War and Punishment by Mikhail Zygar

Author:Mikhail Zygar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion

Berezovsky Again

The appointment of the odious Yanukovych as Kuchma’s successor is a gift for the opposition. Surely this will make it easier for everyone to unite against him. That said, no Ukrainian oligarchs are rushing to openly stand up against the ruling authorities. The opposition has a leader, Viktor Yushchenko, but he has no money.

The drive to raise money for Yushchenko’s campaign is led by an associate of his, the businessman Davyd Zhvania. In the nineties he recently moved from Georgia to Ukraine and enjoys close ties with the country of the victorious Rose Revolution. Zhvania goes to see Georgian president