Skip to content
Edit post

Akhmetov exits media business, says doesn't want to be labeled oligarch.

by The Kyiv Independent news desk July 11, 2022 5:53 PM 1 min read
Rinat Akhmetov, a Ukrainian businessman and oligarch, waits for the arrival of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier before their meeting on June 24, 2014 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

Become a member Support us just once

In a public statement, oligarch Rinat Akhmetov said that his System Capital Management (SCM) group is set to transfer the licenses of the television channels owned by its Media Group Ukraine to the Ukrainian government. The media holding includes Ukraina and Ukraina 24 TV channels, which before the full-scale war were among the most-watched channels in the country.

By doing so, Akhmetov seeks to escape being officially classified as an oligarch in Ukraine.

"As the largest private investor in Ukraine, I have repeatedly said that I was not, am not, and will not be an oligarch," Akhmetov said.

On June 30, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree introducing a register of oligarchs. Akhmetov has been the richest person in Ukraine for over a decade, having influence over a number of pro-Russian parties in the past.

The decree aims to implement the anti-oligarch law signed by Zelensky in 2021. The law introduces the legal definition of an oligarch and requires officials to declare contacts with oligarchs. It also bans oligarchs from financing political parties, political ads, or demonstrations and excludes them from the privatization of state assets.

To be recognized as an oligarch, a person must meet at least three out of four criteria: direct involvement in political activities, considerable influence over media, be a beneficiary of monopolies recognized by antitrust authorities, and ownership of assets exceeding Hr 2.2 billion ($81 million), excluding media assets.

Read also: Ukraine targets Russia’s ammunition depots, undermining its artillery advantage

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.
Freedom can be costly. Both Ukraine and its journalists are paying a high price for their independence. Support independent journalism in its darkest hour. Support us for as little as $1, and it only takes a minute.
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

Ukraine Daily
News from Ukraine in your inbox
Ukraine news
Please, enter correct email address
5:30 AM

Ukrainian POWs faced conditional release from Hungary.

Two Ukrainian prisoners of war, part of a group of 11 handed over to Hungary by Russia in June 2023, said in an interview to Deutsche Welle, that Hungarian representatives imposed conditions preventing their return to Ukraine until the war's end.
3:16 AM

Estonian police arrest citizen who reported for Russian state media.

Estonian police have arrested Svetlana Burceva, an Estonian citizen, for allegedly violating international sanctions having served as a reporter for Russian state sponsored Balt News - an arm of the Kremlin-run Russia Today (RT) news outlet, Estonian publication Eesti Ekspress reported on March 27.
9:03 PM

Prague sanctions Medvedchuk over 'influence operations' in Czechia, EU.

Fiala said that Viktor Medvedchuk and another sanction individual, Ukrainian-Israeli pro-Kremlin propagandist Artem Marchevskyi, "oversaw several influence operations and networks from the Russian Federation" and sought to influence social discourse in Czechia through the Voice of Europe organization, which was also placed on the sanctions list.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.