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While tens of millions of Europeans have suffered from Russia’s war in Ukraine, a few Russian businesspeople have gotten richer from it. This column documents four distinct trends in this enrichment: through foreign asset takeovers at heavily discounted prices, via companies operating in import-substituting industries, beneficiaries of the war’s disruptive effects on European markets, and beneficiaries of increased domestic demand. Due to these trends, the number of Russian billionaires went up since the start of the war, while billionaires under Western sanctions got wealthier on average too.
