No multimillionaires in Moldova, Polish magazine says

Moldova had no entries in the ranking of the 100 richest businessmen in Central and Eastern Europe of the Polish weekly Wprost (Direct). Most of the multimillionaires are Russians, whose fortune accounts for almost three quarters of the total assets belonging to the richest people in Eastern Europe. The biggest surprise in the ranking is Roman Abramovich (22 billion dollars) who has been dethroned from the first spot, which he held for three years in a row, by Oleg Deripaska (30 billion dollars), Rusal Company’s owner. Deripaska managed to increase his wealth 2.3 times in a single year, while Chelsea owner added only 2.5 billion to what he had in 2006. The ranking of the 100 richest businessmen in Central and Eastern Europe includes 43 Russians, 24 Ukrainians, 15 Polish, 8 Romanians, by 3 Czechs, Serbians and Croatians, and a Bulgarian. Romania’s richest this year is Dinu Patriciu, followed by Gigi Becali, and Ion Tiriac. The wealth of the top-100 richest people in Central and Eastern Europe totalled 390.69 billion dollars in 2007 compared with 275.5 billion dollars in 2006. The number of billionaires rose to 72 from 54 in 2006. Wprost ranking is mainly based on the market value of the assets held.