Once the lot of women were three K - "kinder, kyche, kirche" (children, kitchen, church, in the words of the last German emperor Wilhelm II). Fortunately, times are changing and modern women can successfully compete with men in business and earn enough for husbands to do the housework.
We present to you the top 10 richest women in Russia in 2017 according to Forbes.
10. Irina Abramovich
Activity area: private investor.
Income: $ 300 million.
You can, of course, say "oh, this is the ex-wife of Roman Abramovich, that's where the money comes from." But the couple broke up ten years ago, and Irina is still one of the richest Russian women. She spends most of her time on an estate in the English county of Hampshire, where there is a stable with well-trained riding horses. Each of the thoroughbred four-legged handsome men costs about 400 thousand dollars.
And Lady Abramovich is an avid shopaholic and a regular at the best London boutiques. In addition to shopping, she often visits the Royal Opera, is fond of collecting paintings by Russian masters and communicates with many celebrities, for example, the Hong Kong oligarch David Tang and Sir Elton John.
9. Marina Sedykh
Position held: CEO of INK.
Income: 350 million dollars.
The 57-year-old business woman has held her post of head of the Irkutsk Oil Company (INK) since 2000. Under her leadership, INK has earned a number of awards and prizes, including the international Business Triumph award and the title of Best Independent Oil Company in Eastern Europe from the reputable financial publication World Finance
In addition to the main position, Sedykh is also a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the region and charitable activities are not alien to her. She paid for the production of a bronze bust of the hero of Russia, senior lieutenant Andrei Sherstyannikov, who died in 2000 in a battle with militants in the Argun gorge. In 2016, the Ministry of Culture awarded Sedykh with the diploma "Patron of the Year".
8. Natalia Lutsenko
Occupation: co-owner of Sodruzhestvo Group of Companies.
Income: 400 million dollars.
Selling feeds and additives to animal feed - this is how Natalia and her husband Alexander began their journey into the world of big business. After a successful start, Sodruzhestvo began to buy up enterprises operating in the food industry. Then a number of Ukrainian and Russian poultry factories and a Danish plant producing protein and vitamin supplements were added to the list of acquisitions.
Currently Sodruzhestvo is the main Russian supplier of GMO and non-GMO soybeans and a producer of lecithin, rapeseed and soybean oils. In 2012, the Japanese company Mitsui & Co became one of the shareholders of the Commonwealth (ten percent of the shares were bought by it for $ 2.2 billion). Sodruzhestvo factories are located not only in Russia, but also in Denmark and Brazil.
7. Tatiana Kuznetsova
Activity area: Member of the Management Board of PJSC Novatek.
Income: 400 million dollars.
A new face in the ranking of the richest women in Russia in 2017.Kuznetsova owns 0.2% of shares in the Russian gas company Novatek, which is one of the ten world leaders in terms of proven natural gas reserves and gas production.
Tatiana Kuznetsova is not only the second most important person on the board of Novatek, but also heads the legal department of this PJSC.
6. Evgeniya Gurieva
What it does: her husband's charitable foundation.
Income: 400 million dollars.
The wife of billionaire Andrei Guryev owns a stake in PhosAgro, the largest domestic and European supplier of phosphorus-containing fertilizers. Evgenia's husband is the second person on the board of directors of PhosAgro, and the head of the enterprise is the son of the Guriev couple. His name is Andrey, like his father.
The daughter of Evgenia and Andrei, Yulia, together with her mother, participates in the work of a charitable foundation that provides support to low-income citizens, family members of persons who died from terrorist attacks and WWII veterans, helps the social rehabilitation of the unemployed, orphans, disabled people and other categories of the population, for which or for reasons unable to independently exercise their rights.
5. Tatiana Bakalchuk
Activity area: CEO of Wildberries.
Income: 420 million dollars.
In 2004, Tatyana (at that time an English tutor) had a child. This made the young woman look for new sources of income. With the support of her husband Vladislav, she initially offered clients clothes and shoes from the German catalogs Otto and Quelle. Moreover, the apartment of the Bakalchuk spouses served as a warehouse for goods. Things went so well that in 2005 the Wildberries company appeared, which is currently one of the largest online stores in Russia. There you can buy a variety of things, from clothes and shoes to books, toys and jewelry.
