Akhmetov shuts down public policy nongovernmental organization

Elena
Dovzhenko, a spokeswoman for the nation’s richest billionaire, said the
organization’s activity “has been suspended, not shutdown.” But no reason has
been given for the shutdown nor has any date been announced for resumption of
operations. The office closed at the end of December, leaving all employees out
of work.

Founded in
2007 with a $50 million, five-year budget, the Foundation for Effective
Governance had several high-profile successes. Its 2013 budget, however, was
just $3.2 million.

Those
included an international business journalism training program called Impact Media. Other projects
included its annual study of the competitiveness
of Ukraine and its regions, as well as the organization of international
conferences abroad devoted to Ukraine, including in the U.S., Russia, Austria
and the U.K.

Akhmetov’s
statement suggested that the foundation didn’t meet expectations.

“For Rinat
Akhmetov, the most important aspect of charity is the effectiveness of every
project,” said Dovzhenko. “And there is no doubt either that he will demand the
utmost effectiveness from every single charitable project. At this stage, the activity of the Foundation for Effective Governance
has been suspended. I underline – suspended, not shutdown.”

The billionaire’s second major philanthropic
endeavor, the Foundation for Development of
Ukraine, a charity founded in 2005, will continue to operate, said
Dovzhenko. Established to address pressing social problems, it spent $124.5
million between 2005 and 2013, according to the foundation.

It runs tuberculosis- and
cancer-fighting projects, and addresses problems related to the
institutionalization of orphanages and the plight of orphaned children. It also
provides direct assistance to needy people.

“Our founder has given us the
main task: not only to deal with charity, but to be effective as well,”
Anatoliy Zabolotnyi, director of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for Development of
Ukraine, told the Kyiv Post. “And this means to solve problems of oncology,
tuberculosis, orphans in a consistent manner.”

In an
interview to Forbes Ukraine in April 2013, Zabolotnyi said that Akhmetov
donated $32 million of his money to both foundations in 2012.

Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can
be reached at ghousemark@gmail.com.