Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Net Worth: $184 million

Age: 40

Marital status: Married, three sons

Last year: $783 million

Industry: Food industry, nonferrous metallurgy, construction

Evgeny Chernyak came from the people, and temporarily returned to them in December 2008. The owner of a vodka factory in Zaporozhe and co-owner of cognac and wine factories in Odessa stood at the counter of Furshet supermarket in Kyiv selling his products. According to Chernyak, all the top managers in his company occasionally work for a day as a promoter or delivery man. “So that they keep their feet on the ground,” the businessman explained. On days free from retail trade, the entrepreneur solves more global tasks. In spring, parliament increased the excise duty on spirits by one and a half times. So Chernyak decided to flood the Russian market with Medovukha and Blagoff. He explained this move to Korrespondent as a result of the growth in sales in Russia. But it’s surely not a coincidence that the Russian alcohol regulator has promised to reduce the excise duty on a liter of spirits to Hr 23. From July 1 in Ukraine that figure will be Hr 34. That fiscal noose could lead to unemployment for half of Chernyak’s company. To prevent that from happening, the restless businessman is working on all fronts.

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