Net Worth: $238 million

Age: 43; 39

Marital status: Married, one son and one daughter; married.

Last year: $887 million

Industry: Finance

The business brothers Sergei and Alexandr Buriak were the first to be hit by the crisis, as the global collapse first of all hit the world of finance, and only then started to affect the real sector of the economy. While the rest of Ukrainian business was in blissful ignorance in September 2008 about the scale of the approaching catastrophe, Brokbiznesbank registered losses of UAH6.7 million in the third quarter. A small sum, but up to that point financiers had only had triumphant reports. The first quarter of 2009 brought the Buriak brothers around Hr 7 million in pure profit. Not bad considering that the banking system as a whole from January to March saw total losses of Hr 7 billion. “For the first time in the history of its existence, the banking system suffered losses,” lamented Vladimir Bondar, vice president of the Association of Ukrainian Banks in February. But the Buriaks are not giving up. The businessmen decided to increase the authorized capital of Brokbiznesbank by more than UAH100 million. In doing this, the financial institution remains in the top 15 banks in Ukraine by capital and the Buriaks remain in the top 50 richest Ukrainians.