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Victor Pinchuk

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Victor Mykhailovych Pinchuk (Ukrainian: Віктор Михайлович Пінчук, Viktor Mykhailovych Pinchuk; born 14 December 1960) is a Ukrainian businessman and oligarch. As of January 2016, Forbes magazine ranked him as 1,250th on the list of wealthiest people in the world, with a fortune of US$1.44 billion.[1]

Victor Pinchuk
Віктор Пінчук
Pinchuk in 2010
Born
Віктор Михайлович Пінчук
Viktor Mykhailovych Pinchuk

(1960-12-14) 14 December 1960 (age 63)
Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Kyiv, Ukraine)
NationalityUkrainian
Alma materDnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute (doctorate)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forInterpipe Group
EastOne Group LLC
Spouses
Elena Arshava
​
(divorced)​
​
(m. 2002)​
Children4

Pinchuk is the founder of EastOne Group LLC, an international investing, project funding and financial advisory company based in London, and of Interpipe Group, one of Ukraine's leading pipe, wheel and steel producers. Pinchuk is the owner of four TV channels and a popular tabloid, Fakty i Kommentarii. He has been a member of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, for two consecutive terms from 1998 to 2006. He is married to Olena Pinchuk, the daughter of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.[2]

Early life and education

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Pinchuk was born in 1960 in Kyiv to Jewish parents[3][4][5] who moved to the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk. in 1987, he graduated from Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute with a doctorate in industrial engineering.[6]

Career

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In 1990, he founded the Interpipe Company on the basis of his patented innovations, which were adopted by leading metallurgical factories in the USSR.[citation needed]

Interpipe is a major producer of seamless pipes and railway wheels. In 2004, Pinchuk and Rinat Akhmetov, two of Ukraine's richest men, acquired the Kryvorizhstal steel factory for about $800 million.[7] Then-President Leonid Kuchma, who is Pinchuk's father-in-law, authorized the state asset sale, which competitors complained was far below market rate.[8] Later, the first Tymoshenko government reversed this sale, and held a nationally televised repeat auction that netted $4.8 billion.[7] In 2006, Pinchuk founded an investment advisory company, EastOne.[9] Its portfolio includes industrial assets such as production of pipes and tubes, rail car wheels, specialty steels and alloys, machinery, as well as media.

Pinchuk was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament between 1998 and 2006 for Labour Ukraine.[10][11] He left politics after he came to the conclusion that Ukraine had reached a level of development when business and politics should be separated.

Pinchuk is a member of the Board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, of the International Advisory Council of Brookings Institution and of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Global Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. Pinchuk holds a share of VS Energy International Ukraine together with Mikhail Spektor and Igor Kolomoisky.[12]

In 2013, American steel makers filed a case with the United States Department of Commerce alleging that Interpipe Group was illegally dumping steel tubes into the American natural gas market.[8] In November 2013, Fitch Ratings downgraded Interpipe because of the dumping accusations and a missed $106 million debt payment.[8]

Accusations of corruption

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On 4 March 2015, at the hearing on Special Control Commission of Privatization in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, oligarch Igor Kolomoisky accused Viktor Pinchuk of receiving a bribe of $5 million a month for the rights to manage Ukrnafta, 50 + 1% of which is owned by the state-owned company Naftogaz of Ukraine. According to Kolomoisky, the money was transferred to offshore companies, the "ultimate owners of which were identified" as Victor Pinchuk and Leonid Kuchma.[13]

"We paid this money, and besides that, we paid dividends to the state, all taxes and everything else. But for the right to receive our dividends, we were forced to pay another 5 million from our dividends to Pinchuk", - said Kolomoisky.

