On December 1, a grandiose large-scale study was completed in Ukraine - the Second National Influence Rating "Elit of Ukraine"-2021, conducted by the International Expert Club and rating agency ElitExpert. Its result was 24 ratings of influential persons from each region of the country, and a national hundred of key figures of the state.
Donetsk region, despite the ongoing war, still ranks first in the country in terms of industrial production. It is here that the largest enterprises and factories in the country are located, so it is not surprising that a significant part of the places in the TOP-20 of Donetsk residents were occupied by large businessmen of the region, who are often simultaneously the largest businessmen of the entire country. Another feature of this region is that almost the entire local establishment is directly or indirectly connected with the richest man in Ukraine Rinat Akhmetov.
It was to him that the experts of the rating unconditionally gave the first place. Owner of Metinvest Holding, DTEK, Ukrtelecom, Life mobile operator, president of FC Shakhtar, etc., etc. - it's all about him. And even if a black cat ran between the oligarch and President Volodymyr Zelensky, Akhmetov's influence in the region has not weakened at all and is unlikely to weaken in the future. As they say, presidents of Ukraine come and go, revolutions thunder, but Rynat Akhmetov remains as influential as he was twenty years ago, during the time of Leonid Kuchma.
Rynata Akhmetov's junior business partner took the second place in the rating. Vadim Novinsky - ex-Russian, head of the financial and industrial group "Smart-Holding" and the owner of the blocking package of the metallurgical holding "Metinvest". Novinsky, who is often called an "Orthodox oligarch" in the press, enjoys wide support in the Donbass and once again proved it, easily defeating all opponents in the 2019 parliamentary elections.
Third place in Vadim Boychenko — the mayor of Mariupol. A native of Mariupol, Boychenko worked for 20 years at Rynat Akhmetov's metallurgical enterprises. In 2015, when almost no one knew him, Boychenko put forward his candidacy for the post of mayor of Mariupol and unexpectedly won 72,8% of the vote. Over the next six years, his popularity practically did not decrease - he was re-elected to the new mayor's office with almost the same result as the first time.
He is on the fourth line of the rating of the most influential Pavel Kyrylenko, Chairman of the Donetsk regional military-civil administration. He remains a "faithful soldier" of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, implementing all vertical initiatives launched from above. At the same time, he still has to justify himself for his own family - both his parents and his own brother still live in the occupied territories, and the brother deliberately switched to the side of the enemy and occupies a position in the so-called "Ministry of State Security of the DPR".
Fifth place Sergei Taruta — co-owner of the "ISD" corporation, president of FC "Metallurg" (Donetsk), ex-governor of the Donetsk region and another partner Rynata Akhmetov. Taruta is a permanent member of the lists of wealthy residents of Ukraine, which allows him to directly influence his native land, although it should be recognized that his influence has weakened somewhat in recent years.
The sixth place in the TOP-20 belongs to the general director of the metallurgical plant "Azovstal" of the "Metinvest" group Enver Tskytyshvili. He heads the main city-forming enterprise of the largest city in the controlled part of the Donbass, Mariupol, thanks to which the people of Donbas have the opportunity to pay salaries to state employees and, in the context of a pandemic, to provide hospitals in the region with everything they need. In addition, Metinvest is one of the largest investors in the Ukrainian economy.
He took seventh place Boris Kolesnikov — the former vice-premier of Ukraine, the owner of the confectionery factory "Konty" and "APK Invest" and the president of the hockey club "Donbass". After the collapse of the Party of Regions, he withdrew from politics and recently intensified his activities in the Donetsk region, implementing many projects there, including youth and sports development.
Eighth place in Vitaly Khomutynnik - the former "top "regional", owner of the multi-profile investment holding "Cascade". He is the owner of the radio station "Lyubimoe radio", the insurance company "Brokbusiness" and the indirect owner of the magazine "Focus". He has enjoyed influence in his native region for many years, while a successful businessman has created his "empire" there during his 17 years in parliament. It is curious that, according to his wife, he is the brother-in-law of the showman and, recently, the politician Sergei Prytula, so many suspect that he may somehow get involved in the political project of his relative.
The Hero of Ukraine is in ninth place Taras Shevchenko, general director of "Ilyich Mariupol Metallurgical Combine". It is difficult to overestimate the influence of this largest industrial enterprise of the Azov region and the Donetsk region on the life of the people of Donetsk, which is why Kobzar's full namesake is included in the lists of the most authoritative people of the region from year to year.
The tenth line of the rating in Igor Barsky — Director of the Mariupol Sea Trade Port - the largest port of Ukraine on the Sea of Azov.
In the second half of the rating, the participants were placed as follows. It is on the 11th place Yury Hotlubey — the ex-mayor of Mariupol, now a deputy of the Mariupol City Council, on the 12th: Alexander Pavlyuk - commander of the Operation of the United Forces/ATO - lieutenant general of the Armed Forces.
The thirteenth line in the list of influential Vladimir Petrychenko - the head of the main office of the SBU in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
He took the fourteenth place Alexander Goncharenko, the mayor of Kramatorsk, the administrative center of the Donetsk region.
On the 15th line of the rating — People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 9th convocation Sergei Magera, on the 16th Pavel Ugrovetskyi - the head of the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office.
The seventeenth place of the people's deputy Vladimir Moroz, until recently the head of the Marinskaya military-civil administration.
Eighteenth place in Dmitry Lubynts — Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.
The rating of influence is closed Andrey Aksyonov - people's deputy, ex-mayor of the city of Dobropole, and mayor of Slavyansk Vadim Lyakh, ranked 19th and 20th, respectively.
