Vadym Novynskyi (; born 3 June 1963
Liga.net) is a Russian-born Ukrainian billionaire businessman, priest and politician of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent. He is the owner of the

Smart Holding Group Vadym Novynskyi (; born 3 June 1963
Liga.net) is a Russian-born Ukrainian billionaire businessman, priest an ...

, which has made him one of the wealthiest people in Ukraine. Novynskyi is also a

protodeacon Protodeacon derives from the Greek ''proto-'' meaning 'first' and ''diakonos'', which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning "assistant", "servant", or "waiting-man". The word in English may refer to any of various clergy, depending upon the usa ...

of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, often referred to as the ‘Moscow Patriarchate’. He was elected to the

Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

in 2013, later being re-elected in 2014 and 2019. He has also represented Ukraine in the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

. Rising in the Ukrainian metallurgical industry as a junior business partner of billionaire

Rinat Akhmetov Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov (born 21 September 1966) is a Ukrainian billionaire and businessman. He is the founder and president of international investment group System Capital Management (SCM), and is the wealthiest man in Ukraine. Akhmetov i ...

, he remained actively involved in church affairs before entering politics. He is one of the largest Ukrainian donors to his country, with his foundation having provided substantial assistance to Ukrainian medical and rehabilitation centres during the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Despite initially maintaining good relations with

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

, the two have since fallen out, with Novynskyi leaving the country, being charged with

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

and accused of aiding Russia. Novynskyi has described the charges as politically motivated.

Early and personal life

Novynskyi was born on 3 June 1963 in

Staraya Russa Staraya Russa (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist, Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased over ...

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, to an ethnically

family. In 1985, he graduated from the Leningrad Academy of Civil Aviation in engineering management systems. Novinskyi began his career by working for various Soviet companies. At the time of the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, Novinskyi resided in what became the Russian Federation, of which he automatically became a citizen, although he moved to Ukraine in 1996 and switched to Ukrainian citizenship in 2012 by the order of the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

, on the basis of "distinguished services to the country". He is married and has four children.

Business career

Novynskyi began his business career in Ukraine in 1996, rising in Lukoil's North West division before acquiring smaller

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

companies. In 1999, Novinskyi's combined these smaller companies to establish the Smart Group company with headquarters in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

. The same year, his partners and him created the Neva Holding company and acquired a 77% stake in the Bulgarian metallurgical plant Promet at a privatisation tender. Over the next decade, these ventures proved immensely profitable. In 2006, Novinskyi and his billionaire business partner

Andrei Klyamko Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй, Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *Andr ...

united their Ukrainian metallurgy companies into Smart Holding Group. In 2007, they exchanged them for a 23.75% stake in

Metinvest Metinvest is a group of steel and mining companies that owns operations in Ukraine, Italy, Bulgaria, the UK and the US. The company mines ore and coal, produces coke, smelts steel and produces rolled products, pipes and other steel products. Th ...

, in which they are junior partners with

. In 2010, Novinskyi's net worth was estimated at US$950 million. In 2011, this number rose to US$2.7 billion. As of 2011, Smart Holding also owned large assets in the oil and gas sector, shipbuilding (the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Kherson Shipyard The Kherson Shipyard () is a joint stock company located in Kherson, Ukraine, at the mouth of the Dnieper River. The shipyard specializes in building merchant ships to include dry cargo ships, tankers, ice-breakers, container-ships, drilling vesse ...

, and

Port Ochakiv Port Ochakiv () is a seaport that is located in the Ochakiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. In 2008-2011, the port built a berth wall 140 meters long, as well as a grain processing complex and warehouse, which allows for the accumulation of shipm ...

) development, agriculture (Veres), finance (by controlling Unex Bank and being a minor shareholder in BM Bank, whose revenues in 2011 stood at $14.2 billion). In 2021, Unex Bank was sold to Dragon Capital, while the BM Bank was liquidated by the NBU in 2014. As of 2013, Novynskyi had stakes in oil and gas company

Regal Petroleum Regal Petroleum plc is a petroleum company based in London with assets in Romania, Ukraine, Greece, and Egypt. It was founded by Frank Timiş in November 1996, and is listed on the London Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alterna ...

