President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ex-patron, the has-been billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky (Privat group), is the target of a sweeping investigation conducted by the Ukrainian Security Services (SBU). He is charged with siphoning off 40 billion hryvnias (around $1 billion) for his own gain when his energy companies, Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta, were nationalized in November 2022.

In 2010, Ihor Kolomoisky tried to seize control of the European Council of Jewish Communities, but had to back down when faced with the defiance of European Jewish leaders who denounced his mafia background. After the 2014 coup, he financed the “integral nationalist” armed groups, including the Aidar, Donbass, Dnipro 1 and Dnepr 227 battalions. In the 2020s, he was the major sponsor of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his party, Servant of the People. He was the owner of Burisma Holding, the company which added President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and former State Secretary John Kerry’s stepson, Devon Archer, to its payroll as board directors [1].

He fell out a few months ago with his protégé Volodymyr Zelensky, who is said to have withdrawn his Ukrainian nationality.