Russia’s Richest Man Showing Strength And Leadership While Confidence In Putin Falls
Russia’s richest man, Vladimir Potanin, has announced plans to push on at metal and mining giant Norilsk Nickel as Russia’s response to the coronavirus pandemic slowly gathers pace.
The oligarch entrepreneur is not only protecting his own business and its employees, but also standing out by supporting deliveries of food and medicine for those in need. Meanwhile Russian citizens’ trust in the country’s political leadership has sunk to a 14-year low.
Potanin, who owns just over a third of nickel and palladium producer Norilsk Nickel and has an estimated net worth of $24.2 billion, according to Forbes, said in a statement that his employees working from home will remain on full pay. Those deemed “essential workers” at Norilsk Nickel are being paid bonuses over and above their regular compensation.
Potanin has been one of the most visible of Russia’s billionaires in his efforts to support Russia through the pandemic. In late March his foundation gave around $13.1 million (RUB 1 billion) to support nonprofits, while Norilsk Nickel has pledged $142 million (RUB 10.5 billion) to fund the purchase of medical equipment, medicine and PPE for healthcare institutions.
Norilsk Nickel described in a statement the launch of community initiatives “aimed at supporting some 74,000 workers and the social well-being in the cities of its operations: volunteer teams have been formed to participate in the ‘Rush to the Rescue’ drive to deliver food, medicine and other essential supplies to those in need.”
Russia’s leading industrialist is doing his best to keep his business going during a period of increased uncertainty, marking a stark contrast between an entrepreneur on the front-foot and an increasingly flat-footed Russian president.
However, Potanin will again be sure not to use his financial and industrial might to leverage political power, despite having been deputy prime minister for six months in 1996. The oligarch is well known alongside Mikhail Fridman as being one of two oligarchs to better navigate the change from President Boris Yeltsin to Putin. Other oligarchs, namely Mikhail Khordorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky, did not remain in Putin’s favor. Potanin told the Financial Times in 2018, “Why did we survive, Fridman and myself? Maybe because we never tried to dictate to the government, to the Kremlin.” Adding, “I am a normal human being; everyone is attracted to power. But this time as deputy prime minister, while I enjoyed it, was a vaccination against power . . . I understood that you can never convert your business power into political power. If you try, you will die.”
New Data, Fresh Questions
In Russia, trust in President Vladimir Putin has sunk to a 14-year low, according to survey data from the government-backed VTsIOM, known in English as the Russian Public Opinion Research Center.
Just 28.3% of Russians surveyed by VTsIOM across March chose Vladimir Putin when asked to name a politician whom they trust. The current trust levels are the lowest since the pollster began asking the question in January 2006.
Putin has been criticised for his slow response to the pandemic. Russia has failed to secure medical equipment, jobs and public confidence despite being weeks behind the creeping crisis as it steadily moved through central European nations like Italy and Spain.
In early April Putin was quick to score soft-power publicity points, sending a Russian An-124 cargo plane to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport carrying a shipment of much needed ventilators and personal protective equipment, as the U.S. state braced for an escalation of coronavirus hospital admissions.
By mid April, Putin’s confidence had waned. “We have a lot of problems,” Putin said during a televised videoconference with government officials leading Russia’s efforts to tackle the disease. “There is nothing to boast about, and we must not let our guard down, because in general, as you and your specialists say, we have not passed the peak of the epidemic yet.”
