| Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov Рінат Леонідович Ахметов |
|
|---|---|
| Born | 21 September 1966 Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Ukraine |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Net worth | US$16 billion as of March 2011[1] |
| Political party | Party of Regions |
| Spouse | Liliya Nikolayevna Smirnova |
| Children | Almir Akhmetov (1997) Damir Akhmetov (1988) |
Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov (Ukrainian: Рінат Леонідович Ахметов, Russian: Ринат Леонидович Ахметов, Tatar: Ренат Леонид улы Әхмәтов; born on 21 September 1966) is a Ukrainian businessman.[2] He is the founder and President of System Capital Management, and is ranked among the wealthiest men in the nation. Akhmetov is also the owner and President of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk. At Rinat Akhmetov' initiative Foundation for Effective Governance (est. 2007) and Foundation for Development of Ukraine (est. 2005) were founded. Since the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election Akhmetov has been a member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) for the Party of Regions.[3][4]
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Rinat Akhmetov was born in Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR to a Tatar[5] working-class family - his father was a coal-miner,[3] and his mother was a shop assistant. Rinat Akhmetov has an older brother, Igor, who as well worked as a coal miner but had to resign due to professional disease.[6] Akhmetov is Bachelor of Arts / Science in Economics at the Donetsk National University, he graduated in 2001.[4][7]
Akhmetov headed Donetsk City Bank (Dongorbank) in 1995[9] (Akceptbank before 1995). On October 11, 1996 he was appointed the president of the football club, FC Shakhtar and has held this post since then.[10][11]
Akhmetov founded System Capital Management Group (JSC "SCM") in 2000, and it has grown to be one of Ukraine’s leading financial and industrial firms [12] with revenues:
Rinat Akhmetov has been SCM sole proprietor since April 7, 2009.[16]
SCM Group is one of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine, all payments to current liabilities of the Group are performed on time and in full. The total number of employees occupied at SCM enterprises is about 200 thousand people. The average salary within the Group for the first 3 quarters of 2011 was over UAH 5000, which exceeds almost twofold an average Ukrainian wage (according to the State Statistics Service in March 2011 the average salary in Ukraine amounted to UAH 2531).[17][18]
SCM is the recognized leader in Ukraine Corporate Social Responsibility, taking the first place in the Gvardiya magazine ranking of Ukraine Socially Responsible Companies 2011 for 4 years consistently: 2009,[19] 2010,[20] 2011.[21][22] Gvardiya (eng. Guard) is the Ukrainian national rating programme, implemented by Ukrainian Rating Agency and Galitskiye Kontrakty Publishing House. Rating results are audited by external parties.
In September 2011, under USAID support, the Centre for CSR Development introduced the results of the first Ukraine's Companies’ Transparency Index; three of top ten companies belong to SCM Group: SCM, Metinvest and DTEK, while DTEK is leading.[23][24] SCM Group has been preparing CSR reports since 2008; and CSR has been the core part of the business’s corporate strategy and is reckoned as a systematic way of improving social life and eliminating deficiencies.[25]
On December 1, 2011 SCM was honored at the Business Leadership Roundtable and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards Luncheon held during Ukraine's 20th Anniversary of Independence Gala events in Washington, D.C.; only 6 other Ukrainian companies were awarded there for their best practices in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility[26]
On December 15, 2011, SCM took the first place at the National CSR Business Case 2011 Contest for its Contemporary Education social programme.[27][28][29]
Key assets of SCM Group as of 1 January 2011:[30]
Rinat Akhmetov has been number one in Korrespondent magazine annual Ukraine’s Top 50 richest people rating with the estimated wealth of:
Forbes' The World's Billionaires rating:
Actually, these figures are referred to SCM assets value; growth of the value should not be attributed to coming to power of the friendly political party[15][44] but to a great extent to the decision of the Company's key shareholder, according to which the profit is not distributed[45] and traditionally invested into further development of SCM[46][47][48][49]
Akhmetov is deeply involved with charities, philanthropies and humanitarian activities, that are to support Ukrainian citizens.[50]
In 2005 the Foundation for Development of Ukraine was established, which is, as stated, to be "determined to eliminate the roots of social problems..."in Ukraine.[51] In 2008 it has been reported that within next 5 years the Organization was planning to spend $150 million to fulfill its programs.[52] The Foundation as well provides broad-spectrum targeted assistance:
"This is a terrible tragedy and its scope is really international. The Ukrainians, who experienced Chernobyl, understand Japanese people. Unfortunately, we cannot return thousands of lives, but what we can really help those, who survived and stayed alive" - Akhmetov said, commenting this.[59]
