Vadym Novynsky became the sixth Ukrainian billionaire on the Forbes list thanks to the rise in steel prices
Vadim Novinsky's fortune in Forbes estimated at $ 1.4 billion. In June 2020, Forbes Ukraine estimated it at $ 810 million. The main asset of the new member of the Ukrainian list of dollar billionaires was a stake in the Dutch mining and metallurgical holding Metinvest B.V. (Metinvest), which, according to Forbes, is worth $ 1.1 billion today.
The rise in steel prices helped many Ukrainian billionaires - over the year it added about $ 300 in price and reached $ 700 per ton, the magazine notes.
Thanks to the growth in the value of Metinvest's assets, the wealth of the richest man in Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov, has grown to $ 7.6 billion. He is also ranked 330th in Forbes' list of the richest people in the world.
Today there are six names on the Ukrainian list of dollar billionaires: Rinat Akhmetov, Victor Pinchuk, Konstantin Zhevago, Igor Kolomoisky, Gennady Bogolyubov, Petro Poroshenko and Vadim Novinsky.
The fortunes of most Ukrainian billionaires have grown significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. And it's not just the performance of their business. Last spring, investors were not yet ready for a pandemic, the world's leading stock indexes dropped significantly, and oil sometimes cost less than zero. In March 2021, oil hits annualized levels, while indices hit historic highs.
Metinvest's mining and metallurgical segments showed high profitability in 2020. Profit before taxes and other mandatory payments (EBITDA) increased 82% year-on-year to $ 2,204 million, while EBITDA margin increased 10 percentage points year-over-year to 21%.