Russia's richest oligarchs

Vladimir Lisin (left), seen here with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, started work in the 1970a as a coalmine mechanic. Now the owner of the Novolipetsk steel mill, he is officially Russia's richest man with a fortune put at $18.8bn. He keeps a low-profile and avoids Moscow's VIP party scene. In a 2004 interview with Forbes magazine, he put his success down to sheer single-mindedness. Photograph: Sergey Guneev/RIA Novosti/AFP Photograph: Sergey Guneev/RIA Novosti/guardian.co.uk Mikhail Prokhorov was Russia's richest man last year. Down from first place to second this year, he had the foresight to sell his multibillion-dollar stake in Norilsk mining in early 2008, just before the global credit crunch took hold. French police interviewed Prokohorov, a bachelor, in January 2007 in connection with a prostitution ring in the ski resort of Courchevel. They subsequently apologised. Photograph: Konstantin Zavrazhin/Getty Images Photograph: Konstantin Zavrazhin/guardian.co.uk Roman Abramovich is now Russia's third richest man with a fortune put at $17bn. It is the first time the reticent Chelsea FC owner has failed to make the top two, but he has had a good year, with his assets bouncing back from $13.9 billion in 2009 to $17 billion in 2010. Abramovich has recently enjoyed personal happiness too. In December 2009 he became a dad again when his curator-partner Dasha Zhukova gave birth in Los Angeles to their son Aaron. Photograph: Lehtikuva Lehtikuva/Reuters Photograph: Lehtikuva Lehtikuva/guardian.co.uk Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Putin's favourite oligarch, has had a remarkable turnaround following a disastrous 2008-9 that saw billions wiped off his assets. The recipient of vast Kremlin handouts, he is now worth $13.8bn. His aluminium firm Rusal has just had a successful flotation in Hong Kong, enabling him to pay off debts. Photograph: Epsilon/Getty Images Photograph: Epsilon/guardian.co.uk Alisher Usmanov is Russia's seventh-richest man. His fortunes have recovered dramatically, growing from $4.5bn to $12.4bn in a single year. Usmanov is now in a strong position to pursue his apparent long-term ambition to secure control over Arsenal FC. He currently owns around a quarter of the London club's shares. Photograph: Sergei Shakhidjanian/AFP Photograph: Sergei Shakhidjanian/guardian.co.uk Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB officer and owner of the London Evening Standard, is 32nd on Russia's rich list with a net worth up from $1.95bn to $3.4bn. Although his airline company Blue Wings has just filed for bankruptcy in Germany, Lebedev is still in a strong position to buy the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, although a deal with papers' parent company is yet to be agreed. Photograph: Sergey Pyatakov/Ria Novosti/AFP Photograph: Sergey Pyatakov/Ria Novosti/guardian.co.uk