A billion dollars just ain't what it used to be -- to make the cut on Forbes Russia's new top 100 a cool $1.1 billion is required.

In the rich list, published Friday, the number of Russian billionaires shot up to 110, from 87 since Forbes' U.S. edition published its global rich list a month ago.

Surging commodity and property prices helped push the combined fortunes of the top 100 up 54 percent to $522 billion, or more than one-third of the country's economy, from $338 billion in March 2007, Forbes said.

And unlike in the days when Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other oil barons dominated, now those who made their fortunes from metals and mining make up one-fifth of the top 100.

Topping the Russia list this year is aluminum king Oleg Deripaska, the majority owner of United Company RusAl, whose fortune -- including infrastructure, energy and financial assets -- is estimated at $28.6 billion, $11.8 billion more than a year ago.

Longtime leader Roman Abramovich, with $24.3 billion, was pushed into third place by Severstal owner Alexei Mordashov, whose fortune rose to $24.5 billion on the back of rising steel prices.

Another metals magnate, Novolipetsk Steel owner Vladimir Lisin, is fourth with $23.9 billion, while Norilsk Nickel co-owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin hold fifth and sixth positions, respectively. More leading positions went to metals and mining tycoons: Polymetal owner Suleiman Kerimov was eighth, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works chairman Viktor Rashnikov came in 11th and Igor Zyuzin, whose Mechel has benefited from record coal prices was 12th.

"The whole list is full of surprises," said Maxim Kashulinsky, the editor of Forbes' Russian edition, who added that similar jumps in market valuations for Russian companies were responsible for the difference between the two lists.

"For the global report, we used conservative estimates for many companies because we did not know their financial reports for 2007," Kashulinsky said. "For the [Russia] list, we relied on companies' declared financial performances and they were bigger than we anticipated."

(The Moscow Times, by Tai Adelaja, 21 April 2008)