Government incomes: Abyzov pulls into first place in 2015

MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) – Open Government Affairs Minister Mikhail Abyzov, the only member of the government on the Forbes list of billionaires, pulled ahead of other members of the government in terms of income last year, thanks to a near doubling of his own earnings and a decline for his main competitor, Alexander Khloponin.

Abyzov and his wife had 456 million rubles in income last year, up from 230 million rubles in 2014, according to the income and property declarations public officials are required to make.

“All the assets have been transferred into trust management in accordance with Russian law. Income was received from the sale of stock, obligations and property and earnings from asset management,” Abyzov, the founder of the E4 engineering group, told journalists on Friday.

Abyzov noted that he paid over 50 million rubles in taxes on his 2015 income.

Khloponin, the former head of Norilsk Nickel (MOEX: GMKN) and the income leader in 2014 (with 290 million rubles), saw his earnings plummet to 67.3 million rubles in 2015.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who has held the top spot on the list in previous years, was able to make amends in 2015 for a dip in income in 2014 (to just over 50 million rubles) that dropped him out of the top five. His income rebounded to 97.2 million rubles in 2015 (mainly income from the blind trust that manages Shuvalov’s assets) and his wife had 92.5 million rubles in earnings.

Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev and his wife had 154.5 million rubles in income last year, down from roughly 180 million rubles in 2014.

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich declared income of just 6.9 million rubles in 2015. But his wife, Polymetal (MOEX: POLY) Deputy CEO Zumrud Rustamov, had 141 million rubles in income, up from 50 million rubles in 2014.

Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov and his wife boosted their joint income to 150 million rubles in 2015, up from 120.4 million rubles in 2014.

The change in leadership at the Agriculture Ministry raised the government average: former minister Nikolai Fyodorov had annual income below 5 million rubles. The man who replaced him, Alexander Tkachev, declared income of 50.5 million rubles in 2015.

Economic Development Ministry Alexei Ulyukayev saw his income rise to 60 million rubles last year from 43.3 million rubles in 2014 (or 75 million rubles together with his wife, up from 51.4 million rubles). Finance Minister Anton Siluanov earned 36.4 million rubles in 2014 (38 million rubles together with his wife). That figure fell to 34.4 million rubles in 2015 (no data concerning his wife). Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikiforov had 5.8 million rubles in earnings last year, compared to 28.6 million rubles for his wife, while Energy Minister Alexander Novak turned the tables on his wife last year: Novak declared income of 17.2 million rubles in 2015, up from 16.5 million rubles in 2014, compared with 2.3 million rubles for his wife, down from 25 million rubles.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi each had 6.2 million rubles in earnings last year.

The list of privately owned vehicles was little changed in 2015 from a year earlier: imported executive models continued to predominate. Notable changes included Industry and Trade Minister Manturov’s acquisition of a classic Moskvich-412. The number of motorcycles in Finance Minister Siluanov’s garage fell from three to two: a Harley-Davidson and a BMW. Sokolov, the transport minister, and Tkachev, the agriculture minister, got by without their own cars.