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However, Zelenskiy has an advantage over his predecessors in dealing with lobbying from tycoons: The seventh person to serve as president since independence, he is the first to control a majority in the Rada. The magnate has denied he has "control" over any deputies. That gives him enormous power to lobby at all levels of government for policies favorable to his companies, such as low tariffs on ore transportation and high tariffs for power, analysts and business executives say.Īkhmetov - who briefly served in parliament in the 2000s, representing the Russia-leaning Party of Regions, which disbanded after the Euromaidan protests that pushed Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych from power - can turn to dozens of lawmakers in the Verkhovna Rada for support in getting policies that favor him enacted, according to Ukrainian media. He is also the country's largest taxpayer and employer, with about 200,000 workers nationwide. With a net worth estimated by Forbes at more than $7 billion, Akhmetov is richer than the next three Ukrainian tycoons combined. While he is dogged by rumors of alleged criminal activity in amassing his assets - for which he reportedly had been denied entry to the United States - the tycoon has never been charged with any crime. Thirty Years After Independence From Moscow, Ukraine Struggles To Throw Off Oligarch Yokeīut analysts say they have been able to maintain sway through several changes of government since the 1991 Soviet collapse - including two that followed massive popular protests against corruption, among other things - in part by bankrolling officials and lawmakers.Īkhmetov, 56, is the biggest in terms of revenue from businesses ranging from metals, mining, and energy to banking, telecommunications, real estate, and the media - a portfolio whose size and breadth means almost any law or regulation is likely to impact his interests. The "oligarchs" enjoy little sympathy among the millions of Ukrainians facing poverty or stark economic challenges, many of whom believe the magnates accumulated their wealth at the expense of the state. "If Zelenskiy wins this confrontation, it will be much easier for him to run for a second term" in 2024, Yevhen Mahda, director of the Kyiv-based Institute of World Politics, told RFE/RL.
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In office, he has made taming the tycoons - or "deoligarchization," as his administration calls it - the cornerstone of his presidency.
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#Monopoly tycoon 2008 tv
How the struggle between Zelenskiy and Akhmetov plays out could have substantial economic and political consequences for Ukraine, analysts say, both over the next few years and further in the future, after a presidential election scheduled for 2024.Ī comedian with a popular TV show but no prior political experience, Zelenskiy - now 43 - won the 2019 presidential election by a large margin, riding a surge of support based in part on his pledges to stand up to the handful of tycoons who have wielded outsized influence over Ukraine's economy, government, and media over much of its 30 years as an independent country. Zelenskiy, whose popularity ratings have been hovering near all-time lows, appears to have the tycoon's media assets in his sights: Earlier this month, he signed legislation that could force Akhmetov to dispose of his television station and other news outlets. With a net worth estimated at more than $7 billion, Rinat Akhmetov is richer than the next three Ukrainian tycoons combined, as well as the country's largest taxpayer and employer. The government's decision to withhold 3 billion-hryvnya ($115 million) payment to DTEK - a move the company called "shocking" and described as "discrimination" - was just one of several signs of growing tension between Zelenskiy and Akhmetov, who is widely seen as the most powerful of the influential tycoons known as oligarchs.įor many Ukrainians, the tension is visible when they turn on their television: In recent weeks, stations owned by Akhmetov have been pounding the president with what media observers say is critical coverage - though he says he exerts no influence over their content or editorial decisions. That saga appeared to be coming to an end when a state-owned firm raised $825 million on November 3 through a bond sale to reimburse the producers.Īs of November 23, all the producers had been fully compensated except one: DTEK, a company owned by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man. For over a year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had been in a battle with renewable energy producers after his government slashed tariffs and failed to pay the companies in a timely fashion.