Viktor Pinchuk
The League of "Leading" Oligarchs. Weekly Review, February 2-8
In his now-familiar fashion, Rinat Akhmetov is constantly being bombarded with negative news. Last week, hard times fell upon his metallurgical business, which he owns with Vadim Novinsky. Their Metinvest Holding was forced to suspend operations at the Yenakiieve Iron and Steel Works and its Makeyevka branch due to "ongoing hostilities and the virtual absence of rail service to these plants." In addition to the problems at the plants located in territory occupied by DPR militants, Metinvest's Mariupol plants are also facing difficulties. Yuriy Zinchenko, CEO of Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, reported that the plant is on the verge of shutting down due to a critical drop in gas supplies. According to Zinchenko, a complete gas shutdown is expected as early as this week, and Azovstal is also facing a similar "surprise."
Rinat Akhmetov and Vadim Novinsky
In short, it looks like Shakhtar's president will soon have nothing left to talk about. And now Metinvest's press service has distinguished itself by concocting an "open letter from Avdiivka Coke Plant employees." In it, they practically openly appeal to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to remove Ukrainian Armed Forces units from Avdiivka, which would essentially be tantamount to surrendering the city to the separatists. It seems the former main oligarch of Donbas finds it easier to negotiate with the DPR terrorists than with Ukraine. This, for Rinat Leonidovich, carries the risk that he could very quickly be reclassified from a witness in the terrorism financing case to a defendant, especially since the departure of the "negotiable" Yarema from the Prosecutor General's Office could greatly facilitate this. For this, Akhmetov once again receives his minus two points.
Former Minister of Defense Oleksandr Klymenko appears to have irritated Ukrainian law enforcement with his "smart talk" on social media. Last week, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) press service reported that Kyiv's Pechersky District Court granted its motion to remand Klymenko in custody. "The measure of restraint was imposed in the criminal proceedings against Oleksandr Klymenko, who is suspected of committing a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power), for organizing illegal tax evasion schemes by enterprises in the real sector of the economy," the PGO statement read.
Alexander Klimenko
The "chess player" himself tried to play the ostrich, commenting on the court's decision as if it wasn't an arrest. "The Prosecutor General's Office, through the court, is simply 'politely' inviting me to appear at the court hearing. In fact, the Pechersk Court granted the prosecutor's office's motion, according to which I must be brought to court within 48 hours (from the moment I was delivered to the site of the criminal investigation) for a retrial on the measure of restraint. And only then, perhaps—and I emphasize, perhaps—will they be able to 'keep me in custody,'" Klymenko stated. However, who knows, maybe the "bearded boy" will show up in Ukraine and verify what the Pechersk Court had in mind. In the meantime, the "family" ex-minister is getting a well-deserved -1 for his tongue, which could land him not just in Kyiv, but straight in the Lukyanivka pretrial detention center.
Vitaly Khomutynnik
Former "Young Regional" member and now non-partisan MP Vitaliy Khomutynnik has found himself embroiled in yet another scandal. Journalists photographed his text messages with Odesa Oblast Governor Ihor Palytsia, in which the young MP details who is being paid at Odesa Customs and how much. Khomutynnik himself later claimed he was simply reporting criminal schemes to the governor, and not what everyone assumed. However, as is well known, criminal schemes should be reported not to the heads of regional administrations, but to law enforcement agencies. It's strange that Khomutynnik doesn't know this. MP Mustafa Nayyem, a former journalist from the BPP, knows where to turn. Which is exactly what he did, promptly sending requests to the Prosecutor General, the heads of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the State Fiscal Service, and the Verkhovna Rada, asking them to "conduct an investigation into possible corrupt relationships" between Khomutynnik, Palytsia, and Fiscal Service representatives Makarenko and Mukhin. In short, the young parliamentary fixer, who was recently caught in a "heartfelt" phone conversation with Ihor Kolomoisky, a move that translates into a well-deserved -1 point, "exposed the whole operation" out of nowhere.
Video source: https://www.youtube.com
They say a shell never hits the same crater twice, but that's not the case with Dmytro Firtash. Nadra Bank, owned by an Austrian prisoner, has been declared insolvent again after five years. "The main reason for categorizing PJSC CB Nadra as insolvent is the financial institution's undercapitalization in accordance with stress testing requirements and its failure to bring its operations into compliance with Ukrainian legislation," the National Bank reported. Furthermore, the NBU made it clear that Nadra Bank's insolvency status stemmed from the fact that it had been "more dead than alive" since the temporary administration was installed in 2009.
Dmitry Firtash
In accordance with the NBU's recommendations, Nadra submitted capitalization plans. "However, the National Bank had no reason to consider the bank viable, since an expert analysis of these plans confirmed the bank's continued generation of losses in the future," the regulator explained. However, according to media reports, Dmytro Firtash and his trusted partner, Serhiy Levochkin, managed to secure a $100 million loan from their own bank at the last minute to purchase the Inter TV channel shares remaining in the ownership of Channel One (Russia), before the Verkhovna Rada banned Russian companies from owning media outlets in Ukraine. "The agreements were concluded as part of the overall strategy for managing and developing Group DF's media business," Firtash's company clarified. In short, the Viennese exile managed to wriggle out of it, breaking even by the end of the week.
Ihor Kolomoisky failed to save money last week. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) allowed the hryvnia to float freely, and after a sharp depreciation, the Government Auction Committee rejected all bids for 300 tons of oil produced by Ukrnafta. As a result, the next auction will be held with a higher starting price. While the previous auction was supposed to start at approximately UAH 6,4 per ton, the next one will start at UAH 9,3 to UAH 10,1 per ton, which could generate a total of UAH 1 billion in additional profit for Ukrnafta. Ukrtatnafta and NPK-Galichina, both owned by Privat, could have pocketed this billion, but that hasn't happened. At least for now.
Igor Kolomoisky (left) and Viktor Pinchuk
Meanwhile, Kolomoisky plans to score points in a completely different direction: football. Last week, the owner of FC Dnipro announced his intention to run for president of the Football Federation of Ukraine, which will hold elections on March 6. And it must be said, Igor Valerievich's chances are quite high, considering how many clubs in Ukraine he overtly and covertly sponsors. Ultimately, the main PrivatBank member, like Firtash, deserved a draw for the week.
But Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, managed to turn a profit. And all thanks to the Europeans. The European Commission lifted the anti-dumping measures imposed in 2002 on EU imports of welded pipes from Ukraine. The duties for Pinchuk's factories were low—10,7%—and the volume of supplies barely reached €1 million per year. But maneuvering is key for Pinchuk in this area. If he doesn't start dumping right away and continues to cultivate a reputation as a reasonable businessman "with European values," there's a chance the EU will lift the duties on his most lucrative product—seamless pipes. And that translates into hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, which Pinchuk could very well use.
Alexey KOZHEMYAKIN, SLED.net.ua
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