Alexander Vladilenovich Yaroslavsky
Official biography
Born on December 5, 1959 in Mariupol, Donetsk region.
He graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Public Catering and completed postgraduate studies at the Odesa Institute of Technology.
After serving in the army, he studied at the police school.
In 1986-1987, he was an inspector at the Department for Combating Property Theft of the Moskovsky District Department of Internal Affairs in Kharkiv. He worked at the Kharkiv Institute of Public Catering.
After marrying the daughter of the former head of the Kharkiv region, Oleksandr Masalskyi, Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi went into business. At first, it was gasoline trading and voucher operations.
In 1992, he became the vice president of Gaya JSC. According to some reports, Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi began his career as a businessman together with the former chairman of the Kharkiv Regional Council, Vasyl Salyhin.
In 1996-1997, he was the vice president of the representative office of Triverton International Limited in Ukraine.
Since 1998, he has been President and since 2003, Honorary President of UkrSibbank.
Honorary President of FC Metalist.
In the 2002 parliamentary elections, he ran for parliament on the ROM list (No. 13). He was a member of the Green Party. But the ROM lost the election. Therefore, Yaroslavsky was forced to run in a majority constituency — in June 2003, he received a parliamentary mandate in Chernihiv constituency No. 206. In the parliament, he was one of the initiators of the so-called “Kharkiv” parliamentary group “Democratic Initiatives”.
Later he was a member of Volodymyr Lytvyn’s People’s Party.
In 2007, Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi was ranked 61st in the “Top 100” of the most influential people in Ukraine by the Korrespondent magazine.
He is a member of the Supervisory Board of UkrSibbank BNP Paribas Group.
In 2007, he was ranked 82nd in the “200 Most Influential Ukrainians” rating by Focus magazine, and 76th in 2008.
Family.
Mr. Kovalenko is married. His wife is Iryna Oleksandrivna. Son — Oleksandr (born in 1993).
Disclosures.
In 2004, Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi became a sponsor of the well-known Kharkiv separatist Yevhen Kushnarev. The oligarch transferred funds to the account of an organization with the remarkable name “Independence” through the UkrSibbank he controlled. Through it, Kushnarev received funds for sabotage. It is worth emphasizing that Oleksandr Yaroslavsky began to financially support the separatists ten years before the events in Donbas.
In 2006, Natalia Vitrenko, the leader of the Party of Regions, stated that Oleksandr Yaroslavsky had falsified the results of the parliamentary elections. As a result, Lytvyn’s Bloc was elected to the Verkhovna Rada.
Oleksandr Yaroslavsky is also associated with many Russian oligarchs. In particular, he is suspected of partnering with scam metallurgists known as the Chorny brothers. They are currently on the Russian wanted list and are hiding in Israel. In addition, Yaroslavsky is alleged to have common business interests with Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska. According to the SBU, the Ukrainian oligarch planned to carry out a sabotage with the latter. According to media reports, after Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi acquired the Kharkiv Tractor Plant, some of the equipment was dismantled for spare parts and prepared for shipment to Russia. Thanks to a special operation by the Security Service of Ukraine, the cargo did not leave the country. It is assumed that the materials being shipped could have been used by Russian representatives for military purposes.
By the way, the Kharkiv oligarch is close friends with scandalous billionaires Ihor Kolomoisky and Dmytro Firtash. He has particularly close criminal and business relations with the former. Rumor has it that after the fall of Yanukovych, it was Benya Kolomoisky who helped Yaroslavsky retain his sphere of influence. Oleksandr Yaroslavsky himself denies any connection with the odious banker. In 2017, he commented on these rumors with an ambiguous phrase: “I have five children, what do I need Kolomoisky for!”
The press does not know what Benya has to do with Oleksandr Yaroslavsky’s fertility.
Fatal accident near Kharkiv
On February 10, 2022, the communication department of the Kharkiv regional police reported a fatal accident that had occurred the day before on the Kyiv-Kharkiv-Dovzhanskyi highway. An unidentified car hit a pedestrian. It was later established that the man was hit by Oleksandr Yaroslavsky’s motorcade, and license plates were found at the scene of the accident.