Last year, Tatiana was the third most successful business woman on the Forbes list, but since then her income has dropped by $ 80 million.
4. Olga Belyavtseva
Activity area: Member of the Board of Progress Capital.
Income: 450 million dollars.
In the nineties, Belyavtseva, together with Nikolai Bortsov, director of the cannery at the Ministry of Fruit and Vegetable Farm, created the Lebedyansky concern. It became one of the largest Russian juice producers. It was at this enterprise that such brands as "FrutoNyanya", "Tonus", "Ya", "Fruit Garden" were made.
Over a ten-year period, from 1998 to 2008, Lebedyansky's turnover increased from $ 18 million to $ 800 million, along with the market share growing - from 4% to 30%.
In 2008, PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Group became the majority shareholders of Lebedyansky. Thanks to this deal, Belyavtseva became richer by $ 330 million.
The deal did not include the Progress enterprise (it was wholly owned by Lebedyansky) and the father and son of the Bortsovs and Belyavtsev remained its main shareholders. This enterprise produces a popular line of products under the brands "FrutoNyanya", "Malysham" and "Lipetsk pump room".
In 2016, Belyavtseva entered into an agreement with Mondi Group to sell her Bipak LLC, which produces corrugated board and packaging for food and agricultural products. The amount of this transaction amounted to 2.8 billion rubles.
Since 2016, Olga Belyavtseva's position in the list of the richest women from Russia has not changed.
3. Natalia Fileva
Activity area: manages the C7 Group of Companies
Income: 600 million dollars.
Fileva's main business is a private Russian air carrier S7... The group of airlines owned by the Filev family includes Globus and Siberia - the second after Aeroflot in terms of air traffic in Russia (as of 2016). Moreover, Natalia controls most of the shares of Siberia, thanks to which in 2006 she was able to get into the rating of the most successful women in Russia according to Forbes and has not left it since then.
Together with her father and mother, daughter Tatyana also participates in the family endeavor. Under her patronage, an unusual marketing project was launched: the first music video in zero gravity. It was filmed by Chicago-based alternative rock group OK Go and S7 Airlines.
2.Elena Rybolovleva
Activity area: private investor.
Income: 600 million dollars.
In the 80s, Elena and Dmitry Rybolovlev, then not yet millionaires, but beginning entrepreneurs, created a clinic that provides magnetotherapy services. They invested the money they earned in industrial enterprises. The head of the family became a co-owner of Uralkali and acquired a number of stakes in various companies, including Silvinit, Azot and Solikamskbumprom.
In 2001, the Rybolovlev couple moved to Switzerland, but their marriage lasted only until 2008. The spouses did not sign a marriage contract, and for a very long time they shared their wealth. Only in 2015, they came to a settlement agreement, according to which Elena got $ 604 million and real estate in Switzerland.
The divorce made Rybolovlev one of the richest brides in Russia. As in 2016, she got the honorable second line in the selection of the most money-worthy Russian business women.
1. Elena Baturina
Activity area: Head of Inteco Management.
Income: 1 billion dollars.
One of the richest women in the world and the permanent leader of the top 10 Russian millionaires for 12 years in a row. In addition to the Inteko corporation, Baturina owns shares in Gazprom and Sberbank. She also owns an international hotel chain.
According to Forbes magazine, Baturina is the only independent self-made business woman who has created her own business in the construction industry. She is also the only billionaire among the richest entrepreneurs in Russia.
Even Elena Baturina managed to turn her hobby for equestrian sports into a profitable business. She owns the Weedern stud farm, founded in the 18th century. It breeds horses of the Hanoverian, Holstein and Trakehner breeds.
This bright and strong woman is living proof that even a girl from a working-class family (Baturina's mother and father worked at the Frezer plant, and not in leadership positions) can achieve great success in life. And not thanks to her millionaire husband (Yuri Luzhkov met Elena before he was the mayor of the capital), but only to his own mind and business acumen.