Rinat Akhmetov

Early life

Rinat Akhmetov was born in Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, to a working-class family. He is an ethnic Volga Tatar and a practicing Sunni Muslim. His father, Leonid Alekseyevich Akhmetov, was a coal miner. His mother, Nyakiya Nasredinovna, was a shop assistant. His parents are Mishar Tatars and originate from the village of Surgod in the Torbeyevsky District of Mordovia. Akhmetov had an older brother, Igor, who also worked as a coal miner but had to resign due to work-related health complications. Igor died on 24 January 2021. Akhmetov earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Donetsk National University in 2001. Akhmetov is married to Lilia Smirnova, an ethnic Russian. They have two sons.

The fortune

In 2018 Akhmetov's fortune was valued at approx. $5.9 billion. Bloomberg reported that he was the richest person in Ukraine and that he had regained all of his losses suffered after the conflict with Russia in 2013–2014. Rinat Akhmetov's key assets are based in the east and south of Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, he has lost two thirds of his fortune, including steel, energy and agricultural assets. Overall, Russian forces have destroyed about 70 companies owned by Rinat Akhmetov. In February 2023 all of Akhmetov's assets in Russian occupied Donbas were confiscated. The local Russian installed authorities justified this by declaring Akhmetov a "rogue individual."

Researcher Natalya Kolosova believes that Rinat Akhmetov is one of the first modern Ukrainian philanthropists who switched from spontaneous aid to a systematic approach. Since 2006, Akhmetov has been among the leading philanthropists of Ukraine. According to various sources, he is among the first in terms of the amount of funds allocated to charity. In 2005, on the initiative of Rinat Akhmetov, the SCM corporate charitable foundation Development of Ukraine was created (since 2018, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation). Its main areas of activity include: national health, family, targeted assistance, dynamic culture, and modern education. Since March 2008, the fund has been separated from the company and operates as a personal charitable foundation of Rinat Akhmetov, it maintains a partnership with SCM. This Foundation is one of the most famous charitable organizations in Ukraine. During 2007–2013 there was the Foundation for Effective Governance founded by Rinat Akhmetov. The organization was supporting the authorities and civil society institutions of Ukraine in the development of programs for the long-term economic development of the state. During its work, the Foundation was preparing The Ukraine Competitiveness Report for the World Economic Forum and created two clusters in Lviv (IT and woodworking). In August 2014, on the basis of the Foundation for Development of Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center Pomozhem was created, which provides humanitarian assistance in the form of food packages, medicines, and psychological assistance to citizens. More than 800 thousand people received 12-kilogram packages every month. For three years, the Humanitarian Center saved more than 1,139,000 people from death, hunger and disease in eastern Ukraine and became the largest humanitarian mission in the country. More than 39 thousand people were evacuated from the combat zone by the resources of this organization. Since February 2017, the Humanitarian Center has been working only on the territory controlled by Ukraine. In the Donetsk region, the Humanitarian Center is one of the most famous charitable organizations (2018). On 28 February 2018, the assistance the Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center provided in the non-government controlled territory was put on hold and later

Personal life

Rinat Akhmetov is married to Liliya Nikolaievna Smirnova (born 1965), and has two sons with her, Damir (born 1988) and Almir (born 1997). Akhmetov owns London's most expensive penthouse at One Hyde Park, which was originally purchased for a reported $213 million as a portfolio investment and spent another reported $120 million to fix them up. The information about the deal was disclosed only four years later, in April 2011, after the asset has shown a steady annual rise. In May 2013, the property was transferred from his company, SCM, to himself. In 2019, Gruppo Campari sold Villa Les Cèdres in Cap Ferrat, France, to Akhmetov for €200 million. In 2023, leaked documents revealed that Akhmetov bought a two story penthouse in Belgravia, London, for approximately $122 million.