and supermarket chain Amstor. In 2013, he was described as the fifth richest person in Ukraine, with a fortune of US$3.273 billion. However, according to Ukrainian Forbes, in 2015, Vadim Novynskyi lost significant wealth and was no longer among the ten wealthiest Ukrainians. That year, he declared UAH 107 million of income (UAH 73,235 in salary, UAH 1,616,867 of income from the sale of intellectual property rights, UAH 47,980 in dividends and interest, UAH 244 in insurance payments, and US$5 million obtained from Cyprus sources). He owned two land plots with an area of 2,257 and 50,400 m², three apartments with an area of 667,586 and 136 m², and a garage of 51 m². The nominal value of his abroad securities was UAH 6.7 million. The family also owned a land plot of 57,879 m², three apartments (57,171 and 184 m²), and 453 m² of other real estate. According to the NV periodical, in 2021, he regained much of his wealth and was now the third wealthiest Ukrainian; his fortune increased to US$2.4 billion, a 50% increase compared to 2020. In 2022, all business assets of Vadim Novinsky were transferred to the management of a trust company registered in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. Having his fortune assessed at US$3.5 billion in February 2022, by the end of the year, Novynskyi lost US$2.1 billion. In April 2023, Forbes estimated his fortune at US$1.4 billion.

Political career

Novynskyi contested the 2013 by-election in constituency 224 in

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

, on the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

, as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate, pledging to join the then-ruling

Party of Regions A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

if elected. Novynskyi won the vote with 53.41%, with an off-cycle turnout of 23.91%.Novinsky wins by-election to Rada in Sevastopol, according to CEC

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(8 July 2013)By-election to parliament in 224th majority constituency of Sevastopol scheduled for 7 July, says CEC

(18 April 2013) He became a Party of Regions member on 5 September 2013. Novynskyi opposed the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia. He was therefore banned by local and Russian federal authorities from entering his constituency, as well as the Crimean peninsula as a whole. Since the initial conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in 2014, Novynskyi has consistently supported the peace process on the side of Ukraine. In the spring of 2014, he was a member of a Ukrainian delegation at talks with separatist ( DPR and

LPR LPR may refer to: *Laryngopharyngeal reflux, a form of acid reflux *Lawful permanent resident * Lazarus Program file * Libertarian Party of Russia *License plate recognition * Liga Puerto Rico, top division association football league in Puerto Ric ...

) leaders in Lugansk. Novynskyi was unable to run for re-election in 2014 in his constituency due to the Russian annexation, but contested the vote on the

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

of the

Opposition Bloc The Opposition Bloc (, ) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine that was founded in 2014 by the merger of six parties that did not endorse Euromaidan. Legally, the party was created by renaming the lesser-known party "Leading Force".

, which was established after his Party of Regions was banned by the new authorities that came to power with the

2014 Ukrainian Revolution The Revolution of Dignity (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

. He once again won the election, placing 11th from his party.Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of IndependencePeople's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections – CEC

(8 November 2014)
Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament – CEC

(8 November 2014) From 2017 to 2019, he headed the public organisation "Party of Peace", which proclaimed to intensify the negotiation process between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics (DPR and LPR) based on the

Minsk agreements The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. After a defe ...

. In May 2018, he initiated the international conference "The Balkan experience of achieving peace: lessons for Ukraine” in Zagreb, Croatia. It was attended by well-known politicians and experts from Ukraine, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Austria and the disputed republic of Kosovo. Novynskyi contested the

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, the elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parli ...

in the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

, specifically the 57th single-seat constituency, located in the

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. He won, and took office for his third term in parliament. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Novynskyi remained in the country, condemned the invasion, said there could be no excuses for it. He resigned from parliament in June 2022.

Religious life

Novynskyi is an active parishioner and patron of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) often referred to as the 'Moscow Patriarchate' (UOC-MP), and is a

. On 23 April 2020, it became known that Metropolitan

Onufriy (Berezovsky) Metropolitan Onufriy (Onuphrius, secular name Orest Volodymyrovych Berezovsky; ; ; born 5 November 1944) is the Primate (bishop), primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). He is styled List o ...

, Primate of the UOC-MP, ordained Novinsky as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

. This was not officially reported; unofficially, the date of the ordination was 7 April. Novynskyi served as a deacon for the first time in public at the

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra or Kyievo-Pecherska Lavra (), also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic lavra or large monastery of Eastern Christianity that gave its name to the Pecherskyi District where it is located in Kyiv. Sin ...

on 7 June, the Feast of

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

. In the media, Novynskyi actively defends the UOC and has criticised the religious separation of Ukrainian Orthodoxy after the similarly-named but state-preferred

Orthodox Church of Ukraine The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on . Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...

