Ukraine: Authorities commandeer major companies for the war effort, Nov 2022
In early November, under the auspices of martial law, the Ukrainian authorities commandeered privately held stakes in five prominent companies, handing responsibility for wartime management of the businesses to the Ministry of Defence. Of the five, significant shares in Ukrnafta (the country’s largest oil-producer) and in Ukrtatnafta (oil refining) were held by Ihor Kolomoyskyi, who heads the Private Group. For Zaporizhzhia’s Motor Sich, which makes aircraft engines, Vyacheslav Bohuslayev was the main shareholder. The vehicle producer, AvtoKrAz, was linked to Kostyantyn Zhevaho of the Finance and Credit group, while Zaporizhtransformator, which makes parts for electricity plants, was owned by Kostyantyn Hrihorishin. All of these figures may be described as “oligarchs”—that is, business leaders who, over a lengthy period, have been able to use their wealth and business networks to tilt political and economic rules and outcomes in their favour. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s