Nikolay Bortsov, one of the State Duma’s richest deputies, has died

Nikolay Bortsov, a State Duma deputy with the United Russia party, has died at the age of 77, reports Lipetsk governor Igor Artamanov.

Bortsov died at home in Lebedyan, in the Lipetsk region, and will be buried in Moscow, says the Lipetsk branch of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.

Nikolay Bortsov served as a State Duma deputy since 2003 and worked at five convocations of the Russian parliament. He was a member of the Duma Committee on Issues of Nationalities.

Bortsov was on Forbes’ list of the richest Russian nationals. In 2021, the magazine estimated his worth at $550 million. Bortsov’s capital mainly derived from the funds he received after he and his partners sold PepsiCo a 75.5 percent stake in the Lebeyansky fruit juice plant, which produces several well-known Russian juice brands.

In 2021, Forbes included Bortsov in a ranking of 100 government employees with the highest incomes. At that point, his income was estimated at more than 800 million rubles ($9.8 million) a year.

Nikolay Bortsov was sanctioned by the U.S. and other Western countries because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine sentenced Bortsov and several other State Duma deputies in absentia to 15 years in prison for recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics.”

Elections to fill Bortsov’s seat will be held in September, says the Central Election Commission of Russia.