Among the 200 richest people in Russia, three Georgian names appear. Russian Forbes makes the list of the country’s richest people every year, and in 2019, Aleksandre Japharidze, Davit Iakobashvili and Vyacheslav Mirilashvili have appeared on this list.
Aleksandre Japharidze is the only Georgian besides Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made it to the American Forbes’ richest people’s list. He is number 2057 with his net worth estimated at $1 Billion. Japharidze is the founder of ‘Petroalliance’ company which he had sold in the past. In 2004 Japharidze purchased the Lukoil’s subsidiary company for $130 Million and founded Eurasia Drilling Company on its base. In 2017 51% of this company was purchased by Schlumberger. Japharidze, in 2013, possessed $2.3 Billion; throughout the years his wealth has decreased and Forbes estimated his assets in this year’s ranking at 1 Billion US dollars. With this amount of money, Japharidze among the 200 richest people in Russia, holds the 61st position. In comparison with American Forbes, the Russian publication had estimated his assets at $1.6 Billion.
Among the richest people of Russia, Davit Iakobashvili is on the 132nd position. The publication has estimated his assets at $800 Million. Iakobashvili is one of the founders of a large company of Russian milk, juice and beverage, ‘Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods’ (WBD). The company was sold in 2010 to the PepsiCo. Iakobashvili owned 10.5% of its share, so after the agreement, he was left with $600 Million. As stated in an interview, his investments in Georgia throughout the years counts a couple of hundred million dollars. In 2014, Iakobashvili was named on the Forbes’ billionaires list with assets of $1.2 Billion USD.
There is one more Georgian name appearing in Russia’s richest people’s list – Vyacheslav Mirilashvili. With $950 Million, he holds the 113th position. The young businessman, originally from Georgia, has gained his wealth by founding ‘ВКонтакте’. Unlike Iakobashvili and Japharidze, Vyacheslav has never lived in Georgia. His father’s name is related to the large gambling companies. It’s been several years since he’s an Israeli citizen. In 2018 Forbes has estimated the wealth of this family at $1.8 Billion. As a result, the Mirilashvili family is number 20 among the Israeli’s richest people.
