NV magazine, with the help of experts, compiled a list of the 100 most influential Ukrainians. Among them are businessmen associated with retail.
On the eve of the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine's independence, NV magazine presented a rating of the hundred most influential Ukrainians, including politicians, military personnel, volunteers, businessmen, cultural and sports figures. According to the editors, these are people who make the main, although not always ideal, decisions, shape public opinion, and play key roles at the front and in the economy.
To determine the most influential compatriots, NV journalists interviewed 40 experts from various fields, and identified a total of 120 people. Based on this list, members of the editorial board of NV magazine formed the final rating. The publication took the liberty of ranking its figures by degree of influence, allowing for the possibility of error, but not fatal.
In total, 112 people are represented in the rating of the top 100 influential Ukrainians – the fact is that in some cases one place in the rating was occupied by several people. Among 33 representatives of Ukrainian business as a whole, the most influential was named billionaire, owner of SCM Rinat Akhmetov , who is No. 8. RAU selected from the list 19 people directly related to retail or related industries – a total of 10 companies.
Place No. 18 Nova Group of Companies (Nova Posta)
Among those involved in retail, co-owners of the Nova group of companies Vyacheslav Klimov and Vladimir Popereshnyuk are in 18th place in the rating. The domestic logistics operator has been shaping the Ukrainian fast delivery market for 23 years, and is now spreading its business model beyond the country. In July 2024, France became the 14th European country where Nova Post branches are already operating. As of August 2024, 104 branches and almost 82,000 partner service points have been opened in Europe. According to the results of the second quarter, the Ukrainian postal and logistics group Nova Post managed to achieve a positive operating result in the markets of Poland, Moldova and the Czech Republic. Let us recall that at the beginning of 2024, the company had a network of more than 11,400 branches and over 15,500 parcel terminals in Ukraine.
Place No. 22 Epicenter Group of Companies
Co-owners of the Epicenter construction hypermarket chain, Oleksandr and Galina Gerega , who own the Epicenter shopping center chain, took 22nd place. As of July 2024, the retailer's network united 70 operating shopping centers in all regions of the country. According to the company's financial statements, its turnover in 2023 amounted to more than UAH 71.6 billion.
The Epicenter Group of Companies is an omnichannel ecosystem that unites the retail chains of construction hypermarkets Epicenter, Epicenter Express and Novaya Liniya, as well as the online store epicentrk.ua, the Epicenter-Agro agricultural holding, the Epicenter Ceramic Corporation ceramic tile factories, the Osmoloda woodworking enterprise, logistics facilities and other assets.
Place No. 25 Roshen Corporation
The leader of the European Solidarity party, people's deputy, the fifth president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is a co-owner of the Roshen confectionery corporation and the chain of branded sweets stores of the same name. The corporation is among the top 30 largest global confectionery manufacturers. It also has its own class "A" logistics complex in Yagotin with an area of 60,000 sq. m and a capacity of up to 45,000 tons of finished products and raw materials. Last year, the 85th Roshen store opened in Ivano-Frankivsk. Ivano-Frankivsk became the 17th city where the chain has stores.
Place No. 40 MHP
The owner of the controlling stake in the company and the director of MHP SA, the chairman of the board of MHP Yuriy Kosyuk , took 40th place in the ranking of the most influential. MHP is the largest national producer and exporter of poultry meat with its own feed base. In retail, MHP, which is undergoing the process of transformation into a culinary company, has been represented since July 2020 by a chain of M'yasomarket stores, which have already opened in 22 regions of Ukraine. As of July 2024, the network consisted of more than 280 outlets. Also, together with partners, the company opened 1,500 retail outlets of various types throughout Ukraine. In addition to M'yasomarket stores, these are fast food establishments Döner Market, Izha Svizha, Nasha Ryaba stores.
Place No. 45 ATB Corporation
Co-owners of the ATB Corporation (ATB-Market chain of stores) Gennady Butkevich , Evgeny Ermakov and Viktor Karachun , in addition to retail, are engaged in asset management, production and sale of food products, provision of services in the field of sports and recreation. The corporation's enterprises employ about 70,000 people. The ATB chain of stores as of July 15, 2024 has 1,228 stores, compared to 1,316 stores in January 2022.
Place #49 Rozetka
Vladislav and Irina Chechotkin are co-founders and co-owners of the online store Rozetka.ua, which over 19 years has become the undisputed leader in online trading in Ukraine and a marketplace for hundreds of large and small sellers. The retailer is also actively developing a network of its own pick-up points – as of June 1, 2024, 485 Rozetka stores have already been opened in 147 cities of Ukraine.
Place #51 Fozzy Group
Co-founders and co-owners of the Fozzy Group of companies Volodymyr Kostelman , Roman Chigir , Oleg Sotnikov , introduced a new standard of grocery retail. According to GT Partners Ukraine, the total number of stores under the Silpo, Fora, Fozzy Cash&Carry, Le Silpo, Thrash! Trash!, Foodpod brands as of the end of 2023 was 768 outlets. Silpo is one of the largest chains of grocery supermarkets in Ukraine. Currently, more than 300 stores of the brand operate throughout the country.
Place No. 81 OKKO
Vitaliy Antonov is the founder of one of the largest fuel networks in the country – OKKO, which introduced a new standard for gas stations. The OKKO network of gas stations (Galnaftogaz concern) is part of the OKKO Group and is one of the largest gas station networks in Ukraine. The company's structure also includes a network of on-the-go food establishments (30 restaurants operating under the A la minute, Pasta Mia and Meiwei brands), stationary and mobile laboratories for quality control of petroleum products, etc. In April 2024, the company expanded its network to 409 gas stations. Recently, the OKKO network launched a new service for issuing ready-made meals at two gas stations in Lviv and Ternopil – OKKO Drive. The company's divisions are also engaged in the sale of goods through stores at gas stations, the sale of petroleum products in large and small wholesale, their storage and transportation.
Place No. 82 Ukrposhta
The CEO of the state postal operator, Igor Smelyansky , also exerts a great influence. Under his leadership, Ukrposhta has become a powerful player in the postal logistics market. Every day, the company provides postal, financial and other services in more than 27,000 settlements in Ukraine.
At the beginning of 2024, Ukrposhta had 27,000 branches in Ukraine, 1,800 mobile branches. The company employs 40,000 people. In 2023, the company increased the number of shipments by 40% and transported 15 million parcels from JSC Ukrzaliznytsia. And thanks to Ukrposhta's cooperation with national postal operators of other countries, Ukrainians have access to about 660,000 branches around the world.
Place No. 83 WOG filling station network
Stepan Ivakhiv and Serhiy Lagur are the owners of WOG, one of the largest networks of modern gas stations in the country. In November 2023, the network opened the largest gas station in Ukraine in the village of Glubochitsa, Zhytomyr region (Kyiv-Chop highway, km 127+990). The company claims to have 400 operating gas stations. On July 26, a WOG gas station opened in Kiev in a conceptually new city format. This is the first city gas station built by the company from scratch during a full-scale war.
