Once upon a time, there were three K women - “Kinder, Kühe, Kirche” (children, kitchen, church, as the last German emperor Wilhelm II put it). Fortunately, times are changing and modern ladies can successfully compete with men in the business sphere and earn so much that husbands can do housework.
We present you the top 10 richest women in Russia in 2017 according to Forbes.
10. Irina Abramovich
Field of activity: private investor.
Income: 300 million dollars.
You can, of course, say "oh, this is the ex-wife of Roman Abramovich, that's where the money comes from." But the couple broke up ten years ago, and Irina is still among the richest Russians. She spends most of her time at an estate in the English county of Hampshire, where there is a stable with beautifully driven riding horses. Each of the purebred four-legged handsome men costs about 400 thousand dollars.
And Lady Abramovich is an avid shopaholic and patron of the best London boutiques. In addition to shopping, she often visits the Royal Opera House, enjoys collecting Russian paintings and communicates with many celebrities, for example, Hong Kong oligarch David Tang and Sir Elton John.
9. Marina Sedykh
Position held: CEO of INC.
Income: 350 million dollars.
The 57-year-old business lady has been holding the post of head of the Irkutsk Oil Company (INC) since 2000. Under her leadership, INC earned a number of awards and prizes, including the international Business Triumph award and the title of “The Best Independent Oil Company of Eastern Europe” from the authoritative financial publication World Finance
In addition to the main position, Sedykh is also a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the region and she is not alien to charity. She paid for the manufacture of a bronze bust of the hero of Russia, senior lieutenant Andrei Sherstyannikov, who died in 2000 in a battle with militants in the Argun Gorge. In 2016, the diploma “Patron of the Year” was awarded from the Sedykh Ministry of Culture.
8. Natalya Lutsenko
Occupation: co-owner of the GC "Commonwealth".
Income: 400 million dollars.
The sale of feed and animal feed additives is where Natalia and her husband Alexander began their journey into the world of big business. After a successful start, the Sodruzhestvo started buying up enterprises operating in the food industry. Then, a number of Ukrainian and Russian poultry factories and a Danish plant producing protein and vitamin supplements were added to the list of acquisitions.
Currently, Sodruzhestvo is the main Russian supplier of GMO and non-GMO soybeans and a producer of lecithin, rapeseed and soybean oils. In 2012, the Japanese company Mitsui & Co became one of the shareholders of the Commonwealth (ten percent of the shares were bought for $ 2.2 billion). The plants of the Commonwealth are located not only in Russia, but also in Denmark and Brazil.
7. Tatyana Kuznetsova
Field of activity: Member of the Board of PJSC Novatek.
Income: 400 million dollars.
A new face in the ranking of the richest women in Russia in 2017. Kuznetsova owns 0.2% of the Russian gas company Novatek, which is one of the ten world leaders in terms of proven reserves of natural gas and gas production.
Tatyana Kuznetsova is not only the second most important person on the board of Novatek, but also heads the legal department of this PJSC.
6. Evgenia Guryeva
What does it do: husband’s charity fund.
Income: 400 million dollars.
The wife of billionaire Andrei Guriev owns a stake in PhosAgro, the largest domestic and European supplier of phosphorus fertilizers. Evgenia’s husband is the second person on the board of directors of PhosAgro, and the son of the Gurievs is the head of the company. His name is Andrey, like his father.
The daughter of Yevgenia and Andrey, Julia, together with her mother, participates in a charity fund that provides support to low-income citizens, family members of people killed by terrorist attacks and WWII veterans, helps social rehabilitation of the unemployed, orphans, disabled people and other categories of the population, for which or reasons that are not able to independently exercise their rights.
5. Tatyana Bakalchuk
Field of activity: CEO of Wildberries.
Income: 420 million dollars.
In 2004, Tatyana (at that time - a tutor in English) had a baby. This made the young woman look for new sources of income. With the support of her husband Vladislav, she initially offered customers clothes and shoes from the German catalogs Otto and Quelle. Moreover, the apartment of the spouses Bakalchuk served as a warehouse for goods. Things went so well that already in 2005 the company Wildberries appeared, which is currently one of the largest online stores in Russia. There you can buy a lot of things: from clothes and shoes to books, toys and jewelry.
