Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskiy, who was arrested in Kyiv last month on suspicion of fraud and money-laundering, has transferred corporate rights over his 1+1 media group to the company’s employees.
In a statement published on 1+1’s website on October 26, Kolomoyskiy said he made the decision “to protect and preserve the principles of freedom of speech, impartiality, and the objective coverage of events.”
The statement added that the transfer was effective for five years, though Kolomoyskiy retains ownership of the group.
Kolomoyskiy, 60, is a former supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and one of Ukraine’s richest people. His television station has been credited with helping the political novice win a landslide 2019 victory over incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.
He was originally detained on September 2 and accused of fraud and money-laundering. On September 15. Ukraine’s SBU security service announced an additional embezzlement charge.
Kolomoyskiy has denied wrongdoing and is being held on $14 million bail. His supporters say he is being wrongly prosecuted in an effort by Ukrainian officials to demonstrate to Western allies that they are serious about fighting corruption.
Kolomoyskiy is arguably the most notorious of the Ukrainian tycoons who emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union's collapse and snapped up former state assets at rock-bottom prices, sometimes deploying extralegal or violent methods.
A native of Dnipro, a major industrial city in southeastern Ukraine, Kolomoyskiy has owned banks, energy firms, metals companies, airlines, and one of the nation's most influential television channels.
In 2021, he was blacklisted by the U.S. State Department for alleged corruption and undermining democracy at home. The case is considered a litmus test for Zelenskiy’s proclaimed anti-corruption campaign, which he calls “de-oligarchization.”
The 1+1 media group is one of the largest media holdings in eastern Europe, including three television channels, the TSN.ua and Glavred news websites, and the UNIAN news agency, RFE/RL reports.
