“I think Baturina's case is a one-off,” Igor Terentyev, editor of Forbes.ru, told RT. “Yes, she earned a billion dollars. But that was 2009 – during the crisis. She sold some shares and most of the profit was used to pay off the company's debts.”

However, even if Elena Baturina was not included in the list, Luzhkov, with his 8 million rubles per year, would still be on top of the list, including on the world scale. His income is bigger than the salaries of London and New York mayors put together; the latter’s income is only one dollar per year, though – as he is already a multimillionaire and does not want any payment.

Overall, the list is dominated by members of the Russian President’s party, United Russia: they occupy 60 percent of the places.

The best place to work, as it turned out, is the Russian parliament: 29 officials from the list work there, and another 19 are employed by the Federal Council.

As well, it is much more lucrative to work for the Prime Minister than for the President. Lev Yakobson, rector of the Higher School of Economics, believes that this is connected with Vladimir Putin’s being a tougher negotiator, as every year government employees’ payroll at each agency is scrutinized and the head of the department has to protect his workers.

On average, Putin’s officials are paid 88,500 rubles (about $3,000) per month, and Medvedev’s – 80,000. The lowest salary is in the ministry of Agriculture – 37,000 rubles.

The wives’ incomes are included in the list because, under Russia’s law it is illegal for state and federal officials to engage in any commercial activity – apart from writing books and giving lectures. So, to stay within the law, they transfer their assents to their spouses.