On June 21, the public learned that UMH Group, one of thecountry’s largest media holdings, whose titles include the respected Forbes Ukraine and Korrespondent magazines, was sold to Serhiy Kurchenko, one of the country’s most secretive oligarchs.
In addition to the UMH deal, estimated at $400-500 million, over the past 18 months the 27 year old Kurchenko has bought Metalist Kharkiv football club and the Odesa oil refinery, cumulatively estimated at nearly $700 million. UDAR party leader Vitali Klitschko called Kurchenko a front for powerful interest groups who prefer to stay away from the spotlight. Meanwhile, the deal stipulates former majority owner Borys Lozhkin is barred from launching any publications that would compete with UMH titles for an undisclosed period of time. “I could launch a travel magazine,” he said.
