Korrespondent Names Akhmetov Ukraine’s Richest Man

The owner of SCM Rinat Akhmetov has been named Ukraine’s richest man by Korrespondent magazine. The new annual rating was announced during a press-conference at UNIAN today.

Akhmetov’s net worth has been estimated at $31.1 billion.

Ukraine’s Top-5 wealthiest people include Interpipe’s owner Viktor Pinchuk whose fortune is estimated at $8.8 billion, Privat Group’s co-owner Ihor Kolomoysky with $6.55 billion, Privat’s co-owner Hennadiy Boholyubov with $6.2 billion, and the owner of Finance & Credit Group Kostyantyn Zhevaho with $5.2 billion.

Another Privat co-owner, Oleksiy Martynov, has a net worth of $4.94 billion and ranked sixth. Viktor Nusenkis, the founder of Energo Concern boasts a $3.32 billion fortune and was named the seventh richest. The owner of Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol Volodymyr Boyko holds the eighth place with $3.22 billion. The co-owner of RosUkrEnergo Dmytro Firtash is the ninth wealthiest with a net worth of $2.9 billion. Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, the head of Development Construction Holding, closes out the Top-10 with some $2.6 billion.

This is the third time that Korrespondent has ranked Ukraine’s billionaires.

According to the magazine’s chief editor Vitaliy Sych, despite the world financial crisis and the slump on stock markets, most Ukrainian tycoons had suffered no losses.

The net worth of the 50 businessman included in the ratings amounts to $112.7 billion, which is over two times the national budget. The richest Ukrainian Rinat Akhmetov has now become the richest European, boosting his assets to a record number of $31.1 billion.

Among Ukraine’s political parties, the Party of Regions has the highest concentration of billionaires: it can boast eight of the country’s Top-50 rich men – including Akhmetov – with a total net worth of $35.42 billion.

The Billionaires’ fortunes have been appraised by Dragon Capital, an investment company, based on the respective companies’ market capitalization or using the comparative estimation method.

Korrespondent’s business editor Oleksandr Paskhaver also said that the magazine had contacted each of the potential Top-50 businessmen in order to more accurately define the list of their assets.