When it comes to billionaires, Ukraine can proudly hold its head high amongst the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The Polish 'Wprost' magazine has just published its annual list of the richest people in this part of Europe.
Top of the christmas tree is Roman Abramovich with $19.5Bn - 47 other Russians appear there too.
An article in 'Obozrevatel' provides mini-biographies of the 15 Ukrainians on the list:
Rinat Akhmetov tops the 'Ukes' with $7.2Bn
Ihor Kolomoyskyi 6.3Bn [once close to Yuliya]
Viktor Pinchuk 3.5Bn [v.close to father-in-law Kuchma ]
Serhiy Taruta 3.1Bn [indirectly close to Yush]
Dmitry [the wallflower] Firtash 2.4Bn [possibly close to Yush, and to 'the don' Mogilevich]
Eduard Shifrin 1.6Bn [friendly with Yush's people]
Vladimir Boyko 1.6 Bn [metal basher, top Socialist, and business rival of Rinat Akhmetov]
Konstantin Zhevago 1.4 Bn [former PoR member, now BYuT]
Aleksandr Yaroslavskyi 1.3 Bn [close to Kuchma and former VR speaker Lytvyn]
Vladimir Matvyeyenko 1.25 Bn
Vasiliy Khmelnytskyi 0.65 Bn [ByuT sympathizer]
Feodor Shpig 0.65 Bn [Banker]
Sergei Buryak 0.65 Bn [BYuT deputy]
Petro Poroshenko 0.5 Bn [the chocolate rabbit]
Viktor Nusenkis 0.45 Bn [coal mining]
If I were a rich man,
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn't have to work hard.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were a biddy biddy rich,Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man.
['Fiddler on the roof']
ps In an interview in today's 'Stolichnye Novosti' Anna German, a close adviser and former press secretary to Yanukovich, was asked,
"If it were suggested that Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were to take part in the next presidential elections, would Viktor Yanukovich support today's President?"
She replied: "Yanukovich will support President Yushchenko in the next presidential elections, if their interrelations will develop in the manner they have started, if no close circle tries to 'privatize' the President [or] push him only towards one political group, towards one part of the population, then this tandem has a big future."
She doesn't think Yanukovich himself will take part in the next Presidential elections, and considers that the President should be elected by the nation, and not by the VR.
Will Yuschenko's health hold out though?
pps Serhiy Lovochkin, one of former president Kuchma's closest advisers, has today been officially appointed Chief of the Prime Minister's Office, by the Cabinet of Ministers. He is getting back together in the corridors of power with one of his partners in the 2004 election fiddle, Sergiy Klyuyev .. [how nice for them] Yuk!
2 comments:
Nice going. But, now that you listed them and gave some indication of their political orientation, why don't you give some detail about what they own, their businesses in Ukraine - like who owns the big supermarket chains ("Bam's" et al.) in Ukraine? ... And, how many of these rich men of Ukraine made their money legitimately?
Hi - The source article [in russian] is at http://www.obozrevatel.com.ua/news/2006/9/4/133568.htm
It contains a paragraph on each one of these guys, as well as rather flattering photos, probably taken about 15 years ago.
I was too lazy to translate details. Try 'shoving' the article through an on-line translator like Babelfish at http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr
You'll get a mangled, but reasonably understandable version..
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