Ukraine’s credibility crisis: corruption perception still haunts economic recovery
1 day ago
A Forbes assessment of Turkish billionaire Hamdi Ulukaya’s wealth on October 16 showed it jumped by $11.4bn to $13.5bn from $2.1bn when the valuation of his company hit $20bn.
The publication estimated that Ulukaya has a 65% stake in Chobani, America’s top yoghurt brand. which posted $3bn in net revenues in 2024. That means Ulukaya has taken over the title of richest Turk and it looks like he will hold on to it for a good while.
Forbes estimated the wealth of Murat Ulker, who held the title in the 2025 ranking, stood at $5.4bn, making him the second richest Turk behind Ulukaya.
Aggressive expansion
On October 16, Chobani said that it had raised $650mn in equity capital to fund production plant investments. The New York Times, meanwhile, quoted unnamed sources as saying that the deal valued the enterprise at $20bn.
The company aims to increase its net sales by 28% y/y to $3.8bn this year, according to the newspaper.
In April, Chobani broke ground on a $1.2bn dairy plant in New York. In March, it announced a $500mn expansion of its Idaho plant.
Additionally, the company acquired coffeemaker La Colombe for a consideration of $900mn in 2023 and bought up plant-based frozen meal provider Daily Harvest in May for an undisclosed sum.
More visible in Turkey recently
Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani’s self-made billionaire founder, was born in 1972 in the town of Ilic in Erzincan province, eastern Turkey to Kurdish dairy farmers. He moved to the US in 1994.
In 2024, Ulukaya bought a $45mn mansion on the Bosporus strait in Istanbul.
In July this year, his company signed a €120mn sponsorship deal with Turkish football team Fenerbahce A.S. (FENER).
Under the agreement, Fenerbahce’s 50,000-capacity stadium in the heart of Kadikoy district on Istanbul’s Asian side, has been renamed Chobani Stadium.
Related Content
Data
Ukraine’s credibility crisis: corruption perception still haunts economic recovery
Despite an active reform narrative and growing international engagement, corruption remains the biggest drag on Ukraine’s economic credibility, according to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
India’s retail payment revolution
India’s payments landscape has reached a pivotal stage, with digital transactions now accounting for 99.8% of all retail payments.
Military aid for Ukraine falls despite new Nato PURL initiative – Statista
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy found that military aid to Ukraine dropped sharply in July and August compared to previous months, despite the implementation of the Nato PURL initiative.
IMF cuts Russia’s 2025 growth forecast to 0.6%, leaves Ukraine's unchanged at 2%
The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for Russia’s economic growth in 2025 to just 0.6%, marking the second-steepest downgrade among major economies, even as it raised its global outlook.
