Russia's wealthiest 25 individuals have collectively lost $230bn (£146bn). Tycoons like Oleg Deripaska - Russia's richest man and friend, we now know, of British politicians - have seen their fortunes vaporised. On paper, Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea FC owner, has suffered a $20.3bn wipeout. Alisher Usmanov, the Arsenal shareholder-tycoon has lost $11.7bn, Bloomberg estimates. Analysts say that private jets could soon be going for bargain basement prices, while some super-rich are scrambling to sell off their villas in Sardinia and Surrey. In Moscow, elite nightclubs have relaxed their strict entry rules - there aren't enough customers. The capital's top restaurants, meanwhile, have stopped accepting credit cards.Not that Russia's oligarchs are in the mood for entertaining. Since hosting Peter Mandelson and George Osborne on his yacht in Corfu this August, Deripaska has slithered into a classic Westminster political scandal. The aluminium magnate's British-related woes do not stop there: a former business partner, Michael Cherney, is suing him for $4bn in the high court. Rumours suggest he's even been forced to lay off his servants. A spokesman said Deripaska does not comment on private matters.
The twilight of the oligarchs is closely linked to the meltdown in Russia's stock market. Since May, Russia's RTS index has lost 71% of its value. It is no secret that Deripaska borrowed money from western banks using shares in his companies as collateral. The share price crashed; the banks then asked for their cash back. Deripaska is now in danger of being sucked into a black hole of debt. Others have money stuck in Iceland.Is, then, the era of the oligarch now over? Not everyone agrees with this thesis. But it does seem that Russia's rich are experiencing a moment of historical catharsis. After a giddy decade characterised by the acquisition of yachts, football teams, villas in Kensington, west London and the South of France, and even submarines, there is a distinct sense that Russia is moving into a different, more chastened, epoch. "My stocks were worth $1bn. They're now worth $300m. OK. So what?" says billionaire Alexander Lebedev, sitting on a brown leather sofa in his comfortable three-storey Moscow townhouse. Lebedev, a Russian businessman and former KGB agent unkindly nicknamed the spy who came in for the gold, is unperturbed by his loss of fortune. Until recently, he had $3.1bn - and was 39th on Forbes' list of Russia's top 100 billionaires. "It doesn't make any difference to my life," he says.Lebedev is also a former deputy in the Duma and a member of Russia's beleaguered intelligentsia. He says he has survived the crisis that has been aggravated by Russia's war in Georgia better than many of his peers. They took generous loans from Russian banks, bought shares, and then took out more loans from western banks against the value of these shares - a pyramidal arrangement that is now collapsing. Asked how Russia's oligarchs are bearing up, Lebedev is almost puckishly cheerful. He says: "They are suffering." He adds: "I think material wealth for them is a highly emotional and spiritual thing. They spend a lot of money on their own personal consumption."Lebedev is a patron of the arts and last week met Tom Stoppard, John Malkovich, and Kevin Spacey to discuss a new Chekhov festival in Crimea, Ukraine. In general, he is scathing of oligarchs as a class - describing them as a bunch of uncultured ignoramuses. "They don't read books. They don't have time. They don't go to exhibitions. They think the only way to impress anyone is to buy a yacht," he observes.Does he think the crisis might make Russia's elite reconsider their arguably solipsistic lifestyle and values? Lebedev thinks not. "[Friedrich] Nietzsche once said that when something doesn't kill you it makes you stronger. But it isn't applicable in this case," he says. Most oligarchs were not very interested in social injustice, he points out.This spring Forbes magazine estimated that Russia has 110 billionaires - a record. The top 100 had a combined wealth of $522bn - almost four times higher than in 2004, it said. (At the same time 18.9 million Russians live below the poverty line, federal statistics suggest.) According to Lebedev, some members of this exclusive list - known as the golden 100 - are now down to their last $100m, the über-rich equivalent of skid row. "Worst hit are the property developers," he says.
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