KAZAN, Tatarstan -- Financial officials in Tatarstan say the number of billionaires in their Russian republic has decreased from six in 2007 to just one last year, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports.
The lone billionaire, whose identity was not given by officials, reportedly paid 253 million rubles ($8 million) in taxes.
Experts blame the decrease on economic crisis, although they say that there are likely more billionaires in the republic than the official statistics show, since many wealthy people do not declare their actual incomes.