The top 100 richest Ukrainian billionaires collectively ran 96
The President shouts: come back within 24 hours!
Recently, with the constant hype of "Russia is about to attack Ukraine" in Western countries and the media, the situation on the border between Russia and Ukraine has reached a "triggered" situation.
As a result, Russia did not launch an attack "as expected", but something happened in Ukraine.
Faced with rumors of a possible Russian attack, Ukrainian oligarchs, tycoons and politicians have rushed to flee Ukraine by private or chartered flights.
According to statistics, as of February 13, local time, only 4 of the 100 richest people in Ukraine remained in the country, and at the same time, 37 members of the Ukrainian parliament ran outside Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shouted angrily, asking these "runaways" to return to China within 24 hours, otherwise "will face serious consequences".
Ex-president hires cash truck to move property
On February 13, local time, "Ukraine Pravda" broke the news that as many as 24 private or charter planes carrying oligarchs, tycoons, and parliamentarians took off from Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and flew all the way west.
The report said that the number of private jets taking off on the 13th was the highest in six years, many of which were bound for Switzerland or Austria.
It is reported that those who flew out of Kiev on the same day included a group of cronies of Ukraine’s richest man and oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, while Akhmetov himself reportedly left Ukraine for Zurich as early as January 30.
The second-ranked Ukrainian billionaire, steel magnate Viktor Pinchuk, also left Ukraine at the end of January.
As of February 13, the top three oligarchs on the Ukrainian rich list are no longer in Ukraine.
On the 13th, Andrei Stavnidze, who was ranked 49th, and Vadim Nesterenko, who was ranked 96th, also left Ukraine by plane.
In addition, a private jet belonging to Azarov's former infrastructure minister Boris Kolesnikov was also on the flight that left on the 13th.
However, Kolesnikov later claimed that he had been in Kiev that day and that the plane was only sent to Prague for maintenance.
In addition to the oligarchs, some Ukrainian parliamentarians are also hurrying to "flee".
The report quoted sources as saying that opposition MPs and businessman Igor Abramovich had booked a private jet with a capacity of 50 people to fly to Vienna.
According to Ukrainian media reports, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also did not leave Kiev because the court withheld his passport to travel abroad.
But Poroshenko has moved his family and property abroad.
In order to transport cash, he also rented a number of cash trucks.
Departure meeting of 37 MPs forced to postpone
According to Ukrainian media reports, as of February 13, a total of 37 Ukrainian parliamentarians had left the country, including many Zelensky "allies" and members of the People's Servant Party, which led to a hearing on the security situation at home and abroad originally scheduled for the 13th. The closed-door meeting of the assessment report had to be postponed due to the high number of absentees.
On February 14, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech to the nation, he angrily attacked those who had fled Ukraine, and said that it was a critical moment for Ukraine. "Very serious consequences".
The Ukrainian President's Office also called for the members of the Servant of the People's Party outside the country to return to Ukraine before the early morning of February 15.
The richest man returns to China under deterrence
According to local media reports, as of 12 noon on February 14, 23 of the 37 members of parliament outside Ukraine were still "absent".
As of 20:00 on February 14, five more MPs had returned to Ukraine.
However, some lawmakers expressed their determination not to return to China.
Ukrainian opposition party "Opposition Platform - For Life" MP Ilya Kiva told Zelensky in a video that he would not return to Ukraine from Spain.
"It's not my war... I won't defend your Zelensky, and I won't sacrifice my life for you," Kiva said.
Many "running" oligarchs have also returned to China in the past two days, and used various "fancy reasons" to justify their departure.
For example, according to foreign media reports on February 16, after Ukraine's richest man Akhmetov returned to Ukraine, his spokesman Terekova released a photo showing that Akhmetov was with Donba on February 16. The neighboring port city of Mariupol in Sri Lanka.
Terekova also said that Akhmetov's departure from Ukraine at the end of January was a "pre-arranged itinerary".
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Xu Huan
Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency client, reference news