Last year, Tatyana was the third most successful business woman on the Forbes list, but since then her income has fallen by $ 80 million.
4. Olga Belyavtseva
Field of activity: Member of the Board, Progress Capital.
Income: 450 million dollars.
In the nineties, Belyavtseva, together with Nikolai Bortsov, director of the cannery of the Ministry of Fruit and Vegetable Agriculture, created the Lebedyansky concern. He became one of the largest Russian juice producers. It was at this enterprise that such brands as “FrutoNanny”, “Tonus”, “I”, “Orchard” were made.
Over a ten-year period, from 1998 to 2008, Lebedyansky’s turnover increased from $ 18 million to $ 800 million, and with it the market share grew from 4% to 30%.
In 2008, the majority shareholders of Lebedyansky became PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Group. Thanks to this deal, Belyavtseva became $ 330 million richer.
The company “Progress” did not enter into the deal (it was wholly owned by Lebedyansky) and its main shareholders were the father and son of Bortsov and Belyavtsev. This enterprise launches a popular line of products under the brands "FrutoNanny", "Babies" and "Lipetsk Pump-room".
In 2016, Belyavtseva entered into an agreement with the Mondi Group on the sale of her owned Bipak LLC, which produces corrugated cardboard and packaging for food and agricultural products. The amount of this transaction amounted to 2.8 billion rubles.
Since 2016, Olga Belyavtseva’s position in the list of the richest women from Russia has not changed.
3. Natalia Fileva
Field of activity: manages the "C7 Group of Companies"
Income: 600 million dollars.
The main business Filevoy is a private Russian air carrier S7. The group of airlines belonging to the Filev family includes Globus and Siberia, the second after Aeroflot in terms of air traffic in Russia (as of 2016). Moreover, the majority of Siberia's shares are disposed of by Natalia, thanks to which in 2006 she was able to get into the rating of the most successful women in Russia according to Forbes and has not left him since.
Together with his father and mother, daughter Tatyana also takes part in the family endeavor. Under her patronage, an unusual marketing project was launched: the first music video in zero gravity. He was filmed by Chicago alternative rock group OK Go and S7 Airlines.
2. Elena Rybolovleva
Field of activity: private investor.
Income: 600 million dollars.
In the 80s, Elena and Dmitry Rybolovlev, then not yet millionaires, but novice entrepreneurs, created a clinic that provides magnetotherapy services. They invested money in industrial enterprises. The head of the family became a co-owner of Uralkali and acquired a number of shares in various enterprises, including Silvinit, Azot, and Solikamskbumprom.
In 2001, the Rybolovlev couple moved to Switzerland, but their marriage lasted only until 2008. The couple did not enter into a marriage contract, and for a very long time they shared what they had acquired. Only in 2015 they came to an amicable agreement, according to which Elena got $ 604 million and real estate in Switzerland.
Divorce made Rybolovlev one of the richest brides in Russia. As in 2016, she got the honorable second place in the selection of the most cash Russian business women.
1. Elena Baturina
Field of activity: Head of Inteco Management.
Income: 1 billion dollars.
One of the richest women in the world and the undisputed leader of the top 10 Russian millionaires for the past 12 years in a row. In addition to Inteko, Baturina owns Gazprom and Sberbank shares. She also owns an international hotel chain.
According to Forbes magazine, Baturina is the only independent self-made business woman to create her own business in the construction industry. She is the only billionaire from the whole number of the richest entrepreneurs in Russia.
Elena Baturina managed to turn even her passion for horse riding into a profitable business. She owns the Vedern stud farm, founded in the 18th century. It breeds horses of Hanoverian, Holstein and Trakenen breeds.
This bright and strong woman is living proof that even a girl from a working family (mother and father Baturina worked at the Frazier plant, and not in managerial positions) can achieve tremendous success in life. And not thanks to her millionaire husband (Yuri Luzhkov met Elena before he was the mayor of the capital), but only to his own mind and business acumen.
