Amid attacks against Ukrainian cities and Russian troops entering the country, Ukraine’s billionaires have put aside their differences and lending their support to the government in Kyiv
Much of the attention of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been on the oligarchs and the sanctions that have been imposed on them by the United States and the European Union.
However, it’s not just the Russian oligarchs that the world should be looking at, but also the Ukrainian ones, who have in the face of this invasion, put aside their differences with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and come together to defend the country.
Interestingly, this offensive would be catastrophic for these super-rich Ukrainians.
We take a look at some of these uber-rich oligarchs, their ties with Zelenskyy and how the Russia-Ukraine conflict affects them.
Petro Poroshenko
Petro Poroshenko, an oligarch himself, served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019.
In 1993, Poroshenko created the UkrPromInvest Ukrainian Industry and Investment Company, which specialised in the confectionery and automotive industries {as well as in other agricultural processing later on}.
Between 1996 and 1998, UkrPromInvest acquired control over several state-owned confectionery enterprises which were combined into the Roshen group in 1996, creating the largest confectionery manufacturing operation in Ukraine. His success in the industry also earned him the name ‘Chocolate king’.
His empire also includes several car and bus factories, Kuznia na Rybalskomu shipyard, the 5 Kanal television channel.
Since losing office to Zelenskyy in 2019, Poroshenko has found himself facing a series of investigations and prosecutions. He dismisses the charges as politically motivated.
However, in the face of the Ukraine invasion, he set aside his differences with the government and met Zelenskyy.
Soon after, he was was spotted on the streets of central Kyiv with a Kalashnikov rifle, an interview with CNN revealed.
In an interview to FRANCE 24, he welcomed the “growing” Western support for his country, as well as the EU’s decision to provide some EUR450 million in weapons to the Ukrainian military. He thanked EU leaders for their support, saying “we are not afraid of Putin” and “Putin is weak when we are together”.
Rinat Akhmetov
Rinat Akhmetov, the founder and president of System Capital Management, is the country’s richest man.
The Donetsk-born billionaire announced a $1-billon investment in Metinvest’s steel facilities and committed to the development of Ukraine’s private sector technical university, Metinvest Polytechnic, to be built in Mariupol.
“We believe in Mariupol, we believe in Ukraine,” Akhmetov was quoted as saying.
Forbes reports that Akhmetov may have a lot to gain from Ukraine deepening its realignment towards the West and away from Russia, especially in the realm of renewables.
Emily Channell-Justice, director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute told Forbes in the same report, “He’s really targeting European markets in a number of different ways, so his economic concerns are certainly lined up with Ukraine’s security interests.”
Vadim Novinsky
Vadim Novinsky owns Ukraine’s Smart Holding Group, which has a 24 per cent stake in Rinat Akhmetov’s iron ore producer Metinvest, Image courtesy: Vadim Novinsky/Facebook
Vadim Novinsky owns Ukraine’s Smart Holding Group, which has a 24 per cent stake in Rinat Akhmetov’s iron ore producer Metinvest.
Novinsky started working in Ukraine in the mid-1990s with oil producer Lukoil, then began buying Ukrainian metallurgy companies.
Novinsky is one of the most pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine. In fact, on 21 February he had presented a draft resolution to the parliament which proposed negotiations with Russia to de-escalate the crisis.
Earlier, the billionaire had scoffed at the claims of a Russian takeover and in an interview to the Financial Times, he had called the reports ‘complete nonsense’.
However, Novinsky changed his tune once the offensive began {one can read his latest comments on Facebook} and in the last few days travelled to Mariupol to extend his support to the locals.
Victor Pinchuk
Victor Pinchuk, founder of EastOne Group LLC, an international investing, project funding and financial advisory company based in London, and of Interpipe Group, one of Ukraine’s leading pipe, wheel and steel producers, has been a member of parliament from from 1998 to 2006.
At a lunch hosted by the Ukrainian billionaire on 19 February at the Munich Security Conference, Pinchuk told the conference’s attendees that the citizens of Ukraine were prepared to fight the war, although they believe it would not happen. “We count on Europe and the West’s strong and full support. We hope you feel your responsibility,” Pinchuk said.
Pinchuk has also been working behind the scenes to drum up support for Ukraine in the West.
Ihor Kolomoyskyy
File image of Ukrainian billionaire Igor Kolomoyskyy speaking the Ukrainian Football Federation session in Kyiv. AFP
Ihor Kolomoyskyy is rated as the second or third richest person in Ukraine {after Rinat Akhmetov and/or Viktor Pinchuk} since 2006.
An oil baron, he’s one of the first oligarchs to push Ukraine in a pro-European direction.
Many critics of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also tag him to be a puppet of Ihor Kolomoyskyy.
In May 2021, the US State Department had designated Kolomoyskyy as ineligible to enter the United States, accusing him of involvement in significant corruption and fraud during his time in office — he had served as the governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Oligarch wealth in Ukraine
In 2021, Ukraine’s 100 richest billionaires and millionaires had amassed a collective wealth worth $47.4 billion. This figure is the highest since 2014 when Russia’s war against Ukraine started, although it still falls short of pre-war 2013 when this cohort was estimated at a total of $67 billion. The record number of $83.7 billion was recorded in 2011.
Timothy Ash, a strategist for Bluebay Asset Management in a BBC report was quoted as saying, “Nowhere in Emerging Europe, where countries have adopted the Westernising approach, are oligarchs as dominant as in Ukraine. Sure, you have a few, but they do not absolutely dominate the economy as in Ukraine.”
The oligarchs are concerned that Putin’s offensive will put their wealth at risk and hence, have been lobbying for West support. Moreover, they are aware that if Ukraine falls to Russia, they won’t yield the power they do as of now and that their positions in society will be severely compromised.
With inputs from agencies
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