Oligarchs hold key to Yanukovich's grip on power Ukraine's richest man Rinat Akhmetov With thousands of citizens thronging Kiev's streets, pitched against riot police and calling for the resignation of Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovich, Ukrainians residing in the UK have found a different target. They protested this weekend outside London's ultra-chic One Hyde Park apartment building, where Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, owns a £136.6m flat. They urged him to use his influence with the president - of whom Mr Akhmetov is seen as a close ally. "Akhmetov, discipline your pet Yanukovich!" they chanted. The scene was a reminder of the central role that Ukraine's "oligarchs," or politically connected billionaire businessmen, could play in resolving the country's biggest political crisis since the 2004 Orange Revolution. On Monday evening, the stand-off appeared to be intensifying, with riot police encircling central Kiev and raising fears that a crackdown on anti-government protesters was imminent. Whether the oligarchs stick with Mr Yanukovich could determine if and for how long Ukraine's president remains in power. In a worrying sign for him, there are indications that at least some share the protesters" discontent at his fateful decision to back away from an integration agreement with the EU to instead rebuild stronger ties with Russia. The billionaires themselves have declined interview requests since the protests broke out. But the fact that oligarch-owned television stations, in recent years loyal to the president, appeared to have been allowed to cover the demonstrations objectively is seen as evidence some oligarchs may already be tacitly backing the protests. "The oligarchs are not loyal [to the president], but intimidated [by him]," said one businessman who works closely with Ukraine's oligarchs. "Whenever [it becomes] possible they will jump" and switch support, he added. Analysts draw parallels with the Orange uprising, when certain oligarchs initially remained loyal to then-president Leonid Kuchma, and his chosen successor Mr Yanukovich. But when street protests peaked at about 1m people, they switched to the Orange leaders, Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko. Ukraine's politically tied billionaires command a far greater share of the country's wealth than even Russia's oligarchs. They have never been subjugated to the presidency to the extent Russian counterparts have by Vladimir Putin's Kremlin. But many have been careful to stay on the right side of Mr Yanukovich since he was elected president in 2010. Mr Akhmetov, valued by Forbes at $15.4bn, is often photographed with the president at the $400m football stadium the oligarch built for the team he owns, Ukrainian league champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Several other businessmen, including Victor Pinchuk, a metals magnate, and Igor Kolomoisky, active in banking and mining, are also in the multibillion-dollar club, according to Forbes. Local media add Dmitry Firtash, a natural gas and chemicals magnate, to the list. Yet the oligarchs have increasingly been forced to coexist with an upstart group of officials and business people, widely nicknamed the "Family," that has amassed significant economic interests since Mr Yanukovich took power. His son, Oleksandr, a former dentist, has emerged in recent years as one of the country's top 100 richest and most influential businessmen, according to domestic media. Father and son have denied that the younger Mr Yanukovich's business success has anything to do with his links to the president. The president himself enjoys a more lavish lifestyle than his predecessors, occupying part of a luxury estate at Mezhyhirya, 16km north of Kiev, something that rankles many Ukrainians. Mr Yanukovich has insisted he owns only a small part of the compound. Earlier this year another oligarch, Serhiy Klyuyev, announced he had invested in the Mezhyhirya estate, but as majority owner would allow the president to reside there. An increasing point of friction is that "Family" members appear to favour closer ties with Russia, even joining a Russian-led customs union of ex-Soviet states as Mr Putin is pressing Ukraine to do. While wary of damaging trade with Russia, Ukraine's longer-established oligarchs favour an EU deal. That would allow them tariff-free access to the vast European single market, even if it would expose them to the full force of European competition. Several people who have spoken recently to Mr Akhmetov say the billionaire had calculated the impact of an EU deal. While there might be a short-term hit, in the long term it was better for his bottom line. "The oligarchs may not care so much about "European values,"" says one foreign diplomat, "but they see "European value."" Analysts say Ukraine's oligarchs also see a European deal as the best long-term protection for their property, and a way of polishing their reputations and entering the international business mainstream. While Ukraine's oligarchs tend to shun collective action, the fear of losing that European option may have encouraged some of them individually to back the demonstrations. The protests are financed by oligarchs. Today they don't want Putin or the customs union and they are scared of the Family," said Vadim Karasiov, director of Kiev's Global Strategy Institute and a one-time adviser to President Yushchenko. If Putin and the customs union win, then power is in the hands of the Family. Additional reporting by Yuri Bender