After returning to Ukraine, Forbes unveils 100 richest Ukrainians list

For the first time since 2016, the Ukrainian version of business magazine Forbes has presented its brand new list of the 100 richest Ukrainians in 2020.

After closing in 2017, the magazine relaunched in Ukraine in 2020. For its first issue in June, it analyzed the assets of nearly 300 people and 1,500 business based both in Ukraine and abroad.

Combined, the 100 richest Ukrainians own assets worth a total of $31.4 billion.

“Today, the richest Ukrainians’ net worth is estimated at 43% less than in the pre-crisis year of 2013,” Forbes noted. “In common with the majority of Ukrainians, they are experiencing difficult times.”

Nonetheless, seven of the top 10 hryvnia billionaires in 2013 are still billionaires in 2020, and one of the permanent members of the Forbes list — the Gerega family that owns home improvement retail chain Epicenter — has joined the club of dollar billionaires for the first time this year.

In general, Ukraine has one dollar millionaire per 1,000 members of the population, while one out of nine people in Switzerland and one out of 13 in the United States owns assets to the value of at least $1 million, according to Forbes.

Notably, the minimum amount of wealth in the Forbes list has risen from $74 million in 2013 to $95 million in 2020. The Ukrainian top 100 includes 6 women and only 1 person under age 35.

The top 10 richest Ukrainians in 2020 are:

1. Rinat Akhmetov, $2.8 billion

Rinat Akhmetov, 53, the ironworks and energy tycoon originally from the Donbas region, remains the country’s richest oligarch in 2020. Since 2013, his net worth has decreased six-fold, according to Forbes.

In late 2019, steel prices dropped to their lowest level since 2016, reducing the net income of Akhmetov’s Metinvest company by 3.5 times to a value of $341 million.

His energy-producing holding DTEK also earned Hr 2.55 billion ($95 million), which is almost twice less than in 2018. The company defaulted in late March and is preparing for negotiations with its creditors, according to Forbes.

In 2019, the Novoye Vremya magazine estimated his net worth at $9.6 billion.

2. Viktor Pinchuk, $1.4 billion

Pinchuk, 59, with his massive assets in the ironworks industry and media, is also suffering severe losses in key areas of his business, according to Forbes.

In 2019, his Interpipe Group reduced the production of steel and pipes by 4% and 13%, respectively. “The external business environment failed (Pinchuk): 80% of manufactured commodities are exported. Europe is pressuring him with its quotas, and even a contract signed with the French giant Vallourec did not protect (Pinchuk’s business from the quotas). Interpipe decreased the supply of seamless and welded pipes to the European Union by 16%,” Forbes concluded.

In 2019, Novoye Vremya estimated Pinchuk’s net worth at $2.3 billion.

3. Petro Poroshenko, $1.4 billion

The country’s fifth president, who is now a lawmaker and leader of the the 27-member European Solidarity faction in parliament, continues increasing his net worth in 2020.

Despite his electoral pledges in 2014, Poroshenko, 54, sold off only 20 percent of his business empire when he became president, Forbes wrote. In 2019, the gains of his confectionery company Roshen alone increased by 41% or Hr 1.4 billion ($52 million).

In total, Forbes believes Poroshenko owns assets valued at $1.4 billion.

In 2019, Novoye Vremya estimated his net worth at $1.2 billion.

4. Oleksandr and Halyna Gerega, $1.3 billion

The Geregas have greatly boosted the variety of goods offered at Epicenter, their giant chain of household and construction materials superstores. During the national quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19, their stores gained the dubious distinction of continuing to operate, which angered many entrepreneurs who felt major stores were allowed to stay open while small businesses were forced to close and suffer deadly losses.

In 2020, the Epicenter owners entered the club of dollar billionaires, according to Forbes. A year ago, Novoye Vremya estimated their total net worth at $930 million.

5. Gennadiy Boholyubov, $1.2 billion 

The 58-year-old London-based businessman co-owns the informal Privat Group of companies along with oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. He is now focused on the oil and gas industry, as well as mineral resources and also charity, according to Forbes.

Boholyubov is the former co-owner of PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest lender, which was nationalized in 2016. The now state-owned bank is currently suing him and Kolomoisky over $5.5 billion money it says was siphoned from the bank through insider loans. Boholyubov and Kolomoisky deny wrongdoing.

Last year, Novoye Vremya estimated his wealth at $1.3 billion, making him the 5th richest billionaire in Ukraine.

6. Yuriy Kosiuk — $1.1 billion 

According to Forbes, 52-year-old agriculture tycoon Yuriy Kosiuk is doing alright. In 2019, his holding company purchased Perutnina Ptuj, a major Slovenia-based poultry manufacturer.

Kosiuk’s holding, Myronivskiy Hliboproduct (MHP), increased its annual gain by $2 billion in 2019. It brought in a $30 million profit, 66% of which belongs to the businessman.

Last year, journalists estimated his net worth at $663 million.

7. Kostyantyn Zhevago, $1.1 billion

In 2019, the ore-mining company Ferrexpo, founded and currently chaired by 46-year-old Zhevago, had many problems, according to Forbes. First, the Deloitte audit company ruined the company’s shares by refusing to work with it due to its doubtful $33-million charitable donations.

Then, global ore prices dropped sharply, cutting Zhevago’s wealth even further.

Nonetheless, he is a dollar billionaire according to Forbes, while Novoye Vremya estimated his wealth in 2019 at $744 million.

