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International Booker Prize to Be Renamed After Russian-Born Entrepreneur Bukhman
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The International Booker Prize will officially change its name to the Bukhman International Booker Prize after the Bukhman Philanthropies foundation committed to funding the award for the next ten years.
The foundation was established by British entrepreneur Dmitry Bukhman, who is of Russian origin, and his wife Daria. The Booker Prize Foundation announced the new partnership during the presentation of the 2027 judging panel, as reported by Suspilne Culture on July 2.
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Dmitry Bukhman was born in Vologda in 1985. In 2001, he and his brother Igor began developing computer games and later founded Playrix, a company known for projects like Fishdom and Homescapes. The brothers moved to Israel in 2016 and immigrated to Britain in 2020.
The International Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, recognizing the finest fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Its unique significance lies in its power to shape the global literary landscape by elevating both authors and translators to equal prominence, with the prize money split evenly between them. By championing translated literature, the prize plays a crucial role in fostering cross-cultural understanding, introducing diverse voices and global experiences to an international audience that might otherwise remain inaccessible due to language barriers.
According to the organizers, the Bukhman foundation already funded the prize in 2026, and the partnership will now continue for another decade.
Along with the renaming, the main prize money will double. The winning author and translator previously received $64,000, but the prize fund will now increase to $128,000, which will still be divided equally between them. The award for each shortlisted book will remain at $6,400, also split between authors and translators.
Gaby Wood, the chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, stated that the organization is "extraordinarily grateful" to Bukhman Philanthropies for the exceptional ten-year financial commitment and for Daria Bukhman’s personal support of literature in translation.
Wood noted that "the support of Bukhman Philanthropies has the potential to transform not only the future of the prize but the literary landscape itself — bringing to the fore writers and translators whose stories connect us more deeply with one another, despite cultural differences, borders and lived experience."
She added that "at a time when the world feels increasingly fractured, this gift is an act of profound optimism: it is an investment in mutual understanding, in curiosity, and in the belief that great literature can help us imagine one another’s lives."
Daria Bukhman, the co-founder of Bukhman Philanthropies, previously stated that translated literature opened up opportunities for her in childhood to explore other cultures and experiences.
She said that as societies become more divided, translated literature helps build empathy, and supporting the prize on its tenth anniversary is a way to champion diverse voices and the art of translation.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Playrix faced criticism for its initial response. On February 24, 2022, management called Playrix "apolitical."
Inside the company, moderators removed discussions about the war from internal Slack channels, causing dissatisfaction among Ukrainian staff. The company later closed some internal communication channels due to tensions between Ukrainian and Russian employees.
Dmitry Bukhman stated that the company was "between two fires." After the invasion began, all roughly 4,000 employees received a one-month salary bonus and relocation offers.
A few days after the invasion, the Bukhman brothers publicly called the war a "great tragedy" and stated that "violence can never be the solution to a problem."
Forbes named them among the first Russian billionaires to speak out openly against the war. In March 2022, the company announced a $500,000 donation to the Ukrainian Red Cross.
Previously, the Booker Prize Foundation had highlighted global literary achievements by longlisting Endling, a novel about wartime Ukraine by Canadian-Ukrainian author Maria Reva, for its 2025 award.
The award’s organizers announced that Reva’s work had been selected as one of the 13 standout titles, representing nine countries across four continents. Set against the harrowing backdrop of the 2022 Russian invasion, the narrative followed the surreal and chaotic road trip of three resilient Ukrainian women navigating a country on the brink of war.
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