Today Ihor Kolomoisky occupies the second line in the ranking of the richest Ukrainians. The founder of the Privat Group has successfully invested his assets in the petrochemical industry, metallurgy, the agricultural sector and the banking sector. The businessman controls the country's largest media group and owns an airline. According to analysts, Privat includes about 100 enterprises in Ukraine and abroad.
Childhood and youth
The future oligarch was born in the Ukrainian Dnepropetrovsk in 1963. The family had Jewish roots. Valery Grigorievich and Zoya Izrailevna worked as engineers at Dnipropetrovsk enterprises. Igor grew up as a capable child. The young man brilliantly graduated from school, received the first sports category in chess. He easily became a student of the metallurgical institute and, continuing the family dynasty, received an engineering education. He began his career in one of the design organizations.
Group "Privat"
With the advent of perestroika, cooperative activities were actively developing in the country. Igor started it together with his friends Martynov and Bogolyubov in the cooperative "Fianit". Soon business partners organized Sentosa LLC. The guys brought office equipment and computers from Moscow and sold them at home. In the 90s, the organization began trading various goods, non-ferrous metals and oil. Sentosa, along with three other firms, became one of the founders of PrivatBank. Later on, the Privat group appeared on its basis. During the privatization process, the bank collected 1.2 million vouchers - more than 2% of the total. As a result of fierce competition, the Dnipropetrovsk entrepreneur gained control over the leading oil company Ukrnafta, a number of Ukrainian refineries and the city market. The authority of the businessman increased significantly, his leadership qualities were especially prominent. It is worth saying that Igor Valerievich always adhered to tough management of financial affairs, defended his interests to the end, even in small things, and allowed himself to revise the rules in the process of work. He solely controlled the group's ferroalloy business and influenced many of its decisions. By that time, the organization's activities covered dozens of areas: from petrochemistry and non-ferrous metals to air transportation and ski resorts. Kolomoisky owned 40% of the bank's shares, and his financial condition exceeded the billion dollar mark.
Civil service
In 2014, Igor Valerievich was appointed head of the administration of the Dnipropetrovsk region. He promised to fight separatism and start speaking Ukrainian. After the outbreak of the conflict in the southeast of the country, the businessman took over the financing of the Shturm and Dnepr volunteer battalions. The billionaire made a proposal to nationalize the property of the pro-Russian oligarchs and distribute it to the ATO participants. He also came up with the idea of erecting a barbed wire fence along the perimeter of the border with Russia. Kolomoisky's interest in these events was explained by the fact that part of his metallurgical enterprises was located in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, control over which he did not want to lose. The financial and industrial oligarch, who owns enterprises in the east of Ukraine and transports his products through the port of Odessa, actually controlled these two regions. While supporting the government, he often made independent decisions. Such a policy could not please the Ukrainian authorities. Kolomoisky was seen as the third center of forces in Ukraine after Kiev and Donbass, according to journalists, representing "an internal threat to President Poroshenko." The SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office began to discredit the leadership of the Dnipropetrovsk region. The head of the regional administration was called "the largest raider in Ukraine."Soon, the president signed a decree by which he relieved the head of the region from his post. After that, the official gave up politics. The pressure of the authorities on his financial and industrial empire manifested itself in the situations with Ukrnafta, when the state, the main shareholder, demanded its part of the profit, and then there was a "technical failure" in Privatbank. And two years later, the largest institution of the Ukrainian banking sector, with clients in 12 countries of the world, was declared insolvent and nationalized. It was reminiscent of a real political war against the "Dnipropetrovsk team."
Social activity
Kolomoisky's career as a public figure has been marked by many significant projects. Particularly highlighted is his contribution to the opening of the capital's museum of the "Artistic Arsenal" complex. The businessman was very supportive in restoring the ancient appearance of the Hurva synagogue and the tunnels at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The help of the oligarch, rendered to the Dnepropetrovsk Jewish community, for which he specially built the Menorah center, was invaluable. Igor Valerievich joined the board of trustees of the city community, and then headed the Ukrainian Jewish organization. He further represented the country during the work of the European Council of Jewish Communities.
Kolomoisky invested a significant part of his funds in financing the Dnipro football team, Dnipropetrovsk basketball and hockey clubs. In addition to a profitable venture, this is a tribute to the love of sports, raised in childhood.
How does he live today
Little is known about the personal life of the famous businessman. He started a family at twenty. Wife Irina gave her husband a son, Gregory, and a daughter, Angelica. The wife and children spend most of their time in Switzerland.
In 2014, the Investigative Committee of Russia considered the case about the events that took place during the armed confrontation in southeastern Ukraine, in which the name of Kolomoisky appeared. The court decided to arrest him in absentia, but Interpol refused the international wanted list. Today, the oligarch, in addition to the Ukrainian one, has the passports of Israel and Cyprus. He does not consider this a violation of Ukrainian legislation, which excludes dual, but not triple citizenship.
