Media empire Prior to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pinchuk was known to most Ukrainians, alongside his wife, as the largest shareholder and owner of
StarlightMedia, one of the biggest media conglomerates in Ukraine. StarLightMedia encompasses several major television channels and is a dominant player in the Ukrainian broadcasting landscape. StarLightMedia also owns and operates Starlight Entertainment, a company that runs live events such as concerts, corporate conferences, and awards shows. As a result of the vast holdings by Oligarchs such as Pinchuk and
Ihor Kolomoisky (the owner of
1+1) in Ukrainian television, their companies often dominated the
Teletriumph Awards. This led to many tensions within the television industry, including boycotts of the events – both by companies in opposition to Pinchuk, and by companies owned by Pinchuk and his wife. Added to this tension was the movement within the Ukrainian government to move the country towards more Ukrainian language content on television, and away from so much Russian language content on television. In addition to television assets, Pinchuk was also a key figure in Ukrainian radio broadcasting. In 2016, he was a co-owner of TAVR Media, a major Ukrainian radio holding that operates several popular radio stations, including Hit-FM, Kiss-FM, Russkoe Radio Ukraina, Radio Relax, Radio ROKS, and Radio Melodia. TAVR Media functions through various subsidiary companies such as Liamin, Mir, and Pilot, with ownership stakes ranging from 95% to 100%. Through these enterprises, Pinchuk maintained significant influence in Ukraine. Later, the
first Tymoshenko government reversed this sale, and held a nationally televised repeat auction that netted $4.8 billion. In 2006, Pinchuk founded an investment advisory company, EastOne. Its portfolio includes industrial assets such as production of pipes and tubes, rail car wheels, specialty steels and alloys, machinery, as well as
media. Pinchuk was a member of the
Ukrainian Parliament between 1998 and 2006 for
Labour Ukraine. He left politics after he came to the conclusion that Ukraine had reached a level of development when business and politics should be separated. Pinchuk is a member of the Board of the
Peterson Institute for International Economics, of the International Advisory Council of
Brookings Institution and of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Global Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. Pinchuk holds a share of VS Energy International Ukraine together with Mikhail Spektor and
Igor Kolomoisky. In 2013, American steel makers filed a case with the
United States Department of Commerce alleging that
Interpipe Group was illegally dumping steel tubes into the American natural gas market. "We paid this money, and besides that, we paid dividends to the state, all taxes and everything else. But for the right to receive our dividends, we were forced to pay another 5 million from our dividends to Pinchuk", - said Kolomoisky. On 18 March 2015,
National Anti-Corruption Bureau opened criminal proceedings. According to the investigation, the amount of the bribe to Viktor Pinchuk from 2003 to 2006 was allegedly $110 million. In December 2015, Pinchuk brought a $2 billion civil action against fellow oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi and
Gennadiy Bogolyubov in the
High Court of Justice in London over the 2004 purchase of a Ukrainian mining company. Allegations made include murder and bribery. In January 2016, an undisclosed out of court settlement was reached just before the trial was due to start.
Promoting Ukraine to join the European Union In 2004, Pinchuk created Yalta European Strategy, an international independent organization to promote Ukraine joining the
European Union. Its annual summer meeting in Yalta was a Ukraine-EU forum for debate and policy recommendations development. Since the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation these meetings have been taking place in Kyiv. In September 2013, Pinchuk and
Tony Blair introduced
Hillary Clinton's keynote address to the conference at
Livadia Palace, with
Bill Clinton in attendance.
Michael Cohen solicited
Douglas Schoen for the donation from Pinchuk, which was the largest outside donation the Trump Foundation received that year. In 2015, Pinchuk promoted closer ties between Ukraine and the EU. He was an active participant in the
World Economic Forum at Davos. In December 2016, Viktor Pinchuk published an article in the
Wall Street Journal "Ukraine Must Make Painful Compromises for Peace With Russia", in which he suggested that Ukraine temporarily abandon the prospect of EU membership, exclude NATO membership and make a compromise with Russia on the Crimea peninsula on purpose the achieving peace in Eastern Ukraine. The article drew criticism from Ukrainian political authorities of Ukraine. Then-President Petro Poroshenko canceled a visit to the Davos Ukrainian Lunch, which took place on January 19, 2017. Former
Vice-Prime-Minister for
European and
Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klimpush-Tsintsadze said that the theses of Pinchuk's "peace plan" had already been used by Russian propaganda.
Russia's War Crimes House, formerly Russia House, is building 68, Promenade in
Davos rented by Pinchuk, where he informs about Ukrainian civilian war deaths. ==Personal life and wealth==