Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said Kyiv had transferred five strategic enterprises to state control from previous oligarch ownership as part of the country’s wartime effort.
The Ukrainian government seized ownership of top national oil producer Ukrnafta and Ukrntatnafta, the country’s largest refinery that halted operations after being hit by Russian missile strikes in the first months of Moscow’s full-scale invasion Ukraine.
Both companies were controlled by Igor Kolomoisky, an oligarch who backed Zelenskyy’s presidential bid in 2019 and who is now facing probes into the insolvency of PrivatBank, another of his previous businesses.
Kyiv also took over manufacturer MotorSich, an aeroplane turbine and helicopter engine maker based in Zaporizhzhia, a city close to the front lines in the south.
“Such steps, which are necessary for our country in condition of war . . . will help to provide the urgent needs of our defence sector,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram channel statement. “In these difficult times, we must direct all our forces to liberate our land and people and support the Ukrainian army.”
The state seizures — which other officials described as temporary — come after weeks-long Russian missile and kamikaze drone strikes on electricity infrastructure across Ukraine have triggered hours-long daily power blackouts and electricity rationing across the country.
They also come a year after the president pushed through parliament so-called “de-oligarchisation” reforms aimed to curb the influence of the nation’s wealthiest businessmen.
Kolomoisky is facing domestic and international investigations for the insolvency of PrivatBank. The commercial lender was nationalised in 2016 after authorities uncovered losses of more than $5bn unaccounted for in its balance sheet.
Vyacheslav Boguslaev, MotorSich’s former owner and president, was arrested last month on treason charges. Local prosecutors allege he funnelled through sanctioned export operations helicopter engines that Moscow needed.
Boguslaev sold his controlling stake in MotorSich to Chinese company Skyrizon many years ago, but Ukrainian trust and security authorities blocked the move by freezing the shares. Both Kolomoisky and Boguslaev have denied wrongdoing.
AvtoKraz, a truck manufacturer which produces vehicles for domestic military transport as well as rocket systems, was also among the groups taken under state control. It was previously owned by Ukrainian oligarch Kostyantyn Zhevago, who has lived in exile in the past years as Ukrainian authorities pursued cases against him related to the insolvency of a bank he previously owned.
Zaporizhtransformator, an electricity grid parts producer located in Zaporizhzhia, was also seized by the state. Previously owned by businessmen including Kostyantyn Grigorishin, its seizure is designed to secure stable supply of parts needed to repair Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure.
At a joint press briefing on Monday with Zelenskyy’s national security chief Oleksiy Danilov and prime minister Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov insisted the takeovers of these enterprises by the state legally did not amount to “nationalisations”.
“This is a direct taking over of assets during wartime. These are totally different legal forms,” Reznikov was quoted as saying by Reuters.