Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi

Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi
Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi
Born	December 5, 1959 (age 66); Zhdanov (now Mariupol), Ukrainian SSR
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, businessman
Years active	1980s–present
Known for	Head of DCH (Development Construction Holding), president of FC Metalist Kharkiv (2005–2012)

Oleksandr Vladylenovych Yaroslavskyi (; born 5 December 1959) is a prominent Ukrainian entrepreneur, previously co-owning UkrSibbank and serving as president of FC Metalist Kharkiv from 2005 to 2012. He is the head of DCH (Development Construction Holding) and is recognized as one of Ukraine’s leading business personalities, having been ranked by Forbes among the top ten wealthiest Ukrainians in 2016. In November 2018, Russian authorities imposed sanctions on him as part of a list targeting 322 Ukrainian nationals.

Early life

Yaroslavskyi was born in Zhdanov (currently known as Mariupol) within the Ukrainian SSR to physician parents. Following his family’s move to Kharkiv, he completed his studies as a technologist at the Kharkiv Academy of Public Nutrition. He then fulfilled a three-year military service in Hungary with the Soviet Army before pursuing legal studies under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His early career involved working as an inspector addressing socialist property violations. In 1989, he earned the Candidate of Technical Sciences degree from the Odesa Institute of Technology and subsequently joined the Kharkiv Institute of Food Technology. The dissolution of the Soviet Union marked a significant shift in his professional trajectory.

Career

Between 2002 and 2006, Yaroslavskyi held a position as a People's Deputy in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada during its fourth convocation, representing the Party of Greens. From 2012 until 2020, he was engaged in a widely publicized dispute with Kharkiv’s mayor, Hennadii Kernes.

In exile

In early February 2022, after a fatal traffic incident involving his motorcade near Chuhuiv, Yaroslavskyi departed Ukraine aboard his private aircraft bound for London, citing business obligations and later mentioning planned family leave. He declared plans to sell his $50 million Kaiser yacht to finance reconstruction efforts in Kharkiv amid the Russo-Ukrainian War but eventually retracted it from the market. Despite pledges to contribute to Ukraine’s defense initiatives, local authorities noted his lack of support during the initial invasion period. Observations placed him vacationing in France while his spouse Marina shared images from their yacht. Reports from April 2023 suggested that Marina had separated from him.

External links