In a sale completed in 2024, Akhmetov purchased a five-floor apartment with 21 rooms in the “Le Renzo” building in Monaco. It stretches over approximately 2,500 square meters (27,000 square feet), not counting balconies and terraces looking out over the Mediterranean Sea. It also has a private swimming pool, jacuzzi and comes with at least eight parking spots. The price was indicated to be €471 million ($554 million).

Career

In November 2021 Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Akhmetov of being enlisted to help plan a coup against him by Russia. Akhmetov has denied these claims, calling the allegations "an absolute lie." The allegations were the culmination of a dispute between Zelensky and Akhmetov, as part of Zelensky anti-corruption clean-up efforts. Akhmetov is a noted opponent of Zelensky. His TV channels backed one of his opponents in the 2019 election and have been increasingly critical in coverage of Zelensky. Especially since the government failed to reimburse one of his energy company subsidiaries for green energy purchased by state companies. Akhmetov says that he does not interfere with the channels’ editorial policy and that it's the "guests who come to the channels" and not the channels themselves that criticize Zelensky. In turn, Zelensky's MPs have boycotted what they view as hostile media. Akhmetov announced on 11 July 2022 that he would surrender licences of top television channels to the government and shut down both print and internet media to comply with so-called “de-oligarchisation” legislation aimed at curbing the influence of oligarchs. “I made an involuntary decision that my investment company SCM will exit its media business,” Akhmetov said in a statement. The Minister of Justice, Denys Maliuska, said that Rinat Akhmetov no longer fits the definition of an oligarch, as he has left the media business, and his business partner Vadym Novynskyi has completed the mandate of the Peopleʼs Deputy.

Sanctions & controversy

Akhmetov is the largest donor to the United Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to a study by the Ukrainian publication of the NV, in April 2025, the largest donor among business groups in Ukraine was Akhmetov’s SCM Group. "I have said more than once and I will say it again: happy Donetsk, happy Donbas can only be in a united and happy Ukraine," he said on February 16, 2022. Financial Times reported in June 2022 that Rinat Akhmetov has allocated €100 million in humanitarian aid and support for the Ukrainian military during the first months of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. SCM businesses, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and Shakhtar Football Club have sent more than $223 million to help the country, the military and civilians during the 24 months of the full-scale invasion. As of May 2024 they have collectively provided over $258 million (more than €242 million) in aid. As of October 2025, sum of aid makes more than $350 million. As of February 2026 it makes $368 million. On February 22, as hundreds took to the streets of Mariupol to protest Russia's actions, Akhmetov announced SCM would pay ₴1 billion ($34 million) in taxes in advance to shore up state finances. The Azovstal plant in Mariupol, owned by Akhmetov, was the site of fierce fighting during the Siege of Mariupol and was almost completely destroyed. In the comment to The Wall Street Journal Akhmetov stated that both steel plants in Mariupol were under Ukrainian control, but that the plants were temporarily shut down, saying, "Russian troops are turning Mariupol into rubble, killing Mariupol residents, and bombing the plants," he said. "Under no circumstances will these plants operate under Russian occupation." In January 2023, Akhmetov announced the launch of the Heart of Azovstal project to help Mariupol defenders and the families of fallen soldiers. He donated $25 million to finance the project. Sum was then increased to around $55 million in 2026. As a result of the invasion, Akhmetov's fortune dropped from nearly $14 billion to less than $6 billion in just two weeks, and may likely be much less, according to Forbes. According to Akhmetov, "A total ceasefire, complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, and full restoration of the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine. That includes the Crimea and Donbas" were his terms of a Ukrainian victory in the conflict. "My Foundation is helping Ukrainians survive by providing water, food, medicines, and any help we can give here and now. SCM businesses are helping the army and territorial defense forces to defend our sovereignty, our freedom, and independence, and win the war ... I am working with my company and my people. I am doing everything I can. I am confident that other people are doing the same." In 2024, it became known that Akhmetov's fortune is estimated at $4 billion (via Forbes). This is $1.7 billion less the figure from 2023. In December 2022, The Washington Post called Akhmetov Ukraine's biggest private dono