Ukraine’s top oligarch branded extremist in Russia
Ukraine’s richest man, Donetsk-born oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, has been placed on Russia’s extremist list, information published on the Justice Ministry’s website on Friday indicates.
The businessman, who heads System Capital Management (SCM), an investment group, has been identified as a member of an extremist organization that involves his daughter Tatiana Akhmetova-Aidarova, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Boris Kolesnikov, and other individuals, according to the latest entry in a related registry.
Getting branded an extremist in Russia effectively bars an individual from conducting business or any other public activities in the country.
The designation stems from a 2023 case heard by a court in Russia’s Kursk Region that revolved around Konti-Rus, a confectionary factory and subsidiary of Ukraine’s Konti group, owned by Kolesnikov.
According to Russian authorities, the proceedings from the factory have been funneled through Akhmetov-linked companies to finance various anti-Russia activities and Kiev’s military, including the notorious neo-Nazi Azov regiment, which Moscow has designated as a terrorist group.
Akhmetov has long been considered the richest man in Ukraine; he reportedly had an estimated $7.6 billion in assets back in 2021. Akmetov’s empire was primarily based on coal and steel, energy, as well as banking and media.
The conflict between Moscow and Kiev, however, left a major dent in his wealth, which shrank by nearly half by mid-2024; it now hovers around the $4 billion mark.
The losses suffered by Akhmedov, who has been actively supporting Ukraine and funding its military endeavors, primarily stems from the seizure of his assets in Russia, including several coal mining companies, for “financing terrorism” in 2022.
The oligarch was also forced to surrender his media empire to the Ukrainian state the same year, as Kiev has tightened its grip on the country’s news outlets. At the time, SCM owned the two top-rated TV channels in the country – Ukraina TV and Ukraina 24, as well as other assets within Media Group Ukraine.
The ongoing fighting has also impacted Akhmetov directly, with multiple energy facilities operated by his DTEK group, Ukraine’s largest private electricity provider, ending up badly damaged or completely destroyed in Russian long-range strikes.