On 18 March 2015, National Anti-Corruption Bureau opened criminal proceedings. According to the investigation, the amount of the bribe to Viktor Pinchuk from 2003 to 2006 was allegedly $110 million.[14]

In December 2015, Pinchuk brought a $2 billion civil action against fellow oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Gennadiy Bogolyubov in the High Court of Justice in London over the 2004 purchase of a Ukrainian mining company. Allegations made include murder and bribery.[15][16] In January 2016, an undisclosed out of court settlement was reached just before the trial was due to start.[17]

Promoting Ukraine to join the European Union

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In 2004, Pinchuk created Yalta European Strategy, an international independent organization to promote Ukraine joining the European Union. Its annual summer meeting in Yalta was a Ukraine-EU forum for debate and policy recommendations development. Since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation these meetings have been taking place in Kyiv. In September 2013, Pinchuk and Tony Blair introduced Hillary Clinton's keynote address to the conference at Livadia Palace, with Bill Clinton in attendance.[8][17] Stefan Fule, Paul Krugman, Alexei Kudrin, Shimon Peres, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Larry Summers and other political and business leaders have attended.[citation needed] In September 2015, Pinchuk donated $150,000 to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in exchange for a 20-minute video appearance by Donald Trump shown at the conference that year in Kyiv.[18] Michael Cohen solicited Douglas Schoen for the donation from Pinchuk, which was the largest outside donation the Trump Foundation received that year.[18][19]

In 2015, Pinchuk promoted closer ties between Ukraine and the EU.[20] He was an active participant in the World Economic Forum at Davos.[21]

In December 2016, Viktor Pinchuk published an article in the Wall Street Journal "Ukraine Must Make Painful Compromises for Peace With Russia", in which he suggested that Ukraine temporarily abandon the prospect of EU membership, exclude NATO membership and make a compromise with Russia on the Crimea peninsula on purpose the achieving peace in Eastern Ukraine.[22] The article drew criticism from Ukrainian political authorities of Ukraine. Then-President Petro Poroshenko canceled a visit to the Davos Ukrainian Lunch, which took place on January 19, 2017.[23]

Former Vice-Prime-Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klimpush-Tsintsadze said that the theses of Pinchuk's "peace plan" had already been used by Russian propaganda.[24] Russia's War Crimes House, formerly Russia House, is building 68, Promenade in Davos rented by Pinchuk, where he informs about Ukrainian civilian war deaths.[25][26]

Personal life and wealth

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Pinchuk with his father-in-law Leonid Kuchma in 2014

Victor Pinchuk is married to Olena Pinchuk, the daughter of the second president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma. Olena Pinchuk runs the ANTIAIDS Foundation, which focuses on prevention and retroviral distribution and AIDS care in Ukraine. She and Pinchuk are friends of singer Elton John and former US President Bill Clinton, whose 65th birthday party Pinchuk attended in Los Angeles.[2][11] Victor Pinchuk has three daughters and a son.

Pinchuk spent more than $6 million on his 50th birthday party in Courchevel, flying in Cirque du Soleil and chef Alain Ducasse.[27]

Forbes ranked him No. 1,250 on the list of the wealthiest people in the world in 2016, with a fortune of US$1.44 billion.[1] Pinchuk was listed as one of the "2010 Time 100 – The World's Most Influential People" in Time Magazine. He was ranked No. 38 on ArtReview magazine's 2013 Power 100 ranking of people in contemporary art.

Philanthropy

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Pinchuk has supported philanthropic projects in Ukraine. In 2006, he consolidated these activities under the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, as of 2013 considered the largest private Ukrainian philanthropic foundation.[6] The foundation is active in the fields of health, education, culture, international affairs, human rights and local communities.[28][29]

The foundation's projects include the largest private scholarship program in Ukraine "Zavtra.UA", the scholarship program for Ukrainian students studying abroad "WorldWideStudies", and the annual "Ukrainian Lunch" and "Philanthropic Roundtable" on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos.[30] The foundation supports and works with a variety of partners, including the network "Yalta European Strategy" created to promote Ukraine's European integration, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Kyiv School of Economics, Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the Brookings Institution, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Israeli Presidential Conference "Facing Tomorrow", and the legal clinics/legal aid projects of the Renaissance Foundation.

