Ukraine’s richest oligarch has pledged to help rebuild his shattered country – just five months after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky accused him of funding a pro – Russian coup | “We will rebuild the whole of Ukraine,” he promised
Billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, the richest man in Ukraine, has promised to rehabilitate the country that has been at war for about two months and the end does not seem near. “We will definitely need an unprecedented international reconstruction program, the Marshall Plan, for Ukraine,” the oligarch said, referring to the massive US-led effort to rebuild Europe after World War II.
Ahmetov’s two steel mills are located in the besieged city of Mariupol, with an estimated fortune worth $ 3.9 billion, whose plants were shut down during Russia’s ongoing bombing of Ukraine’s strategic port city. “My ambition is to go back to Mariupol and implement our production plans so that the steel produced from Mariupol can compete in the global markets as before,” Akhmetov told the American media.
“Mariupol is a global tragedy and a global example of heroism,” he said, adding in an optimistic tone, “I believe our brave soldiers will defend the city, even though I understand how difficult it is for them.” His remarks are important to Ukraine, after last November, President Vladimir Zalansky accused Akhmetov of conspiring to overthrow his government in cooperation with Russia, amid growing tensions as Putin’s forces gathered along the Ukrainian border before the invasion.
Akhmetov, who was a vocal opponent of anti-corruption measures led by Zalansky against Ukraine’s oligarchs, then called the coup claim a “complete lie.” In recent days the oligarch has praised Zalanski’s passion and professionalism in opposition to the Russian invasion and said “war is definitely not the time to be conflicted.”
The Ukrainian oligarch’s promise to help his homeland came a day after his steel production company ‘Metinvest’ announced that “Mariupol must remain Ukrainian”. The company clarified that “we believe in the victory of Ukraine and will never act under Russian occupation.” The Reuters news agency reported that more than a third of the country’s metal production output has now been shut down due to the siege of the city of Mariupol.