Kirsh said the Cold War could reemerge out of Russia’s incursion in Ukraine, and energy suppliers outside of Russia will benefit if sanctions are levied.

“It’s a different story with Putin,” Kirsh said. “South Africa doesn’t supply 30 percent of Europe’s oil and gas. There will be some people outside of Russia that will see a huge benefit. Some people who supply oil and gas for Russia will not believe how busy they will be.”

Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest person, has lost more than $550 million since Feb. 28. The 47-year-old billionaire, who owns Donetsk, Ukraine-based conglomerate System Capital Management Group, expanded his business with help from Yanukovych. Akhmetov’s DTEK Holdings BV was the only bidder in two of five auctions of state-owned energy assets, which were organized by the former president’s government.

‘Maintain Relations’

The billionaire no longer supports his longtime ally and has committed to rebuilding the government of Ukraine, according to a March 10 report in London’s Telegraph newspaper. Elena Dovzhenko, a spokeswoman for Ahkmetov, said the billionaire wasn’t immediately available to comment.

“He understands that the previous state of things is over,” Ihor Burakovsky, head of the Board of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting in Kiev, said by phone. “He will try to maintain relations with all the significant players in the country.”

Ahkmetov on March 9 met with Vitali Klitschko, leader of Ukraine’s UDAR party and a potential candidate for Ukraine’s presidency, to discuss the situation, according to a statement from UDAR.

“The use of force and lawless actions from outside are unacceptable,” the billionaire said in a separate statement on March 2. “I state with all due responsibility that SCM Group, which today employs 300,000 people and represents Ukraine from west to east and from north to south, will do everything possible to maintain the integrity of our country.”

State Assets

The 19 Russian billionaires on the Bloomberg ranking have businesses, homes and bank accounts scattered around the globe valued at more than $208 billion. Some of that wealth was accumulated through government ties that enabled them to acquire former state assets during privatization in the 1990s, transactions Putin called “unfair” in 2012. They have since moved control of the assets out of Russia and into the West.