Mohammad Zahoor is a Ukraine-based, British businessman of Pakistani origin. He is the founder and owner of the ISTIL Group, the former publisher of the Kyiv Post, the co-founder of the Ukrainian Music Awards and a philanthropist.
Early life
Zahoor was born in Karachi, Pakistan. His father was in the civil service. At school Zahoor was interested in sports. His hobby was collecting stamps and singing. Zahoor continued singing during studying at college and university. After receiving a scholarship in 1974, Zahoor studied metallurgy at Donetsk National Technical University in Ukraine. He later obtained his PhD from the same university in 2007.
Career
After earning his PhD from Donetsk National Technical University, Zahoor moved back to Pakistan to work at Pakistan Steel. In 1987, he moved to Moscow where he entered a partnership with a Thai steelmaker and ran Metalsrussia, a Hong Kong-registered trading company. In 1996, Zahoor bought Donetsk Steel Mill. He bought other steel mills in various countries. In 2008, Zahoor sold Donetsk Steel Mill to Russian parliamentarian Vadim Varshavsky, for a sum believed to be around $1 billion. In 2009, Zahoor bought the Kyiv Leipzig Hotel for $36 million. That year he bought Ukraine's oldest English language newspaper, the Kyiv Post, for $1.1 million from its founder, American-born Jed Sunden. In 2018, he sold the Kyiv Post to Syrian Adnan Kivan for $3.5 million. Zahoor was interviewed by the Financial Times on the economic situation in Ukraine, specifically the prospects for inward investment. Zahoor contributed to the Huffington Post on topics relating to Ukrainian/Russian economics and politics.
Personal life
In 2003, Zahoor married Ukrainian singer Kamaliya. They have two daughters, Mirabella and Arabella. He has a daughter, Tanya, and a son, Arman, from his first marriage.
Philanthropy
Zahoor takes part in many different projects, in Ukraine and abroad. He donated to the restoration of the Odessa State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, a building in a university in Taxila,, and the Cardiac Research Center in Pakistan Zahoor supports sport teams and the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine. He and Kamaliya founded the Kamaliya and Mohammad Zahoor Charitable Foundation to help children in need. The foundation organizes annual charity nights to raise money. In 2017, during the annual charity event 4th St. Nicholas Charity Night in Kyiv, Ukraine, $50,000 was raised through auction and ticket sales for buying 10 Drager Siemens Infinity Delta XL patient monitors for the State Children’s Cardiac Center in Kyiv. In 2011, Zahoor became the co-founder of the Ukrainian Music Awards.
