Page 49 - RusRPTDec23

The combined wealth of Russia’s billionaires increased by $24.053bn in January–October, according to the Bloomberg billionaires Index (BBI) seen by PRIME on November 1. The index is calculated using capitalization and the financial reports of the companies owned by the businessmen. For some companies, a capitalization to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) ratio or a share price to earnings per share ratio are used. The rating comprises 500 wealthiest people of the world, including 24 Russians. Vladimir Potanin, one of the core owners of metals giant Norilsk Nickel, led the rating with a $29.4bn fortune that increased by $781bn. Independent gas producer Novatek’s co-owner Leonid Mikhelson ranked second with wealth increasing by $3.05bn to $27.7bn.
4.5 Labour and income
4.5.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
Russia's unemployment rate reached a new historic low of 2.9% in October 2023, compared with market forecasts of 3%, largely due to ongoing labour shortages caused by the war in Ukraine. The situation has been exacerbated by the military mobilization undertaken by Russia last year and the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have left the country since the start of the war.
The number of unemployed individuals fell by 91 thousand from the previous month to an all-time low of 2.224mn, and the officially registered unemployed fell to 0.501mn in September from 0.531mn the month before. In October 2022, the jobless rate was higher at 3.9%
49 RUSSIA Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com