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Forbes has compiled a rating of entrepreneurs who control the production of gold in Russia. The list contains 17 names. These businessmen account for about two-thirds of Russian gold production.

In 2018, according to the Union of Gold Producers, almost 330 tons of gold were produced in Russia. In 2019, the union predicts the growth to 340 tons. A quarter of all this precious metal is accounted for by one company - Polyus. It was created by billionaires Vladimir Potanin  and Mikhail Prokhorov, now controlled by the family of billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. The closest Polyus rival, Polymetal, produces almost half the amount of gold - 41 tons versus 88 tons. Polymetal back in the mid-1990s was created and is still controled by an industrialist Alexander Nesis.

Who owns the other major gold mining companies?

Forbes compiled the first rating of Russian gold producers. Gold production by the largest Russian companies was expressed in US dollars using the average exchange price of gold in 2019 - $ 1392 per ounce. Then they divided this indicator for each company in proportion to the blocks of shares owned by its major shareholders. In fact, the rating demonstrates which part  of the profit from the sale of gold belongs to the owners. After all, the selling price of gold produced may differ from the exchange one. It can be higher if gold is sold through banks with a commission (it can reach 0.5-1%), it can be lower if gold is sold not in bullion from refineries, but in the form of concentrate. In 2017 and 2018, 10-15 tons of Russian gold were sold in the form of a concentrate.

The rating included 17 entrepreneurs. Among them are nine members of the Forbes list. These businessmen control 11 companies that produce almost 64% of Russian gold.

The first place was predictably taken by the family of Suleiman Kerimov - the shares of Polyus (about 78%) belong to his son, 24-year-old Said. And Alexander Nesis took only the fourth place - although Polymetal is second only to Polyus in the volume of gold mined, the share of ICT Nesis in the company is only 27%. As a result, the former prospector and founder of Yuzhuralzolot, Konstantin Strukov, who recently expanded his gold empire, bought 28 percent of the Amur company Petropavlovsk from billionaire Roman Trotsenko and became its largest shareholder.