Ihor Kolomoyskyi

Ihor Kolomoyskyi
Ігор Коломойський
Kolomoyskyi in 2013
Born (1963-02-13) 13 February 1963 (age 61)
NationalityIsrael
Other namesIgor Kolomoisky
Alma materDnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Academy[2]
Occupation(s)Businessman, politician
Known forCo-owner of PrivatBank
Owner of FC Dnipro[3]
SpouseIrina Kolomoyskaya
Children2
Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
In office
2 March 2014[2] – 24 March 2015
Preceded byDmytro Kolesnikov[4][5]
Succeeded byValentyn Reznichenko (acting)[6]

Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi (Ukrainian: Ігор Валерійович Коломойський, romanizedIhor Valeriiovych Kolomoiskyi; Hebrew: איגור קולומויסקי; born 13 February 1963) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli billionaire businessman, once considered the leading oligarch in Ukraine.

Already an entrepreneur in the last years of Soviet Ukraine, in 2010 Kolomoyskyi was rated as the second richest person in Ukraine, and as one of the country's most influential oligarchs. In 1992, he had co-founded PrivatBank and its informal stable of companies, Privat Group. He subsequently acquired extensive media holdings. Between 2014 and 2016, Kolomoyskyi served as Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast until his dismissal by President Petro Poroshenko. That year, his undercapitalised bank was declared a threat to Ukraine’s financial security and taken into state ownership. In 2019, Kolomoyskyi's media power and funding supported Volodymyr Zelenskyy's successful presidential campaign to unseat Poroshenko.

In 2020, he was indicted in the United States on charges related to large-scale bank fraud. In 2021, the U.S. banned Kolomoyskyi and his family from entering the country, accusing him of corruption and being a threat to the Ukrainian public's faith in democratic institutions. Zelenskyy reportedly stripped Kolomoyskyi of his Ukrainian citizenship in 2022. Later that same year, those of Kolomoyskyi's assets deemed to be of strategic value to the state in light of the Russian invasion were nationalised. These included Ukraine's largest gasoline companies. In 2023, Kolomoyskyi was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on charges of money laundering and fraud, and placed under pre-trial arrest.

  1. ^ "Igor Kolomoysky". rencap.com. Renaissance Capital. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b (in Russian) Short bio, LIGA
  3. ^ "Forbes profile: Ihor Kolomoyskyy". Forbes. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  4. ^ Ukrainian president reshuffles Azarov's government, Interfax-Ukraine (24 December 2012)
  5. ^ (in Ukrainian) Колєсніков Дмитро Валерійович, DA-TA
  6. ^ "Ukraine governor Kolomoisky sacked after oil firm row". BBC News. 25 March 2015.