8. Ihor Kolomoiskiy, $1 billion 

Notorious oligarch Kolomoiskiy, who is subject to a criminal investigation in the United States and is accused of lobbying his business interests via loyal political groups, continues in his legal battle with Ukraine to retake control or receive compensation for the 2016 nationalization of PrivatBank, which he previously co-owned with Boholyubov.

Forbes estimates his net worth at $1 billion, a significant drop. Last year, journalists ranked him the 4th most prosperous Ukrainian, valued at $1.4 billion.

9. Vadym Novinskiy, $810 million

Originally a Russian millionaire, Novinsky, 56, acquired Ukrainian citizenship in 2012 from then-President Viktor Yanukovych at the request of Petro Poroshenko, then the economy minister.

In 2020, he was ordained a deacon in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and contracted COVID-19, but only suffered a mild form of the illness.

A business partner of Akhmetov, he was reported to have $1.7 billion, but, this year, Forbes valued him at only $810 million.

10. Oleksandr Yaroslavskiy, $725 million 

Originally from the Donbas, 60-year-old financial and ironworks tycoon Yaroslavskiy has spent nearly $10 million on the COVID-19 prevention efforts in Ukraine, according to Forbes.

Compared to his estimated net worth in 2019 ($447 million), he has also gained a lot of money, increasing his wealth to $725 million in 2020, according to Forbes’ estimates.

The Forbes list of Ukrainian millionaires also includes:

11. Volodymyr Krupchak, $660 million

12. Serhiy Tihipko, $650 million

13. Dmytro Zaporozhets, $560 million

14. Filya Zhebrovska, $480 million

15. Oleksiy Vadaturskiy, $450 million 

16. Hennadiy Butkevych, $415 million

17. Viktor Karachun, $410 million

18. Yevhen Yermakov, $410 million

19. Mykola Zlochevskiy, $400 million

20. Valeriy Khoroshkovkiy, $400 million

21. Stepan Chernovetskiy, $390 million

22. Vladyslav and Iryna Chechotkin, $380 million

23. Vagif Aliyev, $375 million

24. Dmytro Firtash, $370 million 

25. Andriy Verevskiy, $360 million

26. Vitaliy Khomutynnyk, $340 million

27. Vlad Yatsenko, $300 million

28. Vitaliy Haiduk, $300 million

29. Vitaliy Antonov, $295 million

30. Yevhen Chernyak, $295 million

31. Hryhiriy and Ihor Surkis, $285 million

32. Hlib Zahorniy, $275 million

33. Oleh Rohinskiy, $270 million

34. Vasyl Khmelnytskiy, $255 million

35. Oleksiy Shevchenko, $250 million

36. Maksym Lytvyn, $250 million

37. Dmytro Lider, $250 million

38. Oleksiy Martynov, $250 million

39. Vadym Yermolayev, $230 million

40. Kostyantyn Hrihorishyn, $230 million

41.Borys Kaufman, $220 million

42. Volodymyr Kostelman, $215 million

43. Volodymyr Prykhodko, $215 million

44. Borys Lozhkin, $200 million

45. Andriy Adamovskiy, $190 million

46. Svyatoslav Nechytailo, $190 million

47. Adnan Kivan, $180 million

48. Yakiv Hrybov, $170 million

49. Valeriy Kiptyk, $165 million

50. Anatoliy Kipish, $160 million

51. Pavlo Fuks, $155 million

52. Anatoliy Shkriblyak, $155 million

53. Pavlo Ovcharenko, $155 million

54. Borys Kolesnykov, $150 million

55. Stepan Ivakhiv, $145 million

56. Oleh Vychnyakov, $140 million

57. Nataliya Bondareva, $135 million

58. Andriy Ivanov, $135 million

59. Volodymyr Shkolnik, $135 million

60. Serhiy Lanaziuk, $135 million

61. Andriy Biba, $130 million

62. Viktor Polishchuk, $130 million

63.Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, $125 million

64. Valeriy Shamotiy, $125 million

65. Oleksandr Slobodyan, $125 million

66. Tariel Vasadze, $125 million

67. Ihor Nikonov, $125 million

68. Taras Kitsmey, $120 million

69. Andriy Hubskiy, $120 million

70. Dmytro and Tetyana Kolesnik, $120 million

71. Andriy and Serhiy Kluiev, $120 million

72. Serhiy Lahur, $115 million

73. Oleksandr Spektor, $115 million

74. Mykola Humeniuk, $115 million

75. Stanislav Voitovych, $115 million

76. Andriy Stavnitser, $115 million

77. Yegor Hrebennikov, $115 million

78. Fedor Shpyg’s heirs, $110 million

79.Serhiy Krolevets, $110 million

80. Dmytro Kravchenko, $110 million

81.Ihor Hymenniy, $110 million

82. Oleksandr Tabalov, $110 million

83. Serhiy Sypko, $105 million

84. Heorhiy Skudar, $105 million

85. Taras Barchoskiy, $105 million

86. Vadym Nesterenko, $105 million

87. Andriy Zdesenko, $100 million

88. Mykola Rudkovskiy, $100 million

89. Vsevolod Kozhemiako, $100 million

90. Ruslan Shostak, $100 million

91. Serhiy and Oleksandr Buryak, $100 million

92. Oleh Sotnykov, $100 million

93. Roman Chyhir, $100 million

94. Vyacheslav Klymov, $100 million

95. Volodymyr Popereshniuk, $100 million

96. Zinoviy Kozytskiy, $95 million

97. Volodymyr Zubik, $95 million

98. Yaroslav Liubinets, $95 million

99. Viktor Yushkovskiy, $95 million

100. Borys Muzaliov, $95 million.