Kiev – Several Tatar Muslim figures held leading positions in the world of finance and business and prominent positions in decision-making circles in Ukraine, especially during the February 2022 Russian War.
Among these figures, the most important are Rinat Akhmetov (Akhmetov), who tops the list of the richest people in Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Amina Jafarov, and newly appointed Minister of Defense Rustam Amirov.
Akhmetov “King of Donbass”
We begin with Akhmetov (age 56), a businessman of Muslim Tatar origin (Volga Tatars in the Donbass region of southeastern Ukraine) and owner of SCM Financial Group. It has significant influence and prominent companies in the metals, mining, fuel, energy, finance, communications, oil and gas sectors and media markets. He is also the owner of Shakhtar Donetsk football club and stadium.
Akhmetov retains the title of the richest man in Ukraine despite the great changes and upheavals that have taken place in the country, and he was the richest man in Europe until 2008.
His financial power brought him firmly into politics, and he was one of the most prominent founders of the pro-Russian Party of Regions before the party collapsed in 2014 and Akhmetov withdrew from the political scene entirely.
His fortune is estimated at around $8 billion, and in 2014 his financial empire suffered a major earthquake after the war broke out in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, where he was called “his own king”, but he quickly dominated the energy market.
Analysts confirm that Akhmetov virtually controls 30% of Ukraine’s gross domestic product, and – in the middle of the current war – he lost the Azov Stal factory he owned in the city of Mariupol, which was destroyed by bombing operations.
Amina Jafarov
As for Amina Ayarovna Jafarov (40 years old), she is a Crimean Tatar Muslim activist and journalist. Currently, he holds the position of First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Graduated from Taras Shevchenko Institute of International Relations of Kyiv National University (2000-2006).
Amina has a diploma in international political science and English translation. He worked (2002-2003) as an assistant to the first vice-prime minister of Ukraine in humanitarian affairs, then in 2008-2010 he worked as the third secretary of the Department of Social and Humanitarian Affairs of the Department of Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In 2011, he studied journalism and worked in this field.
Since mid-May 2020, Amina has been the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and chairs the Ukrainian National Commission for UNESCO, where she has appeared as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at various international forums.
Rostam Amirov
Rustam Enverovich Amirov (age 41) was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He is a Ukrainian politician and businessman of Crimean Tatar Muslim descent. He returned with his family to Ukraine after independence in 1991, where he originated – initially – as a businessman, as he was an official in the Turkish “LifeCell” communication company in Ukraine from 2003 to 2010.
He also worked in the Financial Directorate as the head of the procurement, logistics and contract management department in 2007-2010 and was the managing member of several investment companies operating in the country (ICG Investments – iCapital) and the founder and president of the international investment company ASTEM.
He then emerged as a political and social activist, as Amirov contributed to the formation of many international organizations and non-governmental institutions serving the Tatar people from 2010 to 2013.
After Russia occupied Crimea in 2014 and moved to Kyiv, in 2016 Amirov participated in the establishment of the Crimean Cultural Heritage Fund, in 2019 he was elected as a parliamentary representative of the opposition party “Voice” (Holos) and held several positions in the parliament.
In 2020, he joined a working group formed by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to prepare a “strategy for ending the occupation of Crimea”.
Amirov’s name has been around the world since the beginning of Russia’s war with Ukraine, as he was part of the Ukrainian delegation in the talks with Moscow in Turkey and in the subsequent negotiations for a prisoner exchange with Russia.
Observers believe that Amirov’s Crimean Tatar Muslim background has helped him represent his country in these talks, especially since Turkey considers the Tatars to be its “ethnic and historical extension” in Ukraine.
In September 2022, Amirov was appointed head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, with the aim of fighting corruption in the fund and the state property within it, as he is a “Ukrainian figure who is far from accusations and suspicions of corruption”.
He was recently nominated for the post of defense minister, replacing his predecessor Oleksii Reznikov, with the support of most parliamentarians.
Tamil Tashiwa
As for Tamila Rafilievna Tasheva, she is a Crimean Tatar Muslim and holds the position of permanent representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
He was born in 1985 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and after his return in 1991, he settled with his family in an informal home near the city of Simferopol, Crimea.
Tamila studied at the Faculty of Oriental Languages of Tavrida Vernadskyi University, and then joined the “Crimean Tatar Youth Center” and became famous for organizing Crimean Tatar cultural events.
He played an active role during the Orange Revolution that took place in Ukraine. He organized marches in his support on the Crimean peninsula. He also took part in the “Revolution for Freedom and Dignity” in Kiev and volunteered at the “European Field Hospital”, which was installed in the center of the capital.
In the winter of 2014, Tamila founded the Save Crimea (CrimeaSOS) organization to document “Russia’s repressive policies and human rights violations in Crimea.
In April 2022, by order of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, I was appointed as the permanent representative of the President in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Prominent personalities
Also prominent Tatar figures in Ukraine include Mustafa Dzamilov (age 80), described as a Tatar “leader”, who served as chairman of the Crimean Tatar People’s Assembly, was a parliamentary representative for several terms, and was a delegate on behalf of the President of Ukraine in Crimean Tatar affairs until 2211.
Also featured are Rifat Chubarov, a parliamentary representative and head of the Crimean Tatar People’s Assembly, and Sheikh Said Ismailov, a former Muslim mufti of Ukraine, who donned a turban to fight “Russian aggression” for his country.
Efficiency is the standard
Writer and political analyst Alexander Paley, the author of the book “A Brief History of Ukraine”, believes that “there is no sense in the previous talks about the government bringing the Tatars closer to them by giving them positions.”
He told Al Jazeera Net that there are many Jewish and Muslim names in Ukraine’s parliament, and the courts are today hearing charges against key religious figures who were part of the government formation.
Alexander believes that race and religion can play a role in foreign relations, but that recruitment used to be a mechanism for gaining loyalty and is no longer the case today. Moreover, competence has become the main criterion, as evidenced by the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky removed several high-ranking Tatar figures from their “symbolic” positions in 2019 and appointed others, Tatars and others.
The same analyst confirms that the public’s view of the Tatars has improved since the rejection of the occupation of Crimea in 2014, after the Soviet authorities branded them as traitors during the Second World War, and the previous authorities of Ukraine did not pay them due attention, considering that they were an integral part of society.