The DCH group, which is owned by the businessman, said that the driver was a driver working for one of the auxiliary services. He surrendered and is cooperating with the investigation. The press service confirmed that Yaroslavsky had flown to London. The official purpose of the visit is to meet with his family in accordance with the work schedule that was set up earlier this week. Yaroslavsky himself said that he was sleeping at home when he learned about the accident.
The accident has gained wide publicity. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said that the driver, who surrendered to the police, was elsewhere at the time of the accident. For its part, the State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal investigation into an attempt to falsify the case.
During the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement officers conducted court-authorized searches at the businessman’s hotel and residence, as well as at the residence of the driver who surrendered to the police. The purpose of the searches was to extract information from CCTV cameras, confirm the use of the car and the involvement of other persons in the accident.
Yaroslavsky’s motorcade cars were washed to destroy information — police
Two cars from the motorcade of Kharkiv businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, who were involved in the accident, were taken to Kyiv for forensic examinations. This was reported by the press service of the National Police of Ukraine on February 18.
Law enforcement officers clarified that they had seized all items relevant to establishing the circumstances of the accident.
«Experts found out that before the seizure of the cars, certain elements, namely the front, wheels and bottom, had been washed away. This indicates an attempt by the defendants in the criminal proceedings to destroy trace information that may indicate the involvement of the cars in the accident, and thus avoid responsibility for the fatal accident,» the release said.
Dmytro Drobot, a deputy of the Chuhuiv District Council, wrote on Facebook that it was more important for Yaroslavsky to be in London with his children on vacation than to answer questions from law enforcement.
“You are the king of Kharkiv. You drive boldly by yourself. You have Metal, Khartsyzsk Pipe, the airport and a cloud of different companies in Group D. Life seems to be a success. One day — maybe not for the first time — you hit a person. You don’t stop to think about it. Maybe not even you, but the one who said he was, turned out not to be. And it’s still not clear who hit him,” Drobot said.
Yaroslavsky left Ukraine
The same Ukrainska Pravda media outlet wrote shortly after the news of the accident involving Yaroslavsky’s motorcade that the businessman had left Ukraine on a chartered flight.
Allegedly, the plane from Poland arrived in Kharkiv at 12:50 and flew back at 13:50. The journalists noted that Yaroslavsky and his father-in-law, Sergey Sventitsky, were on the plane.
According to the Flightradar web service, the plane is heading to Farnborough Airport (London).
The businessman’s press service confirmed that “in accordance with the work schedule formed at the beginning of the week” Yaroslavsky flew to London to meet with his family.
TSN is trying to get more information about the accident from the Kharkiv police.
Oleksandr Yaroslavsky financed Putin’s Russian occupation army for $110 million
Oleksandr Yaroslavsky has established control over one of the largest iron ore enterprises in Ukraine in the Evraz holding for $110 million, which is owned by the wallet of Russia’s chief communist fascist Vladimir Putin — Roman Abramovich.
The transaction was completed through the transfer of the entire share capital of Kadish Limited (the company that owns the shares of EVRAZ Sukha Balka) by EVRAZ Group S.A. to the buyer. The transaction amounted to $110 million, which is comparable to the level of working capital and debt of the iron ore company.
Official announcement from Yaroslavsky:
BERKLEMOND INVESTMENTS LTD, a member of Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, has acquired EVRAZ Sukha Balka, an iron ore mining company. The company includes two mines — Yubileynaya and Frunze. Last year, the company sold over 2.5 million tons of sinter ore. The transaction amounted to $110 million, which is comparable to the level of working capital and debt of an iron ore company. The company specializes in underground iron ore mining. “Evraz-Sukha Balka specializes in the extraction and production of commercial iron ore. It is a part of Evraz Group (Russia). Palmrose B. V. (the Netherlands), a 100% subsidiary of Evraz Group (Russia), owns 99.2521% of the shares in Evraz-Sukha Balka. Evraz plc is a large vertically integrated steel and mining company with operations in Russia, the USA, Italy, South Africa and Ukraine. The largest beneficiaries of the group are Roman Abramovich, Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov.
Kharkiv “showdown”
Among Yaroslavsky’s best-known assets today are Kharkiv Airport and DCH, a company that deals mainly with construction projects, including roads. By the way, there has been a conflict over the road through the famous Barabashovo market for years, which could put Yaroslavsky at odds with both of the main contenders for the Kharkiv mayor’s seat.
