Moscow, Feb 16 (AFP/APP):Russia’s richest man Vladimir Potanin has set a new wealth record despite his mining giant Norilsk Nickel being slapped this month with a $2 billion fine over an Arctic fuel spill.
Potanin’s fortune has crossed the $30 billion threshold, Forbes reported, in a new record for a Russian business owner. Shares in the company, also known as Nornickel, have risen by some 40 percent over the past year as a result of a sharp increase in prices of non-ferrous metals such as nickel and palladium. The Russian company is the world’s largest producer of palladium and one of the largest of nickel. Nickel in particular is used in electric vehicles, which are facing growing demand worldwide. Potanin holds a near 35 percent stake in Nornickel.
Its value has grown despite a court order on February 5 for the company to pay a 146.2 billion ruble ($1.99 billion) fine over a fuel spill last May. More than 20,000 tonnes of diesel leaked into lakes and rivers in the Russian Arctic after a fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant owned by the company.
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