Vitaliy Antonov

Vitaliy Borysovyvch Antonov (born December 12, 1962 in Stryi, Lviv Oblast) is a Ukrainian businessman, head of the supervisory board of Concern Galnaftogaz (OKKO filling station network), head of the supervisory board of the Universalna insurance company, and president of the Universalna Investment Group. He is an Honorary General Consul of Lithuania in Lviv and has a Ph.D in Economics. Education He studied at the Stryi School #4 in 1970-1978. He graduated from the Ternopil Financial-Economic Institute with honors with a specialization in “finance and credit” in 1988. He defended a dissertation on the topic “Activation of the Attraction of Foreign Direct investment into Ukraine’s Economy in the Condition of Global Competition” and received a scientific degree, a Ph.D. in Economics in 2011.

Career

In school, Vitaliy Antonov was fond of rock climbing and later mountain climbing; his first workplaces were connected to these hobbies. He was the head of the mountain climbing/tourist club in his home town in 1988-1990; he was the head of the Lviv Oblast rescue service of the Red Cross in Stryi in 1990-1992.

Vitaliy Antonov started his own business in 1992. He became the director of the private company Karat, which conducted wholesaling of various groups of products. Over time, one of the main specializations of this company was trading oil products. Vitaliy Antonov became the president of OJSC Galnaftogaz in 1995 and head of the supervisory board of OJSC Galnaftogaz in 2001. Vitaliy Antonov opened the first OKKO brand filling station in Stryi in 1999. He opened the first large OKKO filling station complex on Zelena Street in Lviv with a store, café and portal car wash in 2000, which became the prototype for the OKKO network's modern format of filling stations.

Vitaliy Antonov has been the president of Universalna Investment Group since 2004, a member of the supervisory board of Concern Khlibprom since 2006 and head of the supervisory board of the Universalna insurance company since 2008. Vitaliy Antonov won top oil & gas company head in the rankings of the Top-100 managers of Ukraine for three years in a row in 2010-2012, which was prepared by InvestGazeta and Ekonomika publishing house. He was one of the three top managers in Ukraine in 2011 and top manager in the category “Salesperson and Marketer” in 2012 by the aforementioned publication, Top-100. According to results of internet voting on the portal of the newspaper Delo in 2012, Vitaliy Antonov was third in the national rating “Responsible Leader.” For the first time, in 2013, he was named one of the most influential people in the country according to the magazine Korrespondent, taking 66th place. According to the magazine Forbes Ukraine, Vitaliy Antonov was 40th in the Top-100 richest people of Ukraine in 2013. He took 42nd place in magazine Korrespondent's “Golden 100” in 2013.

Other activities

Vitaliy Antonov headed the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs's commission on issues of the fuel-energy sector of Ukraine in 1999-2000. He was a member of the Council of Investors under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 2009-2010. He became a member of the Council on the Issue of Stimulating Investments and Entrepreneurial Activity under the Minister of Revenue and Duties of Ukraine in 2013. Vitaliy Antonov has been an Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Lviv and Lviv Oblast since 1999 and Honorary General Consul of Lithuania in Lviv since 2007. He has been the head of the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian-Lithuanian Fund since 2001. Vitaliy Antonov believes that the Lithuania's experience with transforming society from post-totalitarian into a free and open society is very valuable for the Ukrainian national project since both countries have a common history and similar mentalities. Vitaliy Antonov became one of the founders of the Lviv Business School of the Ukrainian Catholic University in 2008. Vitaliy Antonov is a candidate in sports in mountain climbing and rock climbing. He is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian and English languages. In 2016 elected as a member of Ivan Franko Lviv National University Supervisory Board

Awards

• State Order of Ukraine “For Merit” III Degree
• Lithuanian Government Award – “Millennium Star of Lithuania” Order
• “Christ’s Birth 2000” Order of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy
• Award from the Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church

Family status

Antonov is divorced; he has two daughters (born in 1985 and 1993) and a son (born in 2003).