provider Global Payments and finally the shares of the bank founder Oleg Tinkow in his online bank Tinkoff – according to Tinkow for three percent of their actual value.
Potanin, who has so far only been on a Canadian sanctions list, is not an opponent of President Vladimir Putin. On the contrary: he is considered extremely loyal, and has been since the beginning of Putin’s era in the early 2000s – so the opposition politician and economist Vladimir Milov, who fled Russia, told “Forbes”. The reason Potanin is able to carry on as if there were no war may be related to his main asset: Siberian mining company Norilsk Nickel.
No sanctions in favor of metal prices
The group produces 15 percent of the nickel used in the world, which is important for battery production, and accounts for about 40 percent of the world market for palladium, which is used in car construction and the manufacture of semiconductors. Together with BASF, Norilsk Nickel has built a large battery production facility in Finland. Observers suspect that Potanin and his group will be spared Western sanctions in order not to drive up the metal prices even higher and to ensure that supplies are not cut short.
That suits the Russian leadership; via Potanin, it can bring valuable assets under control. In the case of Tinkoff Bank in particular, this seemed necessary, because London-based Oleg Tinkov leaned out the window after Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, describing the Russian army as “crappy” on Instagram in March. The Kremlin then threatened to nationalize his bank, Tinkov later told the New York Times, which is why he was forced to sell his shares for a ridiculous amount.
Potanin returns to his roots with the acquisitions in the financial sector. When private entrepreneurship became possible towards the end of the Soviet Union, he founded his trading group Interros, shortly afterwards the bank Onexim, which soon became one of the most important financial institutions thanks to a number of government contracts. Previously, like his father, Potanin had worked in the Soviet Ministry of Commerce.