Vadym Yermolaiev

Vadym Volodymyrovych Iermolaiev (born 13 May 1968) is a Ukrainian-born Cypriot oligarch and investor based in Monaco. As of 2020, Iermolaiev was rated as the 23rd richest person in Ukraine by Focus magazine.

Biography Born in Dnipro, Ukraine to Jewish parents, received his economic degree at the Dnipropetrovsk College of Technology and Economics in 1987.

Iermolaiev is the most influential Dnipropetrovsk businessman and is the largest developer in Dnipro, according to Forbes Ukraine. He is recognised for changing the urban architecture.

In 1995, Iermolaiev founded Primus inter pares, an industrial corporation.

Iermolaiev is the creator and investor of (renamed Kelnsky Boulevard in December 2023), a cultural pedestrian area in the historic centre of Dnipro. In recent years, Alef Estate has been developing such projects as Perekhrestya shopping mall, Ermolaev Centre mixed-use complex, Artel shopping mall (Katerynoslavska cloth factory), Port City Apartment Complex, Boulevard on Yuzhnaya Street, and Troitsky Residential Complex.

In April 2004, the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine officially permitted Procter & Gamble to acquire CJSC Olvia Beta Cleaning Products Co in Pokrov (then named Ordzhonikidze), Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, 25% of which was owned by Iermolaiev. In 2004, the funds from the sale of the plant were invested in new large-scale projects in the eastern region of Ukraine. Plants for the production of plastic profile for windows Miroplast, the production of aerated concrete UDK and the only plant in the CIS for the production of fittings for windows translucent structures Axor were opened in partnership with a Turkish company.

In 2012, Iermolaiev became a patron of the Kiddo Charity Foundation.

In 2014, Iermolaiev claimed that he lost all of his assets in Crimea after its annexation by the Russian Federation: specifically, production facilities and administrative premises of a company engaged in the production and sale of alcoholic beverages.

In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a citizen of Cyprus. He has denied these accusations claiming that Russia had seized his grape growing and cognac enterprise in Crimea when it annexed the peninsula in 2014. He did condemn Russia's invasion in an interview in 2024 stating “I despise our enemies and believe that they will bear responsibility for the grief they brought to Ukrainian land and to my hometown.” He also claimed he financially supported the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was extradited to Estonia.

On 29 June 2026, a bomb exploded in the doorway of an apartment building in Monaco, injuring Iermolaiev, his mistress, and their 13-year-old son. The adults were left in critical condition. According to Ukrainska Pravda he has resided in Monaco since February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. He kept economic activity in occupied Ukraine and was sanctioned by Ukraine for it. Le Monde reported that it was "a settling of scores linked to organized crime". The main suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, a Ukrainian woman who disguised herself as a man before the attack, was found murdered in Ukraine on 7 July. Authorities detained a Ukrainian intelligence officer and a former law enforcement official suspected of carrying out the murder; the intelligence officer later confessed to killing Berezovska.

Alef Iermolaiev is the chairman of Alef. Alef's 13 companies operate in agribusiness (Agroalliance, Sady Dnipra), development (Alef Estate) and production of construction materials (AXOR Industry, MIROPLAST, UDK). Alef is also engaged in the production of dental implants and medical instruments (ABM Technology). The corporation employs more than 600,000 people. 2013 — US$254M (40th position) 2014 — 34th position 2015 — 24th position 2016 — US$823M net worth (15th position) 2020 — 23rd position

Prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, his net worth was estimated between $220 million and $300 million, ranking him around 23rd among Ukraine's wealthiest individuals according to various financial rankings.