Life is not always pleasant for expatriates here. To endure the nation’s hardships, it helps to love Ukraine. Many foreigners do because, for all the problems, there is a lot to love about this nation.
The Kyiv Post picked 38 expats who we think are the richest and most influential.
They are the elite of a foreign community (excluding many Russian citizens living in Ukraine) that might number only 100,000 individuals, including students.
In looking for trends and common denominators from the list, we found some: Many have ethnic, personal or linguistic ties to Ukraine.
Many arrived long ago and remain committed to the nation. Many brought with them special skills or education.
They, in other words, created wealth. They simply didn’t acquire it from government in insider deals, the way that many Ukrainian tycoons did after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
There are unsavory characters among them – political PR hacks and cigarette peddlers for instance – but most created goods or services that made Ukraine a better place.
Another glaring fact sticks out: The scarcity of expats.
It is attributable to the unfavorable investment climate, which seems to be getting even worse since President Viktor Yanukovych took power on Feb. 25. Investors who praised the false “stability” of Yanukovych’s election are now worried about what’s ahead, and justifiably so.
This administration appears ready to stop at nothing to assert complete control over the nation, including its private businesses.
Take a look the situation with ArcelorMittal, which owns the nation’s largest steel mill, in Kryviy Rih. We know why friends of Yanukovych covet the plant.
Two of them, Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk, almost snagged the mill in a sham sale for a paltry $800 million.
Instead, in one of the few triumphs of ex-President Viktor Yushchenko and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the steel mill was auctioned transparently and honestly to the highest bidder – ArcelorMittal – in 2005, netting the people of Ukraine $4 billion more than the sleazy Akhmetov-Pinchuk lowball offer.
State prosecutors are claiming that ArcelorMittal didn’t meet its investment commitments.
This ruse could be how the government justifies taking back the plant and re-selling it to ruling Party of Regions cronies. If this happens, Ukraine can say goodbye to foreign investment — and the expats who usually come with it – for a long time.
Read also ‘The Most Successful Expats’ story by Kyiv Post staff writers Mark Rachkevych, Graham Stack and John Marone.
