Ukraine's Top Oligarch Walks a Fine Line

Each day at noon, hundreds of thousands of factory workers in Ukraine’s east pause as sirens blare for three minutes, an act meant to signal defiance against pro-Russian militias. The workers’ boss, Rinat Akhmetov, wants to restore unity to Ukraine and preserve the fortune that makes him Ukraine’s richest man.

The daily siren and the hefty raises at his metal and power plants and coal mines are just two of the ways the billionaire is rallying support in the Donbas region for the national government. The Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial and coal mining region in the east, is where most of Akhmetov’s workers live. Many of his 300,000 employees backed the revolt when the fighting started. Not anymore, say company officials. “Now 99 percent of the workforce understands the events that are happening and supports the principle that Donbas is part of Ukraine,” says Enver Tskitishvili, who runs a steel mill for Metinvest, the steelmaker at the core of Akhmetov’s empire.