The Accidental Oligarch by David Hoffman

Author:David Hoffman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David Hoffman

Chapter 39

Yuri woke up dreaming about animals escaping from the zoo, but he couldn’t quite hold onto it, as he struggled to remember which city he was in. He felt Dora’s warm body next to him. The reality of his present whereabouts slowly came into focus. He stealthily pulled the sheets off and slid from the bed. He walked to Yana’s room to see if she had come back during the night, but, as he expected, the room was empty. A sense of foreboding left an acidy taste in his mouth. He went downstairs and made himself some coffee.

The papers were filled with stories warning that Ukraine might not follow through with plans to sign the Association Agreement with Europe. The conflict between Putin and the West was coming to a head. Dora startled him when she came up behind him and put her arms around him. He hadn’t heard her tiptoeing down the stairs. She read over his shoulder. There were calls, apparently, for people to congregate on the Maidan. It seemed that another large-scale protest, like the Orange Revolution, was in the offing.

“How’d you sleep?” asked Dora.

“Fair. How about you?”

“Stressful,” said Dora. “I kept worrying about Yana.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Yuri. “I checked her room. She’s still out somewhere.”

“We need to find out if Palmer has learned anything,” Dora said.

Yuri nodded.

Dora made a pot of tea and some toast with jam. They read next to each other in silence. Dora scanned the article in the Ukrayinska Pravda that Palmer had given them, exposing corruption in the award of a national television license.

“Can I read you something?” she asked?

“Sure.”

“Police fear foul play with missing journalist,’” Dora read. “An investigative reporter for Ukrayinska Pravda has been missing since Thursday night when he was last seen walking his dog. The journalist, Georgiy Goritzky, had recently published a 5,000 word expose of the president’s manipulation of an auction for a national independent satellite news channel. Viktor Raskolnovitch, Ukraine’s richest oligarch, who built a fortune from his control of the tobacco market, is bidding for the channel, though he has no previous experience in the media industry.”

Dora lowered the paper and looked at Yuri. “I met that reporter at a party just a couple months ago.”

“Shit,” said Yuri, not looking up. “That sucks. I wonder why Palmer thought we should start there.”

Dora skimmed further through the article, “According to this,” she said, “the fix is already in for Raskolnovitch to get the license. Goritzky argues that the license should rightfully go to a group of local independent stations, not to foreigners or to the president, but they don’t have the resources to compete with these big players.”

“Maybe that’s what Palmer had in mind. Is the bidding over?” Yuri asked.

“Not according to the Financial Times,” said Dora.

“It would be poetic justice to beat Raskolnovitch with his own money, wouldn’t it?” said Yuri, looking up at her.

He saw Dora’s face brighten. This battle with Raskolnovitch was the storyline of their relationship. It’s what bound them together.

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