Alexander Feldman
The Revolution of Dignity and its subsequent events led to significant changes within the Ukrainian business elite. The new political realities and economic upheavals of 2014–2020 did not spare even those whose prosperity had long seemed certain and guaranteed. For example, Kharkiv politician and businessman Oleksandr Feldman.
In the distant and rosy year of 2012, Focus magazine estimated his fortune at $375 million and ranked him a respectable 42nd in the national ranking of Ukraine's richest people. At the time, Alexander Feldman owned virtually all of Kharkiv's largest markets, held a substantial portfolio of non-market assets, was developing commercial real estate in the city center, and was nurturing plans for international expansion. According to industry sources, the Barabashivka market alone was bringing in at least $3 million in cash monthly for its owner.
Following the revolution, the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the emergence of new conflicts with Kharkiv city authorities, Alexander Feldman fell to 46th place in 2015, with a net worth of $170 million. Of his once-extensive list of assets, only the Barabashovo market and the land plot under the Ecopark remained at that time. Everything else had already been mortgaged, sold, or given up to pay off debts. Barabashovo itself no longer generated cash as much as before and was primarily used to pay off bank loans.
2018 marked a further escalation in the standoff with local authorities for Alexander Feldman over the Barabashovo market and his new position at 62nd place in the Focus Market, with an estimated value of $102 million. At that point, Feldman had no longer announced plans to develop the city's main market; his primary goal was to preserve the "last goose," which at least occasionally laid some eggs. Corporate debts loomed over Feldman like an unbearable burden, and he was forced to make a living by constantly borrowing and reborrowing from wealthy individuals.
This downward trend is also evident in Feldman's Forbes rankings: in 2019, he was ranked 80th with $69 million, while in 2020, for the first time in recent years, Feldman was not ranked at all, not even reaching the "entry ticket" into the rankings.
Feldman's actual financial situation is increasingly being described by the media as quite unenviable. By Feldman's own admission, already in the boom years of 2009-2010, the Avek concern owed banks over $100 million. Judging by the state of his assets, this debt never went away and was subsequently renominated in the national currency. In 2011-2012, information leaked to the press indicating that, in addition to corporate debt, Feldman also had a substantial portfolio of personal liabilities. He borrowed 23,82 million hryvnias from former Kharkiv Oblast prosecutor Vasyl Sinchuk. The MP borrowed 10 million hryvnias each from his father, Borys Feldman, and from his own assistant, Ruslan Shapiro. He also had liabilities of 2,5 million hryvnias to MP Valeriy Pysarenko. Furthermore, information has become publicly known that in 2011, MP Oleksandr Feldman borrowed $2,000,000 from Kharkiv banker Vadym Vishnevsky. Journalists note, however, that the debt was never reflected in Feldman's tax return and would have remained a secret if not for Vishnevsky's tragic death, which forced his family to post promissory notes online to protect themselves from being scammed.
In 2015, Feldman received new loans from various banks totaling 53 million UAH.
According to sources in the banking sector, he was able to secure new loans through agreements with representatives of the former government, which allowed debts to private banks to be converted into liabilities at state-owned banks (not for free, of course), which were in turn covered by collateral and refinancing schemes. As usual, everyone profited from the losses to the state budget.
In 2016, the media reported a debt of UAH 140 million and that Feldman was being provided with new loans from the now state-owned PrivatBank and UkrSocBank.
In 2018, Bihus.Info journalists compiled a list of the top 10 parliamentary deputies with the highest debts. Feldman significantly outpaced his parliamentary colleagues in this ranking, ranking fourth in terms of outstanding debt.
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And this is despite the fact that only official debts from public declarations of people's representatives were taken into account.
In early 2020, it became known that Feldman had received another 10 million hryvnia loan from the Commercial Industrial Bank. Feldman received over 5.4 million hryvnias from Borys Lozhkin's wife , Nadezhda Shalomova. Another 5.16 million hryvnias were given to him by Metropolitan Onufriy of Kharkiv and Bohodukhiv. Feldman also borrowed half a million from Andriy Stronov, a regional council member from the Nash Krai party, and another 300,000 from Vitaliy Ilchenko, director of the Feldman Ecopark.
The MP went "with an outstretched hand" to his closest circle of acquaintances, borrowing money from his own subordinates and acquaintances in public figures.
A joke has become popular among Kharkiv businessmen and wealthy members of parliament:
"I met Feldman, and instead of greeting him, he asked me to borrow $100,000. He said that wasn't possible and he asked for at least $5,000!…"
This was all the official side of the story of the once-prosperous businessman. But there's also an unofficial side, which explains much and provides a realistic picture of the former oligarch's current state of affairs and prospects.
According to insiders, Feldman's companies currently have at least 150 million hryvnias in corporate debt, and at least another 200 million hryvnias in personal debt. Moreover, the latter portion of the debt has long been unsecured and is being serviced using a Ponzi scheme, with new loans taken out to pay off old debts.
At the same time, non-payment of wages and rip-offs of entrepreneurs-tenants at Barabashovo have become common practice at the Avek concern and in Feldman's charitable projects.
Even conflicts with ideological opponents began to acquire a financial background.
People who have known Feldman for a long time agree that his inability to run a business and his penchant for risk-taking are to blame.
The first loans received in the 2010s for specific business projects were spent on politics, self-promotion, ostentatious charity work, and personal consumption. A significant portion of these funds was embezzled and ineffectively spent by the management of the Avek concern, which changed annually. Nothing new was created, the business failed to develop or diversify, and the only source of income was increasing rent at Barabashovo and optimizing taxes.
The next round of loans was taken out to service old obligations or because it was easier to borrow than to earn money. When the liquid collateral ran out, a third wave began – multi-million dollar personal loans. What the media reports about Feldman's personal debts is just the tip of the iceberg. Incidentally, these debts are repaid according to the same principle: what has been officially acknowledged and reported in the media still has a chance of being repaid. Anything borrowed unofficially, without proper legal registration, or as a loan to Feldman's business entities, if the creditor has no way to offset the debt, can be considered an imprudent charitable donation. Any major tenant at Barabashovo knows this.
Therefore, before lending money to Feldman, it's worth paying attention to his credit history and the quality of his receipts.
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