The League of Oligarchs Who Left Behind. Week of December 29, 2014 – January 4, 2015
Dmitry Firtash (left) and Sergei Levochkin
Last week's biggest losers were Viennese prisoner Dmytro Firtash and his junior partner, Serhiy Lyovochkin, whose Inter TV channel distinguished itself on New Year's by airing a holiday program featuring Russian artists who had previously repeatedly demonstrated their anti-Ukrainian sentiments. The scandal, which began on social media, reached its climax with the announcement by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov that Inter's broadcast license might be revoked.
Igor Kolomoisky took full advantage of this blunder by his bitter enemies, whose channel "1+1" eagerly participated in escalating the situation around Inter. "Social media revolted against Inter for hosting a concert featuring stars who supported Russian aggression"; "Boycott Inter: Officials and public figures demand the channel's license be revoked"—these are the stories that have aired on TSN over the past few days, generously adding insult to injury to Firtash and Lyovochkin's already troubling situation. For this, they both receive a well-deserved "-2" rating.
Ivan Guta
Ternopil landowner Ivan Guta, who has been unanimously dispossessed by his creditors, has once again earned a "-1" rating. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court recently initiated liquidation proceedings against Guta's holding company, HF Assets Management Limited, which is the majority shareholder of the Mriya agricultural holding. As we previously reported, Erste Group Bank AG filed a bankruptcy petition against the main shareholder of what was once one of Ukraine's most profitable agricultural holdings, which became insolvent last year. This is unlikely to help creditors recover all the money the Ternopil family has appropriated (Mriya's debts exceed $1,2 billion), but it is certain that Ivan Guta is permanently eliminated from the league of Ukrainian oligarchs.
Igor Kolomoisky
On January 1, the memorandum on preferential electricity tariffs for Ukrainian electrometallurgical plants expired, causing losses for a significant number of Ukrainian oligarchs. The most damaging blow was to Igor Kolomoisky's Privat Group. His ferroalloy plants—Nikopol and Zaporizhzhia—had been the main beneficiaries of these preferences since 2012, saving several million dollars during that time. Dniprospetsstal, jointly controlled by the Russian VS Energy group of Alexander Babakov and Yevhen Giner, and the aforementioned Privat Group also benefited from the preferences. "We will try to organize operations within the price limits established upon expiration of the memorandum," sadly stated Pavlo Kravchenko, Chairman of the Board of the Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant. But these words can be considered nothing more than putting a brave face on a bad situation. The bottom line is -1 point for Igor Kolomoisky, who failed to lobby for the preservation of benefits.
Yevgeny Giner
Alexander Babakov
Giner and Babakov could suffer another serious blow. For example, Odesa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov recently stated that if Odesaoblenergo (controlled by VS Energy) fails to ensure a normal electricity supply to city facilities, he will initiate the nationalization process. "Odesaoblenergo's compliance with the settlement agreement between the company and the City Council regarding grid modernization will be verified in the near future. If the agreement is not fulfilled, the city will take all possible legal and political steps to ensure management of this strategically important enterprise," Trukhanov stated. Although he softened his rhetoric on January 5, the Russians are still at risk. For this, they receive a "-1" rating.
Gennady Trukhanov
The winner of the week was one of Ukraine's richest MPs, Konstantin Zhevago. Despite the total collapse of the Ukrainian automotive market, his AvtoKrAZ plant increased sales by 55% last year. The company noted that 2014 was one of its best years in the past six years, with production reaching 1386 vehicles, almost half as much as the previous year. The plant has even more ambitious plans for 2015: according to AvtoKrAZ CEO Roman Chernyak, truck production will reach approximately 2 units. This increase is due to increased demand for KrAZ trucks from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, driven by the ATO in Donbas. In short, "one man's war is another man's mother," and Zhevago gets a "+1" to his record.
Alexey KOZHEMYAKIN, SLED.net.ua
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