(OCU) was recognised by the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

. Known for his uncompromising position regarding what he believes to be the persecution of the UOC by the authorities, he has repeatedly entered into public discussions with officials, including Presidents Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelensky, on issues of religious policy in Ukraine. Novynskyi has argued that his religious views have motivated governmental and prosecutorial actions against him. On 23 April 2023, Novynskyi was allegedly spotted leading a service at a

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

(ROC) parish in Zürich, Switzerland. This is despite the UOC breaking all administrative ties with the ROC after condemning the Russian invasion in 2022.

Charity

In 2017, the Vadym Novynskyi Foundation became a partner of the All-Ukrainian charitable project "Help the Heart Beating". The Foundation also supports the rehabilitation program for children and young people diagnosed with cerebral palsy and organic nervous system lesions. Since the start of the Russian invasion, the Vadym Novynskyi Foundation has restructured its work to direct much of the resources to humanitarian assistance to doctors, those affected by the war and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. From February to October 2022, the Foundation delivered aid for more than UAH 900 million. In particular, it is implementing a humanitarian project to deliver ambulances. 40,000 food packages were dispatched to various regions of Ukraine. Medical equipment worth UAH 15 million were purchased for hospitals in

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

. In October–December 2022, the Novynskyi Foundation purchased and imported hundreds of generators to Ukraine to provide electricity to settlements affected by hostilities and rocket attacks.

Controversies

Criticism

Many have described Novynskyi as a

Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs () are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership ...

who made a major fortune on dubious privatisation deals during the " dashing 1990s".

Sanctions by Russia

On 25 December 2018, Novynskyi was included in the list of persons against whom Russia imposed sanctions. In July 2019, as part of a delegation of the UOC-MP, he was allowed to visit the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in

Sergiyev Posad Sergiyev Posad ( rus, Сергиев Посад, p=ˈsʲɛrgʲɪ(j)ɪf pɐˈsat) is a city that is the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: The city contains the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergi ...

, Moscow Region, where he met with the head of the

(ROC) Patriarch Kirill. At the time, the UOC-MP had not yet severed all administrative ties with the ROC, even though it has been self-governing since 1991. On 20 April 2020, he was excluded from the Russian sanctions list.

Sanctions by Ukraine

Ten months into the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Novynskyi was accused of assisting Russia, although he was not criminally charged. Instead, on 6 December 2022 and again on 25 January 2023, he was included in the Ukrainian sanctions list. Novynskyi's supporters have argued that he has condemned the Russian invasion and actively helped Ukraine. The President's Office subsequently seized his property worth more than US$1 billion. A week before this imposition of sanctions against him, Novynskyi legally transferred the shares of enterprises owned by him to the trust of a company registered in Cyprus. The authorities decided it was done through manipulation, thereafter annulled the agreement and reinstated Novynskyi as the registered shareholder of his enterprises. In April 2023, Ukrainian domestic intelligence and prosecutors searched his group's offices in Kyiv on the suspicion of tax fraud and supporting Russian interests, and blocked assets worth almost 100 million US$. In his official statement, Novynskyi accused the authorities of raiding and persecuting him for his defence of the UOC, which the government is attempting to ban. Presently, Novynskyi is awaiting for the consideration of his appeals by the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Criminal proceedings

On 8 December 2016, on the proposal of the Office of the Prosecutor General, Novynskyi was deprived of parliamentary immunity. At the time of voting, Novynskyi noted that the draft resolution on bringing him to criminal liability was not published on the official website of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

as required by Ukrainian law. Ultimately, the Office of the Prosecutor General did not present evidence of his guilt, but remained a witness until the case was closed. On 18 January 2025, Novynskyi was charged with high treason and incitement to religious hatred in absentia. Novynskyi has argued that the escalation is political, aimed at proceeding with a full ban on the UOC and creating an authoritarian state. The government has dismissed such characterisation as Russian propaganda.

Awards

Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem,, ''Patriarcheîon Hierosolýmōn;'' , also known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, is an autocephalous church within the Eastern Orthodox Church organization, wider communion of Eastern Ort ...

: Golden Cross of the High Taxiarch of the Knights of the Most Holy Sepulcher (January 2019)

References

External links

The Kremlin's point man in KyivOfficial website of Smart Holding Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novynskyi, Vadym 1963 births Living people People from Staraya Russa Independent politicians in Ukraine Party of Regions politicians Opposition Bloc politicians Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Russian emigrants to Ukraine Ukrainian billionaires Ukrainian oligarchs Russian billionaires Naturalized citizens of Ukraine Ukrainian football chairmen and investors FC Sevastopol Ukrainian philanthropists Pro-Ukrainian people of the war in Donbas