Igor Valerievich Kolomoisky (born 1963) - Ukrainian billionaire oligarch, businessman, political and public figure, deputy.
The founder of the largest industrial and financial group in Ukraine "Privat", represented in the banking sector, petrochemistry, metallurgy, food industry, agricultural sector, air transportation, sports and media space.
Kolomoisky - President of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, Vice President of the Football Federation of Ukraine, ex-head and member until 2011 of the European Council of Jewish Communities, President of the European Jewish Union (EJU). Has citizenship of Ukraine, Israel and Cyprus.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Kolomoisky, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Igor Kolomoisky.
Biography of Kolomoisky
Igor Kolomoisky was born on February 13, 1963 in Dnepropetrovsk. He grew up and was raised in a Jewish family of engineers. His father, Valery Grigorievich, worked at a metallurgical plant, and his mother, Zoya Izrailevna, at the Promstroyproekt Institute.
As a child, Igor showed himself to be a serious and diligent student. He received the highest marks in all disciplines, as a result of which he graduated from school with a gold medal. In addition to his studies, the boy was fond of chess and even had the 1st grade in it.
After receiving the certificate, Kolomoisky entered the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute, where he received the specialty of an engineer. Then he was assigned to a design organization.
However, as an engineer, Igor worked very little. During this period of his biography, he, together with Gennady Bogolyubov and Alexei Martynov, decided to go into business. In this area, he managed to achieve brilliant results and amass a huge fortune.
Business
Business went especially well for Kolomoisky and his partners after the collapse of the USSR. Initially, the guys resold office equipment, after which they started trading in ferroalloys and oil. By that time, they already had their own cooperative "Sentosa".
A few years later Igor Valerievich managed to earn 1 million. It is worth noting that he decided to invest this money in the business. In 1992, together with his partners, he created PrivatBank, the founders of which were 4 firms, with the bulk of the shares in the hands of Kolomoisky.
Over time, the private bank grew into a solid empire - Privat, which included over 100 large international enterprises, including Ukrnafta, ferroalloy and oil refineries, the Krivoy Rog iron ore plant, Aerosvit airline and the 1 + 1 media holding.
An interesting fact is that Igor Kolomoisky's PrivatBank was the largest bank in Ukraine, with over 22 million customers in different parts of the world.
In addition to business in Ukraine, Igor Valerievich successfully cooperates with Western organizations. He has a stake in Central European Media Enterprises, the British oil and gas firm JKX Oil & Gas, and also owns television companies in Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.
In addition, the oligarch has assets in many offshore companies in the world, where most of them are located in Cyprus. As of today, there is no exact information about Kolomoisky's capital. According to some sources, in 2019, his fortune was estimated at about $ 1.2 billion.
At the end of 2016, the Ukrainian authorities began the process of nationalizing PrivatBank. It is curious that the company's shares were transferred to the state for - 1 hryvnia. The next year, a lawsuit began regarding the theft of funds from PrivatBank.
The court ruled to arrest the assets of Kolomoisky and part of the property of the ex-managers of the bank. The enterprise for the production of non-alcoholic drinks "Biola", the office of the TV channel "1 + 1" and the airliner "Boeing 767-300" were seized.
Soon, the former owners of the financial empire filed a lawsuit in a London court. At the end of 2018, British judges dismissed PrivatBank's claim due to erroneous jurisdiction, and also canceled the seizure of assets.
The new owners of the bank filed an appeal, which is why the assets of Kolomoisky and his partners remained frozen indefinitely.
Politics
As a politician, Igor Kolomoisky first showed himself as the leader of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine (2008). However, in 2014, he was able to break into the political elite, taking the post of chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The man made a promise to deal exclusively with political issues and completely retire from business. But he never kept his word. At that time, the country was ruled by Petro Poroshenko, with whom Kolomoisky had a very difficult relationship.
At the same time, the notorious military conflict in the Donbass began. Igor Kolomoisky took an active part in organizing and financing the ATO. Ukrainian experts say that this was primarily due to the personal interests of the oligarch, since many of his metallurgical assets were concentrated in the southeast of Ukraine.
A year later, a conflict broke out between the governor and the president over Ukrnafta, half of which was owned by the state. Things got to the point that Kolomoisky, through armed fighters and public threats against the Ukrainian authorities, tried to protect his interests in business.
The oligarch was reprimanded for violating professional ethics. At this time of the biography, the Investigative Committee of Russia declared Igor Kolomoisky and Arsen Avakov on the international wanted list. They were accused of contract killings, theft of people and other grave crimes.
In the spring of 2015, Poroshenko dismissed Kolomoisky from his post, after which the oligarch promised to never engage in political affairs again. Soon he went abroad. Today he mainly lives in the Swiss capital and Israel.
Sponsorship
Over the years of his biography, Kolomoisky has supported a variety of politicians, including Yulia Tymoshenko, Viktor Yushchenko and Oleg Tyagnibok, the leader of the Svoboda party, which promotes nationalism.
The billionaire donated huge sums to support Svoboda. At the same time, he financed the National Defense Regiment, the MVD volunteer battalions and the Right Sector. He promised a reward of $ 10,000 for the arrest of the leaders of the self-proclaimed LPR / DPR.
Igor Valerievich is a big fan of football. At one time he was the president of FC Dnipro, which successfully played in European cups and showed a high level of play.
In 2008, the Dnepr-Arena stadium was built at the expense of Kolomoisky. An interesting fact is that about € 45 million was spent on the construction of the building. The businessman did not like to talk about his participation in charity.
It is known that he provided material assistance to Jews who suffered from the actions of the Nazis. He also allocated large sums of money to support and improve shrines in Jerusalem.
Personal life
Very little is known about Kolomoisky's personal biography. He is married to a woman named Irina, with whom he legalized a relationship at the age of 20. It is curious that the media have never seen a photograph of his chosen one.
In this marriage, the couple had a boy Grigory and a girl Angelica. Today the son of the oligarch plays for the basketball club "Dnepr".
It is worth noting that the press periodically pops up information about Kolomoisky's close relations with various artists, including Vera Brezhneva and Tina Karol. However, all these rumors are not supported by reliable facts.
Today Igor Kolomoisky lives in his own villa in Switzerland, located near the lake. In his spare time, he enjoys reading biographies of famous dictators, rulers and military leaders.
Igor Kolomoisky today
Now the billionaire continues to comment on political events in Ukraine, and also often gives interviews to Ukrainian journalists. Not so long ago, he visited Dmitry Gordon, answering a number of interesting questions.
It is curious that in religious terms, Kolomoisky prefers Lubavitcher Hasidism, a Jewish religious movement. He has pages on social networks where he periodically shares his comments.
Kolomoisky Photos