Its projects include giving $150,000 to the Trump Foundation as speaking fee in 2015,[31][32][33] the creation of a network of modern neonatal centres throughout Ukraine ("Cradles of Hope"), cooperation programs with the Clinton Global Initiative,[2] the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the ANTIAIDS Foundation of his wife Olena Pinchuk, the creation of the Kyiv School of Economics, a cooperation with the Aspen Institute, the opening of the first large scale contemporary art centre in Ukraine PinchukArtCentre, the production and promotion of a film with Steven Spielberg on the Holocaust in Ukraine, and support of local Jewish communities.[6]

In June 2009, Pinchuk organized the Paul McCartney free concert on Independence Square in Kyiv in front of 500,000 people.[34] As an initiative of the Pinchuk Art Center,[35] in December 2009, Pinchuk announced a new $100,000 prize for artists under the age of 35. The Future Generation Art Prize is awarded every two years and is open to any young artist who applies online. Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, Andreas Gursky and Jeff Koons, artists whose work Pinchuk collects, serve as mentors to the finalists and the winner.[35]

In February 2013, Pinchuk committed to giving half or more of his fortune during his lifetime and beyond to philanthropic causes, joining the Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative founded in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.[36]

Pinchuk has donated from $10 to $25 million to the Clinton Foundation between 1994 and 2005.[37] In 2000, Pinchuk hired former Clinton pollster Douglas Schoen on a $40,000 per month retainer.[8] In 2004, Schoen introduced Pinchuk to Hillary Clinton.[8] Between September 2011 and November 2012, Schoen arranged nearly a dozen meetings between Pinchuk and senior State Department officials, including Melanne Verveer.[8] Emails released by Judicial Watch and obtained through FOIA requests showed that Pinchuk had been invited to dine at Hillary Clinton's home during her tenure at the State department, despite her spokesman's previous denial that they had met during that time.[38] In March 2017, former Trump aid Monica Crowley registered as a foreign agent for Pinchuk.[39]

In November 2014 in Kyiv, Pinchuk was presented with the 2014 Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Award for his work in fostering Ukrainian-Jewish relations.[40]

