On December 1, a large-scale study was completed in Ukraine - The Second National Rating of Influence "Elite of Ukraine". Its result was 24 ratings of influential persons from each region and a national hundred of key figures of the state.
The rating of the most influential people in the Odessa region in 2021 was balanced and pragmatic. Twenty people on the list represent local self-government, a third are businessmen, nine are representatives of the judiciary, and eight are people's deputies. Not everyone found a place in the ranking - only the largest businessmen who make a significant contribution to the country's economy, famous athletes; top-level politicians and spiritual leaders of the region; defenders of the country and talented cultural workers.
Conditionally, the participants of the Odesa rating can be divided into three parts. The first twenty are "heavyweights", known to everyone, actively influencing the situation in the region as a whole. Places from the 20th to the 50th were occupied by independent figures capable of influencing the situation in Odessa and the region. In the lower half of the list, there are persons who are influential in the spheres of their professional activities, strong top managers.
The experts of the National rating of influence awarded the first place to a businessman and philanthropist, the head of the KADORR Group corporation and the largest investor in the south of Ukraine Adnan Kivan. His position in Odessa is unshakable and strong, despite the long-term war with the Odessa mayor Gennady Trukhanov. From year to year, Kivan is included in the ranking of the richest Ukrainians, and recently he has launched a sharp offensive on the construction market of the capital. Neither crisis movements in the economy, nor the global corona virus pandemic, nor political wars prevent Kivan from building stably and handing over all objects on time. His companies provide tens of thousands of jobs for Ukrainians, and even more people live in houses built by the businessman.
The second term of the rating of the most influential Odessans is shared by two people, business partners Boris Kaufman and Alexander Granovsky. In their eyes, they are called "beneficiaries of the Odessa City Hall", this implies that the real power in the city does not belong to the city head at all. In addition to political leverage, the partners own a wide variety of assets in Odessa and across the country — starting with the Tedis tobacco holding and ending with the International Odessa Airport, which makes the empire of businessmen one of the largest Ukrainian taxpayers.
In third place is the mayor of Odessa Gennady Trukhanov. Rumors about his imminent resignation combined with a pile of criminal cases have followed the Odessa mayor almost since the first days of his mayoralty. However, year after year, when it would seem that the inevitable is about to happen, Trukhanov manages to rise from the ashes like a phoenix bird and continue to steer with a firm hand. Barely fending off last year the accused in the scam with the purchase of the building of the Krayan plant, the mayor did not enjoy a quiet life for long - this year the General Prosecutor's Office and NABU accused him of creating an organized crime group that looted Odessa lands, and the key players of his team became candidates for imprisonment . However, Trukhanov himself managed to escape from the bars at the last moment, enlisting the sudden "friendship" of Rynat Akhmetov's business partner, oligarch Vadym Novinsky, who posted a bond exceeding a million dollars for the suspect.
The fourth place of the patriarch of Odessa politics Sergei Grinevetsky, who at the end of 2020 returned to his familiar position as the head of the Odesa region. However, in the 15 years that have passed since his last term, the situation in the country has changed radically. If then, in fact, he was a full-fledged owner of the region, a local feudal lord, then now he is an ordinary cog in the presidential vertical. Therefore, in this case, such a high position is the result not so much of the surname, but of the position.
The fifth place belongs to a very influential and at the same time extremely non-public person - the head of the Odessa SBU department Viktor Dorovsky. He is the son of a major Kharkiv businessman, and according to rumors, first of all, it was the support given by his father to the future head of state during the election campaign that allowed him to occupy such a high position, in which Dorovsky is becoming more and more confident every day. We will add that the young head of the regional SBU has an impressive fleet of vehicles - three expensive foreign cars are recorded in his declaration: BMW X6, 2015. ,BMW X5, 2008, and his wife is the owner of a Mercedes-Benz G, 2017.
The representative of "Servants of the People" took the sixth place Hryhory Didenko. Before his appointment as the head of the Odesa Regional Council, he was engaged in entrepreneurial activities in the agricultural sector, owned several companies and was practically unknown. However, at the end of last year, as a result of a heated struggle under the rug, with fights in the session hall, broken chairs and broken doors, the deputies still came to a consensus and elected Dydenko as the head of the local parliament. They say that not the last role in the bright takeoff of his career was played by the official's wife, a member of the Verkhovna Rada from the ruling party "Servant of the People" Yulia Dydenko.
Be that as it may, over the past 11 months, Dydenko has grown in political "fat" and influence in the region, while not being involved in a single major scandal.
The seventh place is shared by two brothers — Egor Grebennikov and Andrey Stavnytser, the owners of Transinvestservis ("TIS"), essentially the largest private port in Ukraine with a complete corresponding infrastructure, including its own railway station.
The interests of the brothers are diverse, which is their main difference from many big businessmen: they are actively involved in the public life of Odessa and the region, are recognized as well-known philanthropists, supervise social projects, and at the same time, in principle, do not go into politics. During the coronavirus pandemic, Andrey Stavnytser was involved in helping medical institutions in the region and specialized charitable funds, buying medical equipment, and during the most difficult time, he was the head of the Anti-Covid Fight Headquarters in the region. This year, his brother Egor Grebennikov bought the lease rights to the Zeleny Theater in Odessa: a popular creative platform and one of the favorite places of recreation of Odessa youth. Now the "golden territory" in the center of the city is protected from construction by multi-storey complexes for at least thirty years, as was planned several times before.
