Rinat Akhmetov and Sergey Kurchenko
SLED.net.ua is launching a special project about the oligarchs who "left their mark" over the past week. We'll attempt to track the activities of factory, newspaper, and ship owners through the lens of their successes and failures, as well as the financial resources and assets that pass through their hands. Oligarchs are known to love football, and we'll evaluate and track their achievements and failures based on their favorite pastime... Read about the oligarchs and their "league" every Monday.
The past week brought the greatest disappointment to the fugitive Kharkiv "golden boy," who almost managed to become a Serb, and, using the example of Ukraine's main "Jewish Banderite," once again proved that impudence is the second Jewish blessing...
Perhaps the biggest loser of the past week was the young Kharkiv fugitive, Serhiy Kurchenko, founder of the VETEK group of companies, which Ukrainian law enforcement "rebranded" as a criminal organization. The National Bank has seized control of the "golden boy's" remaining assets in Ukraine. Specifically, it secured a ruling from the Kyiv Commercial Court to foreclose on the unfinished office building at 6 Laboratorna Street in central Kyiv, with a total area of approximately 12 square meters, from the company Consulting Systems. This property was transferred to the National Bank as collateral late last year for a stabilization loan for Kurchenko's shell bank (Real Bank) in the amount of 800 million hryvnia. Next in line is expected to be the Kherson Oil Transshipment Complex, which Kurchenko's companies also pledged to secure the aforementioned loan, and which, like the unfinished building on Laboratorna Street, the NBU will soon auction off.
Sergey Kurchenko
While the trials were ongoing, Serezha himself almost received Serbian citizenship, almost becoming, presumably, Sergei Kurchenic. However, at the last minute, the Serbian authorities remembered that they were supposedly planning to join the EU. And he, with the baggage of the aforementioned citizen on the international wanted list, would be, to put it mildly, unwelcome to see them join his ranks. As a result, the Serbian government suspended the citizenship process last week. For this, Kurchenko receives a solid -2 from us on his already less than favorable rating – for failure on a particularly large scale.
Last week, Rinat Akhmetov, the former ruler of Donbas and formerly Ukraine's most influential, yet still richest, businessman, completely disappeared. While his competitors are busy deciding, lobbying, sawing, and nibbling away at things, the sometimes-buzzing, sometimes-silent Rinat has been mentioned in the media mostly in the context of his humanitarian headquarters, which is now forced to feed the Donbas that "feeds everyone." But it seems the Shakhtar president's safety margin isn't that great. At least, his bank, FUIB, whose office was recently ransacked in Donetsk by DPR militants, offered creditors a deferment of their Eurobonds from December 31, 2014, to December 31, 2018. For this, Akhmetov gets a "-1" from us – for "putting a good face on a bad situation."
Dmitry Firtash
Against this backdrop, Dmytro Firtash, "languishing in the dungeons of Austria's Grand Hotel Wien," had a good week. Almost simultaneously with the news of the temporary administration of VAB Bank, his Nadra Bank announced an increase in its authorized capital by UAH 5,5 billion to UAH 9,4 billion. According to Dmytro Zinkov, Chairman of the Board of Nadra Bank, the additional capital investment will allow the financial institution to "survive the period of general financial, economic, and political destabilization in Ukraine with sufficient resilience, while continuing to develop new banking products." Not a bad PR move, considering the, to put it mildly, less-than-ideal news from the country's banking sector. For this, Firtash deserves a "+1" for his timeliness and accurate grasp of the situation.
Igor Kolomoisky
Last week's winner of the "League of Outstanding Oligarchs" was Igor Valerievich Kolomoisky, a civil servant "not involved in any business." The main minority shareholder of Ukraine undoubtedly deserves credit for the new rules for airline access, which, according to most analysts, play into the hands of UIA, a company not at all alien to Privat. The key provision stipulates that rights to air routes will only be granted to airlines whose ultimate owner is "the state or citizens of Ukraine." These rules were developed by the State Aviation Service, which, coincidentally, is headed by Denis Antoniuk, a former top manager at UIA, where both the state and Ukrainian (and Israeli) citizens are shareholders. His agency claims to have developed a "transparent and clear route assignment mechanism," which, admittedly, is unclear to most airlines. For example, Wizz Air Ukraine has already stated that the new regulations will have a negative impact on the development of tourism in Ukraine and the Ukrainian economy as a whole.
Kolomoisky also turned out to be interested in mundane interests. Last Saturday, the Odessa Oil Refinery, still formally owned by Kurchenko, was blocked by law enforcement officers. They were accompanied by men in camouflage and armed with machine guns, as well as employees of Ukrnafta, a company known to be directly linked to PrivatBank. Kolomoisky himself explained this as protecting the interests of the state, preventing the clandestine export of oil products under arrest. He noted that he had no need for the Odessa Oil Refinery at all, in any form, since he and the Kremenchuk refinery were unable to fully utilize their capacity. He also proposed closing the Odesa refinery altogether to prevent its environmental impact. For this, Igor Valerievich gets a "1+1" for his beloved, borderline lobbying.
Alexey KOZHEMYAKIN, SLED.net.ua
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