In June 2022 Pinchuk and his wife donated over £10 million to charity to support Ukrainian soldiers and civilians needing prosthetics, medical treatment, rehabilitation and other humanitarian aid for Ukrainians in the Russo-Ukrainian War. This was through the sale of a Jeff Koons sculpture.[41][42]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Forbes The World's Billionaires". Forbes.
  2. ^ a b c Chozick, Amy; Eder, Steve (20 August 2016). "Foundation Ties Bedevil Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  3. ^ Arielle Thédrel (27 October 2009). "Victor Pinchuk, oligarque philanthrope". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  4. ^ Cnaan Liphshiz (6 February 2013). "Jews occupy top 3 places on Ukrainian list of philanthropists". JTA. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  5. ^ Bloom, Nate (21 May 2010). "Jewish Stars 5/21". Cleveland Jewish News.
  6. ^ a b c Danilova, Maria (13 December 2013). "In Ukraine, a Jewish Oligarch Is a Bridge to the West". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  7. ^ a b Monopolies thrive as toothless state bows to moguls, Kyiv Post (18 March 2010)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Chozick, Amy (13 February 2014). "Trade Dispute Centers on Ukrainian Executive With Ties to Clintons". The New York Times. p. A19. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  9. ^ "EastOne Group Ltd: Company Profile". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  10. ^ Ukraine Political Parties, GlobalSecurity.org
  11. ^ a b "Victor Pinchuk: Friend or foe of Ukraine?". Kyiv Post. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  12. ^ "Михаил Спектор: Сделаем упор на энергетику, гостиничный бизнес и недвижимость, все остальное – продадим". 9 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Спеціальна контрольна комісія Верховної Ради України з питань приватизації". scpp.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  14. ^ Court register of Ukraine, The Court Decision 30.08.2016. "Court register of Ukraine".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ David Barrett (4 December 2015). "Ukrainian oligarchs clash in court over $2bn business deal amid claims of murder and bribery". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  16. ^ Armitage, Jim (13 March 2015). "Oligarchs at war: Claims of murder among Ukrainian billionaires in High Court case". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  17. ^ a b Owen Bowcott, Shaun Walker (22 January 2016). "Ukrainian oligarchs settle mine dispute worth billions out of court". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  18. ^ a b Schmidt, Michael S.; Haberman, Maggie (10 April 2018). "Mueller Investigating Ukrainian's $150,000 Payment for a Trump Appearance". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  19. ^ "YES-2015_MP3EN_20150911.20–46" (video). 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2018 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ Ross, Rory (18 April 2015). "Hillary Clinton's Big Benefactor Has Trade Links with Iran". Newsweek. Retrieved 23 November 2016. The Clintons spoke at Pinchuk's Yalta European Strategy conference, which seeks integration between Ukraine and Europe.
  21. ^ Schoen, Douglas E. (16 October 2016). The End of Authority: How a Loss of Legitimacy and Broken Trust Are Endangering Our Future (First ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 100. ISBN 9781442220324. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  22. ^ Pinchuk, Victor (29 December 2016). "Ukraine Must Make Painful Compromises for Peace With Russia". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Poroshenko to visit Davos, but won't attend Pinchuk's event". Interfax-Ukraine. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  24. ^ "Цена "завтрака" в Давосе". BBC News Україна (in Russian). Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  25. ^ At Russia's Former Davos Forum, an Exhibition of Ukrainian Civilian War Deaths
  26. ^ Russia House in Davos renamed Russia's War Crimes House – The Moscow Times
  27. ^ Henry Samuel (17 December 2010). "Ukrainian oligarch spending £4 million on birthday bash in Courchevel". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  28. ^ "Victor Pinchuk Foundation – Activity". pinchukfund.org.
  29. ^ Chrystia Freeland, Supper with the FT: Victor Pinchuk,Financial Times, 11 December 2009
  30. ^ "Victor Pinchuk Foundation – Projects". pinchukfund.org.
  31. ^ Arnsdorf, Isaac; Vogel, Kenneth P. (22 November 2016). "Trump Foundation acknowledges violating 'self-dealing' ban". POLITICO.
  32. ^ "Trump Foundation Tax Returns: Ukrainian Oligarch Paid $150,000 To President-Elect's Charity As Speaking Fee In 2015". International Business Times. 23 November 2016.
  33. ^ Soldak, Katya. "Ukraine's Victor Pinchuk: The Oligarch In The Middle Of The Crisis". Forbes.
  34. ^ Harding, Luke (15 June 2008). "McCartney back in the former USSR". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  35. ^ a b Carol Vogel, New Prize to Honor Artists Under 35, The New York Times (7 December 2009)
  36. ^ "Victor Pinchuk". The Giving Pledge. 14 February 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  37. ^ Chozick, Amy; Eder, Steven (21 August 2016). "Foundation Ties Bedevil Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  38. ^ Westwood, Sarah (24 August 2016). "Emails show Clinton denied, then met with Ukrainian donor". Retrieved 8 March 2024.[dead link]
  39. ^ Gramer, Robbie (14 March 2017). "One-Time Trump National Security Pick Registers As Foreign Agent for Ukrainian Oligarch". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  40. ^ "Ukrainian Jews seek to rehabilitate Holocaust era priest". The Jerusalem Post. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  41. ^ "Jeff Koons sculpture worth up to $12.5 million to be auctioned for Ukraine aid". 9 June 2022.
  42. ^ "Victor Pinchuk Donates £10.2m Koons Balloon Monkey to Aid Ukraine".
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