The story of the renewed Babel began on March 11, 2020. We relaunched the website with new shareholders. Kateryna Kobernyk, the site’s founder, and Glib Gusiev, the first editor-in-chief, each held 25% of the shares. The Slovak company IG bought the other half.
What is this company? Who were its shareholders back in 2020? People who supported quality media and believed the country and society would be worse off without it. Dmytro Melnyk and Serhii Mostenets are entrepreneurs who ran an automotive business and volunteered to support the military during the full-scale invasion. Serhii was awarded the presidential Golden Heart distinction for his aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Vadym Makhomed is the founder of ideil, a well-known tech company based in Lutsk — his team has built a range of apps, websites, and, of course, Babel. Dmytro Novak is Babel’s first director. In 2021, the ownership structure changed — IG bought out Glib’s share, leaving Kateryna with 25%.
In February 2026, Oleksii Babenko, the founder of Vyrii Industries, bought out IG’s 75% stake. He did so as a private individual, so now Babel has just two shareholders — Oleksii and Kateryna, who holds the remaining 25%.
This is our short story. Want to know more — just ask.