The number of Russian billionaires had dropped to 49 as the financial crisis destroyed the fortunes of bankers, retailers and developers, Russian magazine Finans said on Friday.
Last year Russia trailed only the US as a home for the megarich, as record oil and metals prices fuelled a decade-long economic rise.
But a collapse in commodity and stock prices, a 35 percent devaluation of the rouble and high inflation have made Russian billionaires more scarce now than in 2007 and 2006, when the magazine counted 61 and 50, respectively.
Finans said the list would be published today, noting that the main losers included developers Sergei Polonsky of Mirax, as well as Kirill Pisarev and Yury Zhukov of PIK Group.
Also dropping off the list are banker Ruben Vardanyan, the joint owner of brokerage Troika Dialog, Vyacheslav Kantor of fertiliser firm Acron, and Alexander Mamut, who owns part of gold and silver mining company Polymetal.
Finans publishes its list two months ahead of the benchmark US Forbes Russia list.
Last year it was the first to put metals magnate Oleg Deripaska on top, with $40 billion, (about R397.4 billion) ahead of Roman Abramovich. Deripaska also topped the Forbes list.
Deripaska's empire, which spreads from aluminium to construction, now faces major challenges as the Kremlin-friendly businessman struggles to refinance debts.
He has lost assets in Canada and Germany, which he put up as collateral on bank debts.
Deripaska himself had long argued that calculations of his fortune were wrong as they did not count his debts, which were estimated - though not confirmed by Deripaska - at more than $20 billion.
Few expect Deripaska to top any rich list this year, but it can fall to his partner in aluminium major Rusal, Mikhail Prokhorov, who featured in last year's top 10, but sold most of his assets in the middle of last year. He has since preserved the bulk of his wealth in cash.
Last year, Finans listed Abramovich second behind Deripaska, with $23 billion. Oil tycoon Mikhail Fridman and steel baron Vladimir Lisin shared third place, with $22.2 billion each, and steel tycoon Alexei Mordashov came fifth, with $22.1 billion.
Fridman's Alfa Group received state help to save its stake in cellular firm Vimpelcom. His empire had also been hit by lower oil prices, while a slump in steel prices had cut the value of the firms owned by Mordashov and Lisin.
Abramovich had seen fewer troubles, as he was among the earliest Russians to cash out of big industrial assets. - Reuters