“According to rumors, the current acting mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, promised to reach an agreement with the owner of the market, Alexander Feldman, and remove the road issue. This is evidenced by the fact that the scandals over this issue have stopped. On the other hand, the amount of about 80 million hryvnias was mentioned there-why would Yaroslavsky voluntarily give up this money? So, the point is how the issue of the road will be resolved: will Yaroslavsky’s opponent be Feldman alone, or will it be Feldman plus Terekhov? But this is before the election, and it is not known what will happen next,” says Yermakov.
However, it is not only the road through Barabashovo that may cause problems for Yaroslavsky.
“When Yaroslavsky managed to make peace with Kernes, they united and promised to create a state-of-the-art anti-virus and immunology center in Kharkiv, even bought something, but in the end, nothing happened — they promised and did not fulfill it. Any outbreak of the virus can be a reason to remember the promise. As soon as Oleksandr Vladilenovych feels too independent, he will be reminded of his promises,” says Yermakov.
Moreover, given his former and current ties to big Russian business, the Kharkiv businessman may well be of interest to Bankova, which needs victims to demonstrate its strength and integrity.
Falsification of parliamentary elections
In March 2006, Natalia Vitrenko, the leader of the PSPU, accused Oleksandr Yaroslavsky of participating in the falsification of the 2006 parliamentary elections in favor of the Lytvyn Bloc.
Yaroslavsky has not publicly commented on these accusations.
Billionaire from Kharkiv. The role of the city in Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi’s wealth
Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi is positioned as perhaps the main philanthropist in Kharkiv. But looking back at his professional career, it is more correct to say that he is first and foremost an oligarch, and the first rule of business is personal enrichment. In achieving this goal, the most effective tool of an oligarch is his influence on the government.
In recent months, Yaroslavsky has often shared his grandiose plans with the public. Mostly about how he will return big football to Kharkiv and revive the once glorious Kharkiv Metalist, which went bankrupt five years ago. But there is a great risk that talk of reviving the Kharkiv club is an element of playing to the local public.
In fact, the impending changes in the city government open up prospects for Yaroslavsky that go far beyond the football field. And these prospects will not bring much change to Kharkiv residents, because the businessman is in it for the money, not the scoreboard.
However, more recently, things were not so rosy for Yaroslavsky. Until 2020, he had a protracted and serious conflict with the then-mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes. The strength of Hennadiy Adolfovych’s authority and the voters’ trust in him left Yaroslavsky under no illusions that he could influence the mayor’s decisions. At the same time, Kernes himself clearly indicated Yaroslavsky’s place and role in Kharkiv. “Oleksandr Vladilenovych and I are on opposite sides. I work in the interests of the territorial community, and he increases his wealth,” Kernes said, explaining that no matter how hard the Kharkiv billionaire tried to appear socially oriented, his instinctive focus on using the city’s resources to increase the capitalization of his empire has not disappeared. And there are many examples of this.
How Metalist was “squeezed out” from Yaroslavsky to his advantage
Yaroslavsky has always emphasized that FC Metalist is an exclusively subsidized project for him, where he invests a lot of money just to please his fan heart and, of course, Kharkiv residents. And he was forced to sell the club in 2012 for next to nothing and only because of the unprecedented political pressure exerted on him by Yanukovych’s criminal government in the person of Serhiy Kurchenko. In fact, according to Yaroslavsky, Metalist was “squeezed” from him, in the language of the modern elite, and then killed.
However, whether this is actually the case is at least a controversial issue. The same Kernes directly stated that the deal to sell Metalist was profitable for Yaroslavsky. «Yaroslavsky just loves money and has been preparing a deal to sell Metalist for a long time. He was selling partners, selling business, selling everything,» Kernes said. At the same time, it is known that the deal had been in the works for quite some time, with a detailed audit of the club and its assets, which is not consistent with the public opinion of a «gangster squeeze».
