Yukhym Zvyahilsky, 88, a longtime Ukrainian politician and businessman, died on Nov. 6 as a result of contracting COVID-19, his lawyer Tetiana Zelkina said on Facebook.
He was one of the most influential politicians from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Zvyahilsky was the longest-serving member of the Ukrainian parliament: from 1990 to 2019. He was the acting prime minister and first deputy prime minister in 1993-1994.
Zvyahilsky used to be a member of the Communist Party, ousted ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions and the pro-Kremlin Opposition Bloc.
In 2013 the Focus magazine ranked Zvyahilsky as Ukraine’s 80th richest businessman with a net worth of $173 million.
