Victor Pinchuk
(*1960), Ukraine
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Victor Pinchuk is an entrepreneur in the investment finance business and steel industry. He owns several TV stations, is a former member of the Ukrainian parliament and a prominent philanthropist. He graduated from the Metallurgy College in 1983. In 2006, he opened the greatest centre of modern art in Eastern Europe – Pinchuk Art Centre in Kiev. It supports fine art, the Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra, the film industry and projects fighting for human rights. He established the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, also in 2006. It is considered the biggest philanthropist organization in Ukraine. Additionally, Pinchuk is the owner and founder of many steel companies, of which a substantial amount of profit goes towards the global fight against AIDS. Mr. Pinchuk is founder of the Kiev School of Economics. He became the first Ukrainian state official to be ranked among the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine. Within this list, Mr. Pinchuk ranked seventh in the Thinkers Category alongside Steve Jobs, US Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayer, and renowned architect Zaha Hadid. He is also ranked among the one hundred most influential people in art by British Review Art Magazine.