In 2007, Akhmetov founded the Foundation for Effective Governance[63] to support economic development of Ukraine. On 6 December 2007, FEG was launched in Kiev with a goal to improve the standard of living of each Ukrainian citizen.[64] Among the figures who addressed the opening of the foundation were Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres and Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto.[65]
Rinat Akhmetov has been consistently leading in the national lists of top-philanthropists:
He believes that only systematic approach could beat the problems and challenges that exist in Ukraine.[70]
Some quotes re charity from Rinat Akhmetov:
Starting from 2000, on 19th December, at Saint Nicholas Day, Rinat Akhmetov together with his close friend Igor Krutoy, a famous Russian composer, have been making charity visits to orphanages, special schools in order to support deprived children and to give them presents.[71][72][73][74]
His MP's salary is traditionally transferred to charity[45]
Akhmetov was elected as a member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) during the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election for the Party of Regions.[3][4][75] But only appeared in the Verkhovna Rada building during his inauguration.[75] Nevertheless his vote was registered.[75] Voting for other deputies is prohibited by law.[75] However, Leader of the party's faction in the Verkhovna Rada Oleksander Yefremov has mentioned that Rinat Akhmetov is still providing a "substantative support" to the fraction by means of "functioning expert groups he established that are counselling on draft laws".[76][77]
On 11 October 1996[78] Rinat Akhmetov, who had been investing heavily both in players and in training complexes for FC Shakhtar,[79] was appointed club president. Under command of Rinat Akhmetov, FC Shakhtar became Premier League Champions in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, won Domestic Cup in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011, Super-Cup in 2005, 2008 and 2010, and UEFA Cup in 2009.[78]
In 1999 Shakhtar Football Academy for youth was open.[80]
In 2010 the FC Shakhtar Museum was established, where visitors can find out more about great Shakhtar legacy. In 2011 the Museum was nominated for European Museum of the Year 2012 Award,[81] that unites 50 best European museums. It is recognized as the biggest sport museum in Ukraine and CIS[82][83]
On May 8, 2011, the Walk of Fame was launched at Donbass Arena to honor prominent players and coaches, who served the team during its 75-year history.[84]
On May 14, 2011, the magnificent ceremony of marking the 75th anniversary of FC Shakhtar was organized, where Presidents Viktor Yushchenko, Viktor Yanukovich, other prominent politicians were present, as well as sport starts and show-biz celebrities were present. Over 52 000 visitors attended the ceremony[85] Rihanna and Milla Jovovich were special guest stars at the show.[86][87] Rinat Akhmetov speach at the ceremony was especially touching as it was dedicated to the team fans of all ages and to the players.[88]
In 2009 Donbass Arena stadium was built in Donetsk at Rinat Akhmetov initiative. It is the first stadium in Eastern Europe that was designed and built to the elite UEFA standards, its seating capacity is over 50,000.[89] Rinat Akhmetov had dreamt about such stadium long before Ukraine has acquired the right to host EURO 2012. At the opening ceremony on 29 August 2009 he addressed to his compatriots: “Dear friends, the Donbass Arena was built thanks to you. The Donbass Arena was built for you.”[90]
In 2004 Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk (the son-in-law of then-President Leonid Kuchma) acquired the steelfactory Kryvorizhstal for about $800 million from the state in a 2004 tender despite much higher bids made by foreign companies.[100] Later, in 2005, the first Tymoshenko Government reversed this sale, and held a nationally-televised repeat auction that netted a record-breaking $4.8 billion.[100]
Rumors about Rinat Akhmetov' criminal ties are as widespread as disputable. Some journalists and researchers have been speculating on allegedly criminal past of Rinat Akhmetov.[101][102][103][104]
Serhiy Kuzin, author of Donetsk Mafia: Anthology, a book published in 2006, claims Akhmetov held the role of a mafia thug in his early years.[103] The book was further regarded as copy-paste compilation of Intenet publications and declared the plagiarism in 2008 by Donetsk Region Court of Appeal, its authors were ordered to pay indemnities for copyright violation.[105][106][107][108] Kuzin's co-author Borys Penchuk, Head of Anticorruption Fund was under official accusation of Donetsk Region Prosecution Office for deliberately misleading reporting of committing offense and extortion and was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment.[109]
In the 1980s, Akhmetov acted as an assistant to Akhat Bragin.[102] By the early 1990s, Akhmetov began acquiring property in Donetsk by means of extortion with the assistance of Vladimir Malyshev, Lieutenant-General, The Head of Ministry of Internal Affairs Department in Donetsk Region.[102] Malyshev would later become chief of security for Akhmetov’s SCM.
