Hennadiy Olehovych Korban ( uk, Геннадій Олегович Корбан; born May 24, 1970) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician. A patron of the

Jewish community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

, he served as the head of the

UKROP UKROP ( uk, УКРОП, lit=dill in Russian), short for the Ukrainian Association of Patriots ( uk, Українське об'єднання патріотів, Ukrainske ob'ednannya patriotiv), was a political party in Ukraine.Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

(now Dnipro) to a Jewish family of Soviet engineers. His parents are also

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i citizens. Raised in Dnipropetrovsk, he graduated from secondary school No. 21 in 1987 and unsuccessfully attempted to enrol at the faculty of philosophy at a university in

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...

. He later returned to Dnipropetrovsk and entered the

National Mining University of Ukraine The Dnipro University of Technology ( uk, Національний технічний університет «Дніпровська політехніка»), abbreviated in Ukrainian as NTU DP ( uk, НТУ ДП) is located in Dnipro, the third ...

, but shortly suspended his studies as he was called up for military service in the

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

. He served as a private in the Guards Aviation Regiment from 1988 to 1990. Following his discharge from the army, Korban worked as a broker on the

Moscow Stock Exchange The Moscow Exchange (MOEX; rus, Московская биржа, r=Moskovskaya birzha, p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈbʲirʐə, a=) is the largest exchange in Russia, operating trading markets in equities, bonds, derivatives, the foreign exchange market ...

from 1990 to 1991, before founding a brokerage office in 1992. In 1994, Korban founded a company, Slavutych Capital, and served as the chairman of its Supervisory Board from 2001 until it was later abolished. In 1997, he graduated from the

as an "economist". From 2001 to 2010, he was a chairman of the Supervisory Board of Southern Mining. In 2005, Korban became a member of the Supervisory Board of Ukrainian oil and gas producer company

Ukrnafta Ukrnafta is a Ukrainian petroleum, oil and natural gas extracting company, the largest producer of oil and gas in the country. Ukrnafta is also an operator of a gas filling station network in Ukraine nationwide. In 2006, the company conducted some ...

. In 2009, he became a member of the Supervisory Board of the company

Ukrtatnafta Ukrtatnafta is a Ukrainian oil refining company based in Kremenchuk and founded in 1994. It is one of the largest producer of oil products in the country. The company operates the largest oil refinery in the country located in Kremenchuk with a ca ...

, and resigned from both boards in 2011. In September 2013, Korban-owned company Budinvest signed a letter of intent with international hotel operator

InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the F ...

on the development of two brands in Kyiv. The company was to manage the brands, with the investment in the construction valued at US$30–40 million. In October 2013, Korban financed the construction of Beit Alon Ganey Korban, a kindergarten and children's sports complex in

Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. Kr ...

Political career

Korban served as deputy governor of

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ( uk, Дніпропетро́вська о́бласть, translit=Dnipropetrovska oblast), also referred to as Dnipropetrovshchyna ( uk, Дніпропетро́вщина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, obla ...

from 2 March 2014 to 24 March 2015. He held the post under former governor

Ihor Kolomoyskyi Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi ( uk, Ігор Валерійович Коломойський, translit=Ihor Valereriyovych Kolomoyskyi; he, איגור קולומויסקי; born 13 February 1963) is a Ukrainian-born billionaire, business magn ...

, whose tenure ran between the same dates. On September 9, 2015, Korban became the head of the

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

. With 14.76% of the vote, he finished second behind Serhiy Berezenko of

Petro Poroshenko Bloc European Solidarity ( uk, Європейська солідарність, Yevropeis'ka solidarnist', YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in vario ...