And the amount Yaroslavsky received for Metalist is still unknown. The businessman refuses to disclose it, citing the confidentiality of the contract, saying only that he “received less than $300 million.” At the same time, according to Aleksandr Yaroslavsky, he has invested about $270 million in Metalist over the past 7 years. Given that the football club not only incurs expenses but also brings in money (for example, from the sale of players, leasing of sports facilities, sale of symbols, and TV rights), the deal does not look predatory to Yaroslavsky.
As for the oligarch’s claims that Metalist is completely unprofitable for him, a number of interesting points are also worth noting. Thanks to the Kharkiv football club, Yaroslavsky took an active part in the city’s preparations for Euro 2012, which allowed him to acquire a part of the city’s sports infrastructure. Thus, Yaroslavsky owned a part of the Metalist stadium, including the support facilities of the northern and southern sectors, VIP boxes, basements and a number of other facilities. Given that the stadium is an integral facility, and it is impossible to use it for its intended purpose in parts, it turned out that, without buying the entire stadium, Yaroslavsky received a kind of “controlling interest” in its integral property complex. As a result, this gave him the opportunity to make money on the city’s asset.
Today, Yaroslavsky is actively promoting the revival of Metalist, using his relationship with acting mayor Igor Terekhov as a tool. For the latter, the resuscitation of Metalist has its own reason — it is a strong pre-election PR.
The course taken by Aleksandr Vladilenovich gives him the opportunity to return his assets, but at the same time at least postpone the repayment of almost a billion in debt of Metalist, as it can be “hung” on the city. And his friendship with the Kharkiv authorities allows him to make money on projects unrelated to football and much more profitable.
Not only Russians. How Yaroslavsky uses the Chinese and Turks for business
In recent years, Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi has joined the fight for a controlling stake in Motor Sich in Zaporizhzhia. And on the side of Chinese investors. The deal to buy the company’s shares was blocked by the SBU back in 2016 as harmful to national security. The stake purchased by the Chinese was effectively “stalled”.
And in the summer of 2020, it became known that Yaroslavsky was ready to buy out half of the Motor Sich shares paid for by the Chinese investor. At the beginning of this year, he had already announced that he was a co-owner of Motor Sich together with the Chinese, and his team announced a shareholders’ meeting and assembled a management team to take over the company. However, the Chinese ownership of the controlling stake was not confirmed, which meant that they had no right to sell any part of it. Thus, Yaroslavsky’s actions in this project have at least the initial signs of raiding.
“The “Russian trace” in the Chinese combination around Motor Sich is also visible. The Russians have always been interested in buying this strategic enterprise-they need the plant because it produces, among other things, components for Russian military helicopters. But after 2014, for obvious reasons, any purchase of Motor Sich by the Russians was out of the question. The emergence of a Chinese investor was definitely in Moscow’s favor. And Yaroslavsky somehow helped to ensure that this investor took full ownership of the company, despite the sanctions imposed by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. But it didn’t work out.
But it worked out in Kharkiv with the Turks. Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group became a partner of the Turkish company Makyol, which received a UAH 96.2 million contract to build a road through the Barabashovo market in Kharkiv. The scale, of course, is not the same as with the Chinese at Motor Sich, but it was only the first step.
Almost any activity of Turkish business in Kharkiv is associated with Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi’s companies — not only road construction, but also housing construction, for example. Moreover, Yaroslavsky’s companies are the bidders and winners of city tenders, while the Turks act as partners.
It was even decided to buy Turkish buses for Kharkiv’s public transportation. The decision to purchase was passed through the city council last month by the aforementioned acting mayor, Ihor Terekhov. However, the decision was made long before it was submitted to the session — Terekhov even tried to make a PR campaign out of it, having traveled to Turkey the day before and taken pictures at the Karsan manufacturing plant. 150 buses will be bought, and another 350 will be produced jointly in Kharkiv. And, of course, at Khartsyzsk Pipe. The city budget will also pay for the manufactured buses.
The ease with which Turkish investors, under the patronage of Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, manage to obtain lucrative contracts with the Kharkiv city government reluctantly raises the question of the possible personal interest of certain government officials in these deals.
As for Yaroslavsky, he is not afraid of possible corruption scandals. He is not an official, but a classic businessman who uses his influence on the government to make decisions that take his interests into account.
