Russia’s richest woman is still the founder, CEO and main shareholder (99%) of country’s largest ecommerce platform Wildberries Tatyana Bakalchuk, with Forbes estimating her fortune at $7bn in the latest rating of the 20 richest women in Russia.

For the first time the list includes seven participants whose fortune topped $1bn, with no more than three women billionaires having been in the previous rankings. The total fortune increased to $25.7bn against $25.3bn in 2021. 

16 out of 20 participants of the rating received their assets through inheritance, divorce or participation in the family business. Some have entered the rankings after post-sanction transfers of equity from their family members, as in the case of Mikhelson (daughter of co-founder of Novatek gas major Leonid Mikhelson), Mordashova (wife of steel and mining tycoon Alexei Mordashov), Litvinenko (wife of shareholder of Phosagro Vladimir Litvinenko), and others.

The top 10 of the rating included:

•     Tatyana Bakalchuk, CEO of Wildberries, owns a 99% stake in the marketplace, $7bn fortune
•     Tatiana Litvinenko, owns a 20.6% stake in Phosagro fertiliser major, $2.8bn
•     Varvara Skoch, owns 15% of USM Holding of billionaire Alisher Usmanov, $2.5bn 
•     Marina Mordashova, owns 52% of Nordgold gold miner, $1.85bn
•     Lidia Mikhailova (with her family), owns 80% of Cherkizovo agro group, $1.55bn
•     Elena Baturina, sold Inteko developer, capital, $1.3bn;
•     Victoria Mikhelson, owns a 2.3% stake in Novatek gas major, equity, $1.2bn;
•     Evgenia Gurieva, owns 4.82% of Phosagro fertiliser major, capital, $875mn;
•     Ekaterina Fedun, owns 1.2% of Lukoil oil major, capital, $800mn;
•     Lyudmila Kogan, owns 82% of Uralsib Bank, BFA-Development, capital, $725mn

The rating also includes Lidia Sulteeva (holding company Vulkan, fortune $675mn), Olga Belyavtseva (producer of baby food and mineral water Progress, 35%; funds from the sale of shares of juice producer Lebedyansky, $600mn), Elena Rybolovleva (payments of her ex-husband under the settlement agreement, $600mn), Tatiana Kovalchuk (Sogaz, $575mn), Lilia Rotenberg (TPS Real Estate Holding Limited 33%, $500mn), Tatiana Kuznetsova (Novatek, 0.19% stake and funds from the sale of shares in the company, $450mn), Larisa Alekperova (Lukoil, 0.2% stake; Modern Investment Systems, 10%; $425mn), Marina Sedykh (INK Capital, 10.6%, $425mn), Maria and Tatiana Fileva (25% stake in S7 private air carrier, $400mn each).