Outing the Oligarchy - International Forum on Globalization

— INDIVIDUALS OF UNDUE INFLUENCE —
VIKTOR RASHNIKOV, RUSSIA
$9.8 BILLION [$11.2 BILLION AS OF MARCH 2011]
Wealth: Victor Rashnikov owns nearly 100 percent of shares of iron and steel producer Magnitogorsk Iron
and Steel (MMK) worth $1 billion. 87 Rashnikov invests in real estate including <strong>the</strong> construction of Moscow’s
21-story Rossiya Hotel (once <strong>the</strong> largest in <strong>the</strong> world) and <strong>the</strong> 47-floor Wedding Palace. He also owns a 50
percent stake in Moscow’s Russia Tower project (a partially built 2,000-foot-tall office building that would be
second tallest in world). Rashnikov owns shares in one of Russia’s biggest iron ore deposits and, in 2007, he
raised $1 billion by taking MMK public on <strong>the</strong> London Stock Exchange. 88
Power Networks: Elected three times to <strong>the</strong> regional legislature, Rashnikov is a staunch ally of Vladimir
Putin.
Environment: During a 2010 meeting he chaired on <strong>the</strong> steel industry in Chelyabinsk, Prime Minister Putin
touted Rashnikov and MMK as exemplary models for environmental friendliness 89 but <strong>the</strong> effects of MMK’s
steel manufacturing plants has condemned <strong>the</strong> children in <strong>the</strong> Chelyabinsk city of Magnitogorsk to a lifetime
of “breathing sulfur and eating lead.” 90 Magnitogorsk has been listed as one of <strong>the</strong> planet’s 30 most-polluted
cities in <strong>the</strong> 2007 Blacksmith Institute Report. 91 Local hospitals estimated that only 1% of children were in
good health and that it was rare to give birth to a healthy baby. In 1992, only 28% of Magnitogorsk’s babies
were born healthy and only 27% had healthy mo<strong>the</strong>rs. Doctors reported a high incidence of lung diseases,
including lung cancer, bronchitis and asthma while <strong>the</strong> Chelyabinsk Ministry of Environment has declared
Magnitigorsk an ecological disaster zone. While some cleanup efforts have been made in recent years, steel
production had increased significantly and smoke still envelopes <strong>the</strong> city. 92 MMK is not on <strong>the</strong> Dow Jones
Sustainability Index.
- 31 -