The Ukrainian edition of Forbes published the ranking of the 20 richest Ukrainians. This year, the fortunes of businessmen were greatly affected by the war, so the rating underwent significant changes.
The publication analyzed the state of affairs of 129 Ukrainian businessmen who were included in the ranking of the richest in the past two years.
Rinat Akhmetov still leads the ranking of the richest Ukrainians, even though his fortune has decreased from $13.7 billion to $4.4 billion. In Mariupol, his company lost two main enterprises — "Azovstal" and Mariupol Metallurgical Plant (MMP) named after Ilyich. In the pre-war year, these plants produced 8.6 million tons or 90% of the steel of the entire group. These factories accounted for 40% of all Ukrainian production of metal products. In addition, Akhmetov closed "Media Group Ukraine" in order not to fall under the influence of the law on oligarchs.
"Grammarly" co-founders Maxim Lytvyn ($2.3 billion) and Oleksiy Shevchenko ($2.3 billion) were in the second and the third place.
Next in the rating are:
- Viktor Pinchuk — $2.2 billion;
- Konstantin Zhevaho — $1.4 billion;
- Oleksandr and Halyna Herehy — $1.2 billion;
- Vlad Yatsenko — $1.1 billion;
- Vadim Novinsky — $1 billion;
- Hennadiy Boholyubov — $1 billion;
- Serhiy Tihipko — $870 million.
Petro Poroshenko, the fifth president of Ukraine, also entered the twenties — as of February, his fortune decreased from $1.6 billion to $730 million. Forbes writes that in the two pre-war years, Poroshenkoʼs business empire has shrunk significantly, at least officially. If at the beginning of 2019 he was a beneficiary in 95 companies, then before the invasion — in only 18 companies. The biggest share of his business passed to his son Oleksii.
This yearʼs ranking did not include businessmen who were deprived of citizenship, for example, Ihor Kolomoisky ($850 million). In February, Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.8 billion. The same was the case a year earlier, when Kolomoisky became fourth in the list of top Ukrainian businessmen.
The publication also excluded collaborators or those suspected of treason from the list. Among such businessmen are Viktor Medvedchuk ($620 million for 2021) and Vyacheslav Bohuslaev ($125 million for 2020).
Oleksiy Vadaturskyi, the director of the Nibulon agricultural enterprise, who tragically died during Russian shelling of the Mykolaiv region, was eliminated from the list of the hundred richest Ukrainians this year.