In October 1995, Akhat Bragin, former mentor and president of Shakhtar Donetsk football club, was killed in a mysterious bombing at the team's stadium. Bragin and his associates had ongoing conflict with mob groups and rival businessmen, and had survived several attempts on his life. Bragin, who was alleged to have a leadership role in the Ukrainian mafia, was succeeded by Akhmetov as team president following his death.[103][104] Following the assassinations, Akhmetov is thought to have “inherited a vast financial empire from Bragin”[102]. Akhmetov answered these allegations during his interview to a journalist Christina Demkovich in 2010, denying he has ever inherited any money: "I have earned my first million by trading coal and coke, and spent the money on assets that no one wanted to buy. It was a risk but it was worth it".[110]
In 1999, an official Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs report identified Akhmetov as a leader of an organized crime syndicate. The report tied the group to money laundering, financial fraud, and the control of numerous large and fictitious companies.[111]. In June 2005, Serhiy Kornich, then head of the Interior Ministry's economic crimes department, stated publicly that Akhmetov was "the head of [an] organized crime group."[112] A month later, in July 2005, Kornich denied his words, having noted that only Minister of the Interior or the Prosecutor-General shall be entitled to make such statements.
After the 2004 Ukrainian presidential elections and the ensuing Orange Revolution, according to political journal's The Nation and the Journal of Democracy, Akhmetov was investigated on both murder charges and his alleged role in organized crime in the Donetsk region . To avoid the investigation he was prompted to flee the country to Monaco.[2][113] The following year, Borys Kolesnikov, a friend and associate who had been tied to Akhmetov in links to organized crime since the 1980s, was arrested on charges of extortion and conspiracy to assassinate a rival Donetsk businessman. Charges against Akhmetov and Kolesnikov were dropped in 2006 amid a significant rise in political power by the former, ending Akhmetov's exile.[2]
As per Akhmetov's lawyer Mark MacDougall, "Akhmetov has done a lot of work to protect his good name from false accusations, which might hurt the reputation of his family and business. As the result of it, many publications in Ukraine and other European countries had published retractions and apologies… [and] admitted that their claims are false. We think that these facts speak for themselves”.[114]
In 2007, the Kyiv Post, the primary English language daily newspaper in Ukraine published an article relating to Mr. Akhmetov’s business transactions. The Kyiv Post published an apology stating that “on closer examination, we concluded these allegations relating to Mr. Akhmetov were untrue and have no basis in fact.”[115]
In 2007, the German language Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (“NZZ”) retracted defamatory statements from published earlier article regarding Mr. Akhmetov’s early business career in the 1990s, noting that “there is no connection between Akhmetov … and organized crime in Ukraine” and “[t]he economic success of Akhmetov is not based by any means on criminally acquired starting capital.”[116]
In 2008, a judgment was obtained from the High Court of Justice in London after Obozrevatel, a Ukrainian language Internet publication refused to retract false and libelous statements alleging that Mr. Akhmetov was connected to criminal activity and violence. Following the court judgment Obozrevatel issued an official apology stating: “The editorial hereby admits that there was unchecked and false information about Rinat Akhmetov present in the … articles … We hereby give our apologies to Rinat Akhmetov for the problems resulted from the above-mentioned publications.”[117][118]
An Internet website www.golocalprov.com (“GoLocalProv”) based in Providence, Rhode Island, published in 2010 allegations re Rinat Akhmetov criminal activities. Subsequently, the Providence Journal engaged in a detailed review of the allegations on GoLocalProv’s site and published an investigative piece that fully discredited those allegations and the sources on which they were based. The Providence Journal concluded that “key elements of the [GoLocalProv] story are false or unproven” and that the story presented “suspicions, suggestions, innuendo, and conspiracy theories” as fact[119]
In 2010 the French [120] Le Figaro issued a retraction of previously published false allegations regarding Rinat Akhmetov and apologized to Mr. Akhmetov for the untrue information.[121][122][123]