Rebels use Ukraine oligarch factory to fix damaged combat vehicles

Ukraine

Many then said that Akhmetov – ever the prudent businessman – was cautiously weighing the shifting sands in a volatile situation that had caught him and others by surprise.

The clanging of repairs to tanks and heavy armoured vehicles rings out from a factory in eastern Ukraine that is owned by the country’s richest man but was taken over by pro-Russian rebels.

Rinat Akhmetov’s Corum company says it has nothing to do with the current work at the factory, where captured army vehicles are re-marked and men fix tank tracks, clean cannons and apply extra layers of armour.

The steel and energy multi-billionaire is, as always, saying little but showing signs of positioning himself for all possible outcomes to the separatist conflict in which several thousand people have been killed and Western sanctions slapped on Russia.

With a parliamentary election taking place in Ukraine on Sunday and parts of his business empire threatened as the rebels toy with the idea of nationalisation, it is a delicate balancing act.

When the separatists first occupied public buildings in Donetsk, the 48-year-old businessman, whose fortune from metals, energy, banks and communications has a net worth put by the Forbes magazine at $11.7 billion, remained silent.

Many then said that Akhmetov – READ COMPLETE STORY FROM LINK

Rebels use Ukraine oligarch factory to fix damaged combat vehicles
source

WBND