Martin Nunn, the British-born CEO and co-owner of the Ukraine Business Journal publication, died on July 29 while sailing in the Kyiv Sea, a water reservoir on the Dnipro River, Paul Niland and Stuart McKenzie – both former presidents of the Kyiv Lions Club charity – told the Kyiv Post.
Nunn, also ex-president of the Kyiv Lions Club and CEO of Kyiv-based public relations firm Whites Communication since 1994, apparently died of a heart attack and fell off his sailing boat, they said.
Nunn “was very active in supporting Ukraine and was always promoting Ukraine,” McKenzie said.
“Martin Nunn was a passionate man, he loved his work and he loved to sail, he loved his wife and his children, and he loved his involvement with the Kyiv Lions Club,” Niland said. “His untimely death today is being mourned by many, but in particular by his fellow Lions Club members. Every club or organization needs a leader, those of us who have had the privilege of leading the Kyiv Lions Club know that it is both a great honor and a great responsibility, Martin put himself forward to take on the job of president of the Kyiv Lions Club not once, but twice.”
Niland also said that “during the years when Martin wasn’t leading the club, he still invested time and his great energy into the work of the organization, organizing fundraising events and (hosting) gala dinners.”
“Over the years, his passion for the Kyiv Lions Club has resulted in many tens of thousands of dollars being raised for and spent on good causes,” he added. “This is how I will remember him. It is fitting that his final moments were spent doing one of the things he was most passionate about, sailing his racing yacht on the Kyiv Sea. Kyiv has lost a good man, many of my friends are heartbroken and in shock. What a shame we will never get to laugh with him again. RIP, my friend.”
Martin Nunn also did communications consulting for Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
“Just found out that Martin Nunn passed. It’s hard to believe it. He was a professional of a rare kind,” Yatsenyuk told the Kyiv Post. “He loved life so much. He had a sophisticated sense of humor and a passion for sailing… rest in peace, Martin. My deepest condolences to all his family, friends, and colleagues.”
