Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $12.5 billion, declared in an interview with the UK’s ITV News aired on March 6 that he stands for Ukrainian independence and that it should not relinquish any part of the country to Russia.
“I am sure we will go
through this journey with dignity and our heads held high. Ukraine is going
through a difficult time and I am sure Ukraine will become stronger,” Akhmetov
said and his public relations office hastened to spread this oratorical message
over social media. For him, “eastern Ukraine is Ukraine” and he dismissed calls
for the region to become a part of Russia.
This may be seen as the continuation
of a trend in which some of the nation’s oligarchs are building favorable relations
with the current government who could possibly investigate the business schemes
from which they benefited during former President Viktor Yanukovych’s rule.
Akhmetov was even considered
by some as a candidate for the position of Donetsk governor. However, acting
President Oleksandr Turchynov decided to appoint Serhiy Taruta, owner of
Industrial Union of Donbas, as head of Donetsk Oblast State Administration.
Another oligarch – steel, oil and gas, chemical and energy magnate Igor
Kolomoisky – was appointed governor of Dnipropetrovsk. Viktor Pinchuk, owner of
Interpipe, apparently turned down the governorship of Zaporizhya.
Akhmetov controls great
swathes of steel and energy industry in the Donbas region of southeastern
Ukraine, and so his business is directly affected by threats of secession. If
Donbas joins Russia, as the worst-case political scenario implies, the long-standing
ally of Yanukovych will have to run his System Capital Management conglomerate
under pressure from Putin’s administration known for interfering in business.
The SCM owner’s interview with
ITV was his first with anyone since a political crisis broke out in Crimea on
Feb. 23, and after Russia invaded the peninsula on Feb. 27.
When asked what he would say
to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Akhmetov shrugged and did not say anything
sharp, “We should build stronger relations with Russia,
respecting each other’s position and countries. We wish Russia and the Russian
people all the best and prosperity. In this situation, we should only use
diplomatic language.If we do that, both countries will come out of this
situation as winners and the EU can win too.”
Despite all the intention to
sound diplomatic, Akhmetov urged Putin to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and all
those involved to behave in a democratic way, adding that Russia remained
Ukraine’s “friend and strategically partner.”
Akhmetov makes few public
statements and gives fewer interviews. However, on March 2, in his capacity as president
of System Capital Management, he issued a strong statement in which he called
upon the Ukrainian nation “to take every effort to secure the nation’s
territorial sovereignty, restore democracy, and the unalienable rights and
freedoms of citizens.”
Kyiv Post business journalist Evan Ostryzniuk can be reached at
[email protected].
