Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov announced on Monday that he was handing over his entire media empire to the state. This as part of a law aimed at undoing “the excessive influence of the oligarchson the economy.
“This week, Media Group Ukraine will hand over to the state all Ukrainian licenses for our television channels and print media. We will also cease our online media activities“, he announced in a press release published on the website of his holding company SCM.
Coming into force of a law
The 55-year-old businessman clarified that this decision was “dictation“by the entry into force of a law aimed at”prevent national security risks related to the excessive influence of the oligarchs“, adopted in September 2021.
In his statement, he regretted that the “six-month statutory deadline for selling media assets, coupled with Russian military aggression once morest Ukraine, makes it impossible for SCM to sell its media business on market terms“. Media Group Ukraine is made up of ten television channels, including several news channels, a video-on-demand platform and a news website.
Mykhaïlo Podoliak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, welcomed this decision on Twitter, saying that “the law of ‘désoligarchisation’ is the beginning of a new page in the relations between the State and the companiesIt comes as the leaders of the Twenty-Seven granted Ukraine the status of EU candidate on June 23, accompanied by a long roadmap.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, notably requested that the law aimed at undoing “the excessive influence of the oligarchs on the economy” that is “implemented in a legally sound manner“.
With a fortune estimated by Forbes at 4.2 billion dollars, Rinat Akhmetov is the president of the football club Shakhtar Donetsk. SCM Holdings is mainly active in the steel industry, energy but also the coal industry and metallurgy.
