Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

The Russians Think of Everything! | You thought seeing the occasional white Hummer limo (with blue LED lights on the outside and teenagers from New Jersey on the inside) was an eyesore? Just be thankful that this Russian-made grenade-proof SUV adorned with white gold, diamonds and rubies and upholstered with "whale penis leather" (?) hasn't hit the streets of NYC yet. Although if someone is actually producing such a vehicle—and actually expects to find buyers for it—we're going to look on the bright side and take this as further evidence that the economy really has rebounded. [Luxist]

Russian Oligarchs To Bring NYC Money, 'New Perspectives' | Some people have been a little troubled by the news a shady Russian billionaire is now buying up a local sports franchise (the Nets), as well as part of the arena that will eventually be the team's new home in Brooklyn. But not Jamie Johnson. The pharmaceutical heir and filmmaker thinks it's, like, the greatest news ever: More

Russian Billionaire Buys Nets, Part of Brooklyn | It's official. The richest man in Russia, Mikhail Prokhorov, has taken control of the New Jersey Nets. The 44-year-old oligarch, who is worth $9.5 billion according to Forbes, signed a $200 million deal today with real estate developer/Nets owner Bruce Ratner that will make him the principal owner of the team, as well as a major investor in the Nets' long-delayed new home in Brooklyn. This makes Prokhorov the first foreign owner of an NBA team who isn't Canadian, and the "the only NBA owner who can dunk," according to Prokhorov. And the tri-state area now has its very own Mark Cuban, clearly. [NYT]

The Recession Bypasses Sardinia | A "luxury fair" designed to appeal to the world's richest people took place in Sardinia this past weekend. But if you were thinking the economic downturn would have put a damper on things, well, think again. Thirty bottles of "Exousia Gold Luxury Water," which is describede as a "gold petal designer label mineral water" and costs $2,800 a pop, were sold over the course of two evenings. And the water still isn't good enough to drink as is, apparently. "A spokeswoman for Exousia said sales were mainly to Russians, who 'like to use it to make tea.'" [DJ/Wealth Bulletin]

With all the depressing talk about the stock market (the Dow fell close to 200 points today), and struggling banks (Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons said today he had no idea when the bank would be able to pay back the $45 billion it's borrowed), it's nice to see that some people are still spending recklessly and entertaining the rest of us in the process. Despite the fact he's lost an estimated $20 billion amid the economic meltdown, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's latest toy —the world's largest and most expensive privately-owned yacht—made an appearance late last week.More

Champagne Wishes, Vodka Induced Nightmares | One unmistakable sign that Russia is truly in the doldrums as it suffers the effects of the financial crisis? No, not the fact that Moscow had 74 billionaires a year ago, whereas now it just has 27. Russians accustomed to drinking champagne have been forced to turn (back) to vodka! [Bloomberg]

The Retreat From Moscow | The image of Russia's rich elite has come so far: They're no longer regarded by the rest of the world as hopelessly ostentatious and flashy, thanks in large part to Dasha Zhukova's stylish ambassadorship and Russian Vogue editor Aliona Doletskaya's announcement that "full-on extravagance, the red lipstick, the diamonds, the furs—all that is passé." Even the new magazine Snob, whose title implies an ironic self-awareness, has helped rehabilitate the spendy, blinged-out stereotype. How sad, then, that Russian Marie Claire's editor Olga Zaretskaya has wrecked everything with one thoughtless comment! More

It's a Bad News Day at Forbes | Forbes has busy been laying off staff today. But the magazine is facing other problems, too. Billionaire Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev now says he plans to sue the mag for reducing his net worth on its recent list of the world's richest people. "Forbes magazine claimed that I lost $2.5 billion in the global financial crisis," he told the Russian news agency, Interfax. "That's absurd. I will demand compensation of material and moral damage caused by this defamation." [Guardian]

The cruel blows of the recession have made a certain elite group even more elite: There are now only 49 Russian billionaires, half as many as there were a year ago, according to the annual ranking of Russia's wealthiest published today by Finans magazine. Last year's number one, aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska, tumbled to number eight after losing $35 billion, and was replaced in the top spot by Mikhail Prokhorov, the nickel mogul (and  Snob magazine backer), who is reportedly worth $14.1 billion. Roman Abramovich, despite seeing $9 billion disappear in the past year, still comes in at number two with an estimated net worth of $13.9 billion. He was also voted Russia's most interesting billionaire, an honor he clearly owes to his fiancée, everyone's favorite art patron Dasha Zhukova.

The financial crisis isn't just spoiling Dasha Zhukova's dreams of a lavish wedding. The girlfriend of billionaire Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich now has to contend with the fact that she may not be able to sunbathe aboard the world's largest yacht next summer. Abramovich is thinking about backing out of a deal to buy a $355 million boat named the Eclipse, which, if it's ever finished, would be the largest yacht ever constructed. (Abramovich had planned to equip the 530-foot vessel with three helipads and its own submarine.) One possible contingency plan? Drop Roman and get together with Ron Perelman. He's still going ahead with plans to build a giant, new boat and it will be finished this spring, just in time for the summer season. [Luxist]

Kira Officially Kaput | A couple of weeks ago, teen fashion designer (and Russian heiress) Kira Plastinina announced plans to close "most" of her US-based locations, including the hot-pink branch here in NYC. Today we learn it really is the end of the line: After burning through $80 million of the dairy mogul's cash, the company filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. But we're pretty sure it's the first time that Bloomberg News has reported on a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing with a quote from a MySpace page. [Bloomberg]

• That was quick. After making a splashy debut in NYC back in May (and after paying Nicole Richie to come to Moscow two weeks ago), 16-year-old Russian heiress/designer Kira Plastinina now says she plans to close most of her 12 locations in the U.S. [FWD]
• In related news, retail sales in Russia are reportedly down 30 to 40 percent. [WWD]
• Coco Rocha's new look. [Fashionologie]
• More on Betsey Johnson's "smaller, friendlier" plans for Fashion Week. [WSJ]
• Sadly, this week is likely the last for Bill Blass. [NYT]
• Kate Moss has re-signed with Topshop for another three years. [Telegraph]

With the economic crisis putting the squeeze on nearly everyone and with fashion retailers dropping like flies, it's a tough time to be a young designer. So we're glad that Russia Today thought to check in with clothing empress Kira Plastinina—whose latest line was unveiled in Moscow last week—and even gladder that the 16-year-old heiress isn't stressing about her business. "The collection is not expensive, it is affordable," she says. "And I think it is important that fashion is affordable to all girls." We agree, and as for the common assumption that her success is thanks to her juice and dairy magnate father Sergei Plastinin, well, nothing could be further from the truth: "People who know me, my friends and my family, know that I work really hard." And if such hard work is rewarded by, say, Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie being paid millions to sit front row at Kira's runway show, what's wrong with that?

Russia's Biggest Losers | Think American moguls are panicking as they see their fortunes vanish into thin air? The situation is even worse in Russia, where the country's oligarchs have collectively lost an estimated $230 billion over the past six months. (Roman Abramovich, left, has seen his net worth plunge by $20 billion.) The Business Sheet has the full rundown of Russia's biggest losers here. [BusinessSheet]

This week's Miami Art Basel, the world's most important art fair and normally a scene of champagne-soaked excess as wealthy art lovers convene to outdo each other on spending tens of millions on star artists, has a gloomy cloud over it as the art market experiences a dramatic dive. The hedge funders probably won't be snapping things up—even those who haven't been crushed in recent months are likely to deem big spending unseemly—while buyers from the emerging markets like India, the Middle East and China, who had recently swelled the ranks of serious collectors, won't be making an appearance. More