The brothers enjoy authority both among big business and among young Odessans, who see them as businessmen of the "new generation", close to the aspirations of ordinary people.
Eighth place in the ranking of the most influential in Agafangela (Savvina), Metropolitan of Odessa and Izmail of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In contrast to central and western Ukraine, the mass transfer of believers and parishes from the UOC (MP) to the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the Odesa region did not happen, so even now, three years later, it is possible to state that it is Metropolitan Agafangel, as before , determines the spiritual life of the region.
On the ninth line of the rating — Natalia Bogatskaya, chairman of the South-Western Court of Appeal. The economic court considers many high-profile cases affecting the interests of many influential people, so the degree of authority of Bogatskaya only grows from year to year. In addition, she heads the Association of Judges of Economic Courts, which unites hundreds of judges from all corners of the country.
The tenth place was taken by the Honorary Citizen of the Odesa Region, the "Gas King" Igor Uchitel. Gas distribution in the country is a monopoly, and in each specific region only one company can manage the networks. In the Odessa region, such a monopoly company "Odessagaz" is headed by Igor Uchitel. Such an asset is a very significant investment, because no matter what the power in the country is, people will always need gas.
In 11th place — Vadim Morokhovsky, Chairman of the Board of Vostok Bank, Head of the Servant of the People faction in the Odessa City Council. Heavy in politics and business, the banker also founded the Museum of Modern Art in the city and supports young chess players, being the president of the Odesa Regional Chess Federation.
Twelfth place for a large Odessa businessman Vladimir Galanternyk. Over the last hour, the position of the man who was called the "shadow" master of Odessa, has seriously shaken. First, the city leadership distanced itself from him, finding new patrons, and secondly, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies took seriously the haberdashery. He is wanted on the territory of Ukraine, but even living in London and not having the official opportunity to set foot on Odessa land, the businessman remains the most influential in solving the key economic and political issues of the region.
The thirteenth line of the rating was taken by the Chief Rabbi of Odessa and the South of Ukraine, the head of the Odessa Jewish religious community "ShomreiShabos" and the Odessa Society of Jewish Culture Abraham Wolf — not the last person in a city where many Jews historically lived. Today, most of the serious disputes of important people of Odessa are resolved, as if by magic, precisely in his office.
The 14th and 15th places are occupied by the prosecutor of the Odesa region Sergey Kostenko and the general of the police, the head of the Odessa administration Mykola Semenyshyn. Both of them were appointed recently, and their high places in the TOP-20 are not related to the merits and qualities that they simply did not have time to show in such a short time, but to the key positions that they occupy.
The sixteenth place at the director of the Odesa branch of "Infoksvodokanal" Igor Lysenko, a monopoly company that provides water supply to both the millionaire city and its suburbs. Water is urgently needed not only by ordinary residents, but also by numerous businesses and industries. This explains such a high place in the rating of the head of the water supply structure. As it is sung in an old Soviet film: "Because there is no water: neither there nor here."
On the seventeenth line of the rating is a veteran of Odessa (and Kyiv) politics, the first vice-mayor Mikhail Kuchuk. In last year's rating, he was absent at all, as he was also absent from the political firmament of Odessa. However, after becoming the first deputy of Gennady Trukhanov in November 2020, Mikhail Ilyich, who supervises construction processes in the city, very quickly regained his former glory and power.
Eighteenth place in Konstantin Tkach, an influential businessman who provides food for Odessa (and not only Odessa) schools and kindergartens. In addition, the most powerful structure in Tkacha's assets is Hertz, a company familiar to every Odesa resident.
On the 19th line of the rating — Ruslan Kivan. General director of the Kadorr Group company. Kivan Jr. is the right-hand man of his father Adnan Kivan and a full partner in the expansion of the family business to other regions of Ukraine. Today, Ruslan Kyvan is responsible for the development and expansion of the family's media assets - USY, Kanal 7, Kyiv Post - these are no longer just separate projects, but the foundation for building a new modern media empire.
Closes the top twenty of the rating of the most influential Odessans Andrey Ivanov — the owner of the Transship Group holding. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of "Transship Group" for the maritime industry - it is a group of three dozen companies around the world, as well as the largest operator of road transshipment in the Azov-Black Sea region. According to Ivanov himself, the holding processes more per hour than all of its competitors combined. In addition, "Transship" builds and repairs turnkey high-tech vessels: both for itself and for export.
21st place in the rating — in Dmitry Titor, director of the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigation, 22nd — to the chairman of the Fifth Appeal Administrative Court Alexander Dzhaburia. 23rd place was taken by the General Director of OJSC "Odeskabel", Honorary Citizen of Odesa Region, Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine Dmitry Iorgachev.
The people's deputy and former head of Odesa OGA was on the 24th line of the rating Nikolay Skorik, the 25th place is occupied by a veteran of the Odessa state service, currently the deputy head of the Odessa region Oleg Muratov.
On the 26th line of the list of the most influential people of the Odessa region, the people's deputy and ex-head of the regional council Alexey Goncharenko. On the 27th place is the chairman of the Court of Appeal of the Odesa region Grigory Kolesnikov.
The 28th place is held by the closest associate of the Odessa mayor, the managers of the executive committee Oleg Bryndak, the 29th — at the former head of the regional council. and now a people's deputy Anatoly Urbansky. Rounding out the top thirty is a volunteer and founder of the "Monster Corporation" Charitable Foundation Kateryna Nozhevnikova, which saved many lives.
It is possible with a complete list of the most influential people of the Odessa region see on the website of the National rating platform.