«The ‘Great’ COVID-19 and Big Construction as Yaroslavsky’s business projects
Oleksandr Vladilenovych does not disdain to make money even on such a painful issue for Kharkiv residents as the COVID-19 epidemic. Back in 2020, when the coronavirus first appeared in Ukraine, budget money was used to buy everything necessary to counter the virus. It was Yaroslavsky who took over control of the anti-crisis headquarters to combat the coronavirus instead of Governor Oleksiy Kucher. All of this led to a high-profile conflict between Yaroslavsky and the governor. Yaroslavsky harshly and publicly criticized Kucher, portraying himself as the savior of Kharkiv from the coronavirus “plague.”
Of course, most of the budget procurement to fight COVID-19, including oxygen concentrators, ventilators, protective equipment, etc., went through companies close to Yaroslavsky. And clearly not without benefit to him. This was publicly stated by Governor Kucher himself.
At the same time, a huge portion of the procured goods was never used for its intended purpose. Already in April of this year, when the third wave of COVID-19 in Kharkiv brought medicine to the brink of collapse and there was a catastrophic shortage of oxygen, the media wrote that the concentrators purchased for budget subventions in 2020 were not used. If this is true, then it turns out that the suppliers have used up the budget, and no one is interested in how the equipment is used.
Yaroslavsky, as is typical of a classic oligarch, tries to influence not only local authorities but also the central government. In this context, his ties with the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, are noteworthy. It was Tymoshenko who publicly defended Yaroslavsky during his conflict with Kucher and tried to reconcile them.
It is not surprising that Yaroslavsky has developed a fruitful cooperation with Tymoshenko as the curator of the Big Construction project in the use of funds for roads. Recently, the company Avtomagistral-Pivden, a member of the so-called “road cartel,” has been awarded many contracts in the Kharkiv region.
“Avtomagistral-Pivden is formally registered in Odesa, but its offices and production facilities are located in Dnipro, where Kyrylo Tymoshenko is from. According to the Nashi Hroshi website, this company was one of the largest contractors of Ukravtodor back in the days of Petro Poroshenko, and back then Avtomagistral-Pivden was promoted by the then and current governor of Dnipropetrovs’k region, Valentyn Reznichenko, and his advisor, Yuriy Holyk.
Tymoshenko worked with Poroshenko as a PR specialist, and when he made a career in Zelenskyy’s team, he called his old friend from Dnipro, Yuriy Holyk, to help him with the Big Construction project. And Avtomagistral-Pivden became one of the favorites in the utilization of Big Construction funds. As for Kharkiv, Yaroslavsky is helping the Dnipro’s “Dnipro” to enter local road repairs and construction through his influence on acting mayor Ihor Terekhov. And it is hardly worth thinking that he does this unselfishly.
If we combine all the elements of Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi’s business life into one, and take into account the use of administrative resources, he fits the definition of an “oligarch” used by the National Security and Defense Council to compile the list of persons whose activities should be regulated by the law being prepared for adoption in the Verkhovna Rada. Moreover, as a longtime and active partner of Russian business, Yaroslavsky and his companies may be included in the sanctions list of those who cooperate with Russia. The same list that already includes the companies of Fuchs, Yaroslavsky’s friend and partner. However, so far Yaroslavsky’s name does not appear on any insider lists of the 13 oligarchs.
Financial situation
- In 2011, Focus magazine estimated Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi’s net worth at $1.403 billion (No. 16 in the ranking of the 200 richest Ukrainians compiled by Focus magazine).
- In 2010, Korrespondent magazine estimated Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s net worth at $797 million (15th in the Golden Hundred rating).
- In 2009, Focus magazine estimated Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s net worth at $172.5 million. According to the magazine, he lost $732.5 million last year.
- In 2009, Korrespondent magazine estimated the businessman’s wealth at $620 million.
- In 2008, the Polish magazine Wprost estimated Yaroslavsky’s wealth at $1.6 billion.
- In 2007, Aleksandr Yaroslavsky was included in the rating of the 50 richest people in Ukraine by Korrespondent magazine. The publication estimated his wealth at $1.3 billion.
Summary
Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi is a corrupt and fraudulent person with no conscience. He committed a road accident, crushing a pedestrian to death, and then disappeared in London the same day. He tried to hide the traces of the crime.