The recently released Forbes Rich List has Russia ranked in third place in the world for most number of billionaires, behind the USA and Germany. But the combined $282 billion wealth of Russia’s 53 billionaires outstrips the collective fortune of their German counterparts. The highest ranked Russian is Roman Abramovich whose personal fortune of $18.7 billion places him at number 16, five places lower than last year.

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There are two types of people who will approach you and start talking to you in Russia: drunk men and homeless men. The two groups, of course, are frequently intermingled. They don't target you necessarily because you're a foreigner: they would talk to anyone. It's just that Russians have the sense not to indulge them. That said, some of the most interesting conversations I've had with Russians have been with the homeless. On my first trip to Russia I had encountered a well-educated homeless man who spoke excellent English, even though he had never been outside of the country. He explained that he had been an historian during Soviet times but since the collapse of Communism “no one needs historians anymore”. And so he drank and lived on the streets. But that one is probably too depressing to recount at length, so it will be more fun to write about the "bomzh" I met in Suzdal.

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