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World Jewish News
Three of the four Ukrainian billionaires are Jewish
19.03.2009
Three of the four Ukrainian billionaires are Jewish. These are the data of the annual billionaires list by the Forbes magazine, reports JTA .
The highest place in the ranking among Ukrainian Jews took a 48-year-old Viktor Pinchuk, a business tycoon and son-in-law of the former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. In the global list of billionaires, he dropped from the 203rd to the 246th place.
A 47-year-old Igor Kolomoysky, co-owner of the corporation «Privat», who has shares in the steel and financial sectors of the economy, also dropped in the ranking, together with his business partner, a 47-year-old Gennady Bogoliubov. Note that in October last year Kolomoysky was elected President of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Jewish leaders say that a large number of Jews in the list by Forbes is a source of mixed emotions, pride and concern for the Jewish community. Jews make up about 0.5 % of Ukraine's population of 46 million people, and some Jews fear that a disproportionate number of Jews among the business and political elite will strengthen anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Ukrainian Jewish billionaires come from the industrial city of Dnepropetrovsk. They are advocates and sponsors of the Ukrainian Jewish community.
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