Victor Pinchuk

“I am a citizen of the world, and also a citizen of Ukraine.”

“Ukrainian business must really embrace global competition. We need to understand that competition for resources and clients is not with competitors from across the street or from another city, but with millions of businesses around the world.”

“Olafur Eliasson is also one of the most visionary artists I've ever met. He is from Denmark and Iceland, and his focus is nothing less than the entire universe.”

“Contemporary art will help me to modernise our society.”

“I don't want to privatise part of the parliament, like some people in Russia.”

“Politicians love power. I love freedom. That is why I am not a politician.”

“What is extraordinary about contemporary art is the energy - it has our energy. New energy. Pieces hundreds of years old are beautiful from an aesthetic point of view, but without our modern energy.”

“Businessmen need to understand the challenges of society and contribute to solving them.”

“Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics.”

“My pipe business I created from scratch; my media assets and bank I bought from the secondary market.”

“In all the world, rich people are very unpopular.”

“For me it's very important to turn Kiev into one of the main centers of contemporary art in the world. There is New York. There's London. And there will be Kiev. Everyone will come and say, 'Wow!'”

“Financial crisis is the moment of truth for real collectors and true artists.”

“Today in Ukraine, many people struggle to survive, older ones often see the breakdown of the Soviet system as a loss of stability and security for average people, and therefore a certain hostility to quickly acquired wealth is from their point of view quite understandable at the first look.”

“I conduct business, not dependent of public sentiment, but according to the rules of fair business.”