Rinat Akhmetov is a Ukrainian billionaire whose current wealth is 4.3 billion, born and raised in Donetsk. Of course, the figure was much higher, but the war made its own adjustments. Despite the fact that the businessman owns an apartment in London, as well as a villa in France for 221 million dollars, the Ukrainian is not going to leave his country. He said that he shared all his grief with his people and looked forward to Ukraine’s early victory.
How did the businessman reach his heights and what stages did he pass? The most influential person in Ukraine owns System Capital Management, which is a giant industrial conglomerate. You will soon understand why his condition has been reduced so much. In addition to this conglomerate, the billionaire owns the energy company DTEK and more than half of the Metinvest Group, which is the largest steel manufacturer in the country. From this point on, problems begin, as his two steel mills were in Mariupol.
What happened in this city, after the arrival of the Russian army, could be called hell on earth. Russian bombs destroyed homes, drama theaters, hospitals, and even maternity homes. More than 20,000 civilians were killed in the city at the hands of the Russian military. Both plants were also hit by shelling, and one of them, Azovstal, defended in its walls and basements about a thousand fighters, Azov, who for about 3 months defended their native city, being in a complete blockade of the Russians. There is nothing left of the factory. This is one of the reasons for the loss of wealth.
The second reason was also the war, as the business was mainly built in the east of Ukraine, as Rinat Akhmetov hails from here. Initially, it was a coal business, as there are many coal mines in Donetsk. Further, the businessman became the owner of the football club Shakhtar and already in 2000, he created the group System Capital Management. In 2010, Rinat Akhmetov was the main donor to another president, Viktor Yanukovych, who was deposed by the Ukrainian people in 2014. Just a year later, Akhmetov already owned 70% of the energy market of Ukraine.
As you can see, connections played a very important role in his steps to wealth. Until 2014, everything was going fine, but after the occupation of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions by Russia, Akhmetov lost control over the enterprises and factories that were there. So his football club was left without a football field, as access to it was limited to Russia. Thus began the fall of his income. 2022 hit even harder and more because the scale has increased. Moreover, since all Ukrainian ports were blocked, the company could not carry enough steel that was made earlier.
YouTube: Ukraine’s Richest Man Says He’s Doing Everything He Can To Help His Country, And Sparing No Expense
Photo credit: The feature image has been done by Igor Bulgarin.
