The League of “Leading” Oligarchs: Yeremeyev, Firtash, Stavytsky, Kolomoisky

The League of “Leading” Oligarchs. Weekly Review December 1-7, 2014 “Real” guy Yeremeyev, far-sighted Firtash, lucky “Edik the Golden Tower” and unlucky Kolomoisky

The main “lucky one” of the past week can safely be considered the people’s deputy Igor Yeremeyev, who now actually has his own ministry. By decision of the Verkhovna Rada, the new Minister of Infrastructure became Andriy Pivovarsky, who previously worked as the CEO of Yeremeyev’s and his partner’s Continuum Group Stepana Ivakhiva (WOG gas station chain). The department from whose leadership Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s friend Maksym Burbak was removed (Read more about him in the article by Maksym Burbak: How Chernivtsi residents sat on Donetsk’s “golden toilet”), supervises such financial organizations as Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukravtodor, the State Aviation Service, the seaport administration – that is, an enterprise with a turnover of tens of billions of hryvnias. Which even before this allowed the owners of Continuum to earn a lot of money by receiving contracts for the supply of fuel – only Ukrzaliznytsia concluded contracts with Yeremeyev’s companies in 2013-2014 for more than 5.5 billion hryvnias. Now there are suspicions that both port workers, road workers, and aviators will prefer to refuel at WOG, for which Yeremeyev gets two pluses in his record.

The “Austrian prisoner” Dmitry Firtash also did a good job. The general meeting of creditors of the Sumykhimprom plant, which is owned by the state but managed by the people of the gas oligarch, voted last week for a plan to reorganize the enterprise, stretching out over a record 17 years. Why exactly this term was chosen by the creditors’ committee, in which all members represent the interests of Firtash, is unknown. Perhaps this is the kind of prison term that awaits Dmitry Vasilyevich in the United States, where the FBI has not lost hope of delivering him. But the fact remains that if the document is approved, no one except Firtash will be able to buy the state-owned stake in the plant. For which he gets a “+1” point – for his far-reaching plans.

Unexpectedly, the former Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky, aka Eduard Rosenberg, aka “Edik the Golden Derrick”, also ended up in the black. Last week, it became known that the Supreme Commercial Court of Ukraine had made a decision that overturned the ruling of the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal on recognizing the ownership rights of the Cypriot company Deripon Commercial to 90% of the shares of the mining company Ukrnaftoburenie. Thus, the court satisfied the cassation appeal of the UK-registered company Ares Systems, which the media attribute to Stavytsky’s sphere of influence. Even more surprisingly, he won this fundamental dispute against Igor Kolomoisky himself, who planned to get rid of his fugitive partner in this way. But he did not expect that the judicial paths in Ukraine would be so inscrutable that even Stavytsky, who was put on the international wanted list and who received a “+1” point for persistence, would be closer to the Ukrainian Themis than the main “Zhidobanderite”.

Another VIP fugitive, Oleksandr Yanukovych, managed to snatch a “point” last week. According to media reports, Donetsk businessman Igor Balabanov, whose activities were previously concentrated in the furniture trade and yacht manufacturing, is preparing to become the new head of Centrenergo. However, evil tongues say that Balabanov, first of all, knows how to “resolve” issues in the ATO zone regarding coal supplies from the “kopankas”, which remained under the control of the eldest son of the former president of Ukraine.

Unlike Stavytsky and Yanukovych, Rinat Akhmetov rather played a draw. His FUIB was able to restructure its debts to creditors, which is an undoubted plus in the current conditions. As reported by the bank’s press service with reference to the chairman of the board Sergei Chernenko, FUIB agreed with the holders of its Eurobonds for $252 million on the extension of the debt for 4 years. At the same time, the yield rate of the securities was maintained at 11%. On the other hand, Ukrtelecom, owned by the Donetsk oligarch, lost the right to the sole use of 3G frequencies. Namely, the National Commission for Regulation of Communications and Informatization deprived Ukrtelecom of the right to use the 5 MHz band of the 3G range. Not the best news on the eve of the tender for 3G communications, which will take place in the first quarter of 2015.

Well, the main loser of the week was the already mentioned Igor Kolomoisky. As we have already indicated, he may be sent off the field in the battle with Firtash for Sumykhimprom, missed an offensive goal from Stavytsky and lost a valuable player in the match with the Prosecutor General’s Office. On the initiative of which (as part of the case on coal supplies from South Africa), the Pechersk Court arrested for two months the director of Ukrinterenergo, Vladimir Zinevich, who is close to Igor Valerievich. It seems that the friction between the Dnepropetrovsk governor and the President is becoming increasingly flammable. And perhaps Kolomoisky, if we follow his own winged expression, is getting closer and closer to the cash register, where the scoreboard has already shown him “-2” points – for overestimating his capabilities and underestimating his opponents. However, we should not forget that Igor Valerievich, like no one else, knows how to dodge, so the reckoning may not happen very soon. And by that time, he may have a dozen bonus and discount cards in his hands.

Alexey KOZHEMYAKIN, SLED.net.ua

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