Igor Kolomoisky is one of the wealthiest oligarchs in Ukraine, thanks to PrivatBank, which he founded in the 1990s. According to Forbes, he is a billionaire with a net worth of $1 billion.
He is also one of the most influential businessmen in Ukraine. Kolomoisky is the owner of the superyacht LAUREN L.
| NAME | Igor Kolomoisky |
| NET WORTH | $1 billion |
| SOURCE OF WEALTH | PrivatBank |
| BORN | 1963 |
| COUNTRY | Ukraine |
| YACHT | LAUREN L |
Igor Kolomoisky’s NET WORTH
Kolomoisky was first listed as a billionaire in 2007 by Forbes, with a net worth of $3.8 billion.
After the rapid decline of the Ukrainian Hryvnia (Ukrainian currency) in 2015, his net worth was listed as $1.36 billion by The Economist. Forbes currently lists his net worth at $1 billion.
Kolomoisky is the owner of a media company. He is an ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky. The President’s “Servant of the People” show ran on Kolomoisky’s channels. The billionaire has been quiet since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
He is the owner of the superyacht LAUREN L. She is a converted passenger yacht that had accommodations for 100 guests.
She now accommodates 40 guests and 32 crew members on her 90m length. He owns two private jets, a UR-WRR (Hawker 800XP) and a UR-WRS (Hawker 850XP).
BUSINESS
Kolomoisky is the founder of PrivatBank, the largest bank in Ukraine. He co-founded the bank in 1992 and was the first bank in Ukraine to introduce plastic cards and ATMs.
The bank had a market share of 50% in Ukraine by 2016. Kolomoisky owned 49% of the bank.
In 2016, Kolomoisky and his business partner Gennadiy Bogolyubov were accused of defrauding PrivatBank of billions through unsecured loans to shareholders. The government nationalized the bank as a result.
The lawsuit was taken to the High Court in London, and Kolomoisky’s assets were frozen due to the accusation, amounting to $2.6 billion.
In 2018, the High Court found that PrivatBank had fabricated the case and ruled that the nationalization of the bank was illegal in 2019. Kolomoisky seeks reparations, which amount to $2 billion.
PrivatGroup is an informal extension of PrivatBank and has had holdings in airlines and media assets.
Kolomoisky has also had a political career. He was the governor of his native Dnipro region from March 2014 to March 2015. He was fired by the Ukraine president at the time, Petro Poroshenko.
Kolomoisky was sanctioned by the US in March 2021 for corruption under his watch during his leadership role in the Dnipro region.
Kolomoisky and his family are banned from entering the US due to his alleged corrupt practices in Ukraine.
PERSONAL LIFE
Kolomoisky was born in 1963 to Jewish parents in Ukraine. He is married to Irina Kolomoisky with two children, Angelika Kolomoiska and Gregory Kolomoisky. The pair live in Kyiv.
Igor Kolomoisky’s name has several translations into English, including Igor and Ihor. His surname has various interpretations, including Kolomoyskyi, Kolomoysky, Kolomoisky, Kolomoiskiy, or Kolomoyskiy.
Although there are several interpretations of this name, he more often uses the nickname Benya (Беня), after the infamous Jewish criminal reprobate from Ukraine, Benya Kirk.
The character was fictionalized in The Odessa Tales by Isaac Babel. He is also called after the Soviet cartoon, Bonifatsiy.
