Konstantin Grigorishin, the founder and financer of the International Swimming League, has had further personal sanctions imposed by him by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The new sanctions freeze all of Grigorishin’s assets in the country, which is expected to lead to their nationalization, and prevents him from transferring capital abroad, doing business in the country, and travelling across Ukraine territory.
In 2022, one company owned by Grigorishin, Zaporozhtransformator, was nationalized. Prior to the sanctions, Grigorishin still held stakes in the regional power distribution companies in Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Ternopil, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava and Sumy.
Grigorishin, a Soviet-born Russian and Ukrainian citizen, had his Cypriot ‘golden passport’ revoked last summer. He obtained a Cyprus passport in 2011 and received Ukrainian citizenship in 2018.
After war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, Grigorishin initially said that it wouldn’t impact funding of future seasons of the league, though ultimately it was blamed for the lack of owed payments and the discontinuation of the ISL. At least one ISL team still has not received ‘solidarity’ payments or prize money of over half-a-million dollars from the 2021 season.
Grigorishin’s wealth is largely tied to the Ukrainian economy, and in some regards to the relationship between Russia and Ukraine: in 2014, he helped negotiate a deal to import coal and electricity from Russia to Ukraine.
Grigorishin has been locked in a number of battles between Russia and Ukraine, including being accused of paying taxes to a separatist group in Luhansk, most of which has been met with denials from Grigorishin.
Grigorishin was named by Ukraine’s government among a list of individuals who support Russia, including actors, dancers, scientists, and musicians.
Grigorishin, once estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of over a billion dollars, was estimated by the same publication to have a net worth of $275 million in 2021. A decade earlier, he owned a collection of paintings that insurance company Lloyd’s of London valued at around $300 million.
The ISL recently sued their lawfirm in a suit against World Aquatics for $7.2 million in damages, alleging professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things.
