Ukrainian businessman Ihor Kolomoisky said his assets are worth $7.5-8 billion, $500 million of which is in the U.S.
“This [his wealth] is impossible to assess. When we made a disclosure to PrivatBank, there was a conservative assessment of $7.5-8 billion,” he said in an interview with NV, excerpts from which have been published on the publication’s website.
Kolomoisky said that he has decided not to expand his business in the U.S. over an FBI investigation.
“For the metallurgical part, we already know – minus $200 million. As for those buildings, it’s also not great. The iron alloy plant is our core thing, we’re holding on to that asset,” he said.
“In America, I have $500 million in investment, all told. I received $2 billion in direct payments from Evraz alone, to my private account with PrivatBank. What the hell did I need loans for? I never took loans from Privat,” Kolomoisky said.
On December 18, 2016, Ukraine’s government, at the recommendation of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and former shareholders of PrivatBank, whose biggest shareholders at the time were Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov, decided to nationalize PrivatBank, at the time the largest financial institution in Ukraine. The ex-owners of the bank consider the nationalization, as a result of which they lost all of their shares, to be illegal, while PrivatBank and the state are demanding additional compensation from them for damages. The parties are involved in litigation both in Ukraine and in foreign jurisdictions.
On April 18, 2019, Kyiv’s District Administrative Court declared the nationalization of the bank illegal in a suit initiated by Kolomoisky. The decision is being appealed.
Kolomoisky earlier proposed to settle in exchange for a roughly 25% stake in PrivatBank.
