NoBC4U Note: Yeah, generally I don't give the WSJ exposure here, but face it. Small media outlets won't get access to Ihor Kolomoisky. Only the biggies.
DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine — Leaning over a map of eastern Ukraine on his desk, Gennady Korban gripped a ballpoint pen and drew a squiggling blue line down its center.
The border, he said, marked the battlefront in his country's war with pro-Russia separatists. One side was stable, rid of "troublemakers," he said. On the other are "maniacs," he said. "Men without families, who don't want families, they just like war." If they cross over the line, he said, "we'll just have to kill them."
He called the border "Kolomoisky's line"—after his billionaire boss, who is emerging as one of the more unlikely protagonists to emerge from Ukraine's fight for survival.
When its high-profile conflict with Russia began, the fledgling government in Kiev was caught flat-footed, with an army with little fighting experience or funding. Enter Ihor Kolomoisky, a 51-year-old outspoken banking tycoon. Now recently appointed by the country's president as governor of Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, he has decided to dip into his fortune to bolster that army and defend the homeland.
So far, that has included buying tires, car batteries and fuel for army units, as well outfitting local militias. He also announced a program to buy up contraband weapons and offer a $10,000 bounty for any pro-Russia militant captured with a gun. Without disclosing numbers, Mr. Kolomoisky's deputies call the program a success, though they say a few drunks have tried to turn in some compatriots for reward.
Complete story at - Ukraine's Secret Weapon: Feisty Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky - WSJ
Kolomoisky (L)
DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine — Leaning over a map of eastern Ukraine on his desk, Gennady Korban gripped a ballpoint pen and drew a squiggling blue line down its center.
The border, he said, marked the battlefront in his country's war with pro-Russia separatists. One side was stable, rid of "troublemakers," he said. On the other are "maniacs," he said. "Men without families, who don't want families, they just like war." If they cross over the line, he said, "we'll just have to kill them."
He called the border "Kolomoisky's line"—after his billionaire boss, who is emerging as one of the more unlikely protagonists to emerge from Ukraine's fight for survival.
When its high-profile conflict with Russia began, the fledgling government in Kiev was caught flat-footed, with an army with little fighting experience or funding. Enter Ihor Kolomoisky, a 51-year-old outspoken banking tycoon. Now recently appointed by the country's president as governor of Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, he has decided to dip into his fortune to bolster that army and defend the homeland.
So far, that has included buying tires, car batteries and fuel for army units, as well outfitting local militias. He also announced a program to buy up contraband weapons and offer a $10,000 bounty for any pro-Russia militant captured with a gun. Without disclosing numbers, Mr. Kolomoisky's deputies call the program a success, though they say a few drunks have tried to turn in some compatriots for reward.
Complete story at - Ukraine's Secret Weapon: Feisty Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky - WSJ
Kolomoisky (L)
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