, who won with 35.90% of the vote.With 100% of ballots counted in Rada by-election, Berezenko gets 35.90% of votes, Korban 14.76% – CEC

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

(28 July 2015) During the run-up to these elections, Korban and Berezenko were repeatedly accused of bribing voters and using

black PR Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

among other violations of electoral legislation.Корбан: Я потерял моральное право возглавлять политсовет партии "Укроп"
"Гордон", .07.2015 Korban was also the

UKROP UKROP ( uk, УКРОП, lit=dill in Russian), short for the Ukrainian Association of Patriots ( uk, Українське об'єднання патріотів, Ukrainske ob'ednannya patriotiv), was a political party in Ukraine.2015 Kyiv local elections, but did not make it to the second round of the mayoral election. On 31 October 2015, Korban was arrested. Four charges were brought against him, including a charge accusing him of embezzling money from the National Defence Foundation, which he financed. An attempt to impose a pre-trial restraint was made by three judicial authorities, including the Chernihiv District Court and the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, but failed due to a lack of evidence. In November 2015, he was placed under house arrest for two months. From December 24 to December 27, 2015, according to a March 2016 report from the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

, Korban was "forced to several procedural checks" despite having had heart surgery, after which he was "eventually forcefully transferred to court" for a hearing that "lasted for more than 24 hours and was marked by numerous violations of due process rights." During the trial, army veteran Valentyn Manko gave testimony against Korban, which was later found to be part of a scheme to provide false testimony and ensure a guilty verdict. In exchange for his testimony, robbery charges against Manko would be dropped. On December 27, the courtroom was stormed by unknown protesters who clashed with Korban supporters. On January 23, 2016, while Korban was detained by the Security Service, the UKROP political council dismissed him as chairman of the party. In March 2016, a court granted him permission to travel to

for treatment at Tel Aviv Medical Center. On May 7, 2016, after Korban had fulfilled the demands of his political opponents, the court released him from arrest and granted him permission to leave for Israel. On August 9, 2016, Mykola Chaus, the judge of the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv who ordered the detention of Korban, was caught with a US$150,000 bribe by the

National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine ( uk, Національне Антикорупційне Бюро України, ''НАБУ'') or NABU is a Ukrainian law enforcement anti-corruption agency which investigates corruption in Ukraine ...

. In September 2017, he was absolved of all charges due to a lack of evidence, while the main directorate of National Police in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ceased criminal proceedings on his National Defence Foundation embezzlement charges due to a lack of evidence. On 13 December 2017, Korban returned to Ukraine. On 22 July 2022, it became known that Korban was denied entry into Ukraine because his Ukrainian citizenship had been revoked, along with

Vadim Rabinovich Vadim Zinovyevich Rabinovichrussian: Вади́м Зино́вьевич Рабино́вич he, ודים רבינוביץ' (born 4 August 1953) is an Israeli and formerly Ukrainian oligarch and Jewish community leader. He is a former leader ...

, and others. On 12 August 2022, Korban announced that he had pronounced a Pulsa diNura, a Jewish death curse, against Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

Art collection

Korban is a collector of modern and contemporary art. His collection includes works of

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

Egon Schiele Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portr ...

Alexej von Jawlensky Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky (russian: Алексе́й Гео́ргиевич Явле́нский, translit=Alekséy Geórgiyevich Yavlénskiy) (13 March 1864 – 15 March 1941), surname also spelt as Yavlensky, was a Russian expressioni ...

Tamara de Lempicka Tamara Łempicka (born Tamara Rosalia Gurwik-Górska; 16 May 1898 – 18 March 1980), better known as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art De ...

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co ae ...

Andreas Gursky Andreas Gursky (born 15 January 1955) is a German photographer and professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany. He is known for his Large format (photography), large format architecture and Landscape photography, landscape colour photogr ...

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attributes ...

and

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...

, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korban, Hennadiy 1970 births Ukrainian Jews Businesspeople from Dnipro Politicians from Dnipro Ukrainian art collectors Ukrainian philanthropists Living people UKROP politicians Ukrainian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Ukraine Dnipro Polytechnic alumni People who lost Ukrainian citizenship