Russia’s Zuckerberg, 27, folds notes into paper aeroplanes and spends weekend throwing them from his window (until people were acting ‘like animals’)

Russia’s Zuckerberg, 27, folds notes into paper aeroplanes and spends weekend throwing them from his window (until people were acting ‘like animals’) - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may have recently lost billions of dollars but it seems his less well-known Russian counterpart is also keen to throw his money away.

Millionaire Pavel Durov - founder of Russia's most popular social network VKontakte - was pictured throwing paper planes made out of 5,000-rouble notes - the equivalent to £102 - from his office window.

Unsurprisingly, a large crowd soon emerged below the social networking site's central office in St. Petersburg.

Bizarre: Millionaire Pavel Durov - founder of Russia's most popular social network VKontakte - pictured, right, throwing paper planes made out of 5,000-rouble notes - the equivalent to £102 - from his office window

Fun: The 27-year-old appeared to enjoy watching the reaction of the crowd below

The 27-year-old's colleagues took great joy in watching the reaction of the crowd below.

However, the initially harmless incident soon took a sinister turn.

As more people realised what was happening, a big street brawl broke out over the free money.

According to RT, one witness said: 'People turned into dogs as they were literally attacking the notes.  

They broke each others noses, climbed the traffic lights with their prey – just like monkeys.'

It is believed that Mr Durov sent down a total of £1281.

He later explained that he wanted to create a festive atmosphere in the city, which was marking City Day that weekend.

Stunt: Colleagues of Mr Durov also joined in by throwing money down to the vast crowd

Interest: A large crowd soon emerged below the social networking site's central office in St. Petersburg

'We had to stop soon, though, as people turned into animals,' he said on Twitter, adding that more similar stunts would follow.

However, not everybody was happy with the young millionaire's actions.

Russian bloggers fiercely criticised the stunt as crazy and provocative.

One web author wrote that it was cruel to throw away large sums of money and watch how other people behaved.

Violent: As more people realised what was happening, a big street brawl broke out for the free money

Mr Durov created and owns Vkontakte - which translates to In Contact. It has about 120 million users.

It is one of the best known social networking sites in Russia and his fortune is estimated at 7.9 billion rubles, the equivalent to £156.2m.

Entrepreneur: Pavel Durov, pictured, created and owns Vkontakte - which translates to In Contact

The entrepreneur has also recently published his political manifesto which suggests ways of turning Russia into a prosperous country.

This included getting rid of the rouble and allowing foreigners to rent Russian land so they can create mini-states.

He describes himself as single, libertarian and pastafarian - a bizarre religion. He also says that he is inspired by Che Guevara and Steve Jobs.

Mr Durov was born in Leningrad in October 1984. His father Doctor Valery Semenovich Durov is one of Russia's most highly respected philologists and has written a number of academic studies and works at St Petersburg State University.

His son launched the VKontakte for testing in September 2006 when he graduated from the same university.

Its growth broke all Russian internet records and today it is the most popular social network in Russian, Belarus and Ukraine.

It has more than 150 million users and 33 million daily visitors.

Mark Zuckerberg recently saw Facebook lose billions of dollars off its initial listing price following its floatation onto the stock market. ( dailymail.co.uk )