The annual ranking of the World`s Billionaires by Forbes has included six Ukrainian tycoons, according to the influential U.S. magazine Forbes.
Oligarch Rinat Akhmetov has become the richest man among the Ukrainians presented in the 2017 ranking. His assets doubled in the past year. His fortune increased from $2.3 billion to $4.6 billion, while his place in the general rating rose from 771st in 2016 to 359th in 2017.
”Ukraine`s wealthiest man for eight years running, Rinat Akhmetov owns three-quarters of Metinvest Group, Ukraine`s largest private company, which reported rising profits as iron ore and metals markets improved. His real estate arm opened a high-end mall in late 2016. But escalating violence in eastern Ukraine is intruding: Two Metinvest subsidiaries stopped production in February. There were also recent reports that pro-Russian separatists had seized 40 companies in the region, where Metinvest and DTEK, Akhmetov`s energy company, have operations,” Forbes wrote.
Businessman Hennady Boholiubov ranked second in the list of the richest Ukrainians. He was 1468th in the overall rating with $1.4 billion against $1.3 billion in 2016.
”Hennady Boholiubov and Ihor Kolomoisky founded PrivatBank with $1 million in capital in the early 1990s. Over the years, it grew to be a key bank in Ukraine, handling more than a third of private deposits and serving approximately half of the country`s entire population. Then in 2016, Ukraine`s government nationalized the bank. Boholiubov has other assets including an oil business and ferroalloys manufacturer. He agreed in November 2016 to sell his Australian ferroalloys company Consolidated Minerals to China`s Tian Yuan Manganese. He is a generous donor to Jewish causes,” Forbes said.
Ihor Kolomoisky, who shared with Boholiubov 1367th place in 2016 with a fortune of $1.3 billion, lost his position and was placed 1795th with $1.1 billion.
Oligarch Victor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, took the same positon in 2017. His fortune was also estimated at $1.1 billion, although in 2016 he was richer by $100 million and ranked 1476th.
Agrarian tycoon Yuriy Kosiuk has somewhat improved his position. This year, he was 1678th with $1.2 billion and shared his position with MP Kostyantyn Zhevago. Last time Kosiuk got into the world`s wealthiest people rating in 2014 with a similar fortune of $1.2 billion. In 2016, he had $431 million, according to Forbes magazine`s Ukrainian edition.
”Yuriy Kosiuk heads MHP, the Ukraine`s biggest producer of poultry. He studied food process engineering at Kiev Food Industry Institute. He got his start importing furniture and Turkmenistan gas. He then began trading grain after the Soviet Union`s collapse and eventually moved into poultry. He took MHP, the precursor of which he founded in 1998 with 10 employees, public in 2008. Kosiuk pays himself handsomely through dividends and has used the cash to buy himself airplanes, a helicopter, a yacht and several cars including a Lamborghini,” Forbes wrote.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates tops Forbes` 2017 ranking with $86 billion. U.S. businessman Warren Buffett ranks second with $75.6 billion, while Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos is third with $72.8 billion.
Earlier, Bloomberg published a list of the world`s 500 richest people. Gates topped the rating with $85.6 billion, he was followed by Buffett with $78.9 billion and Bezos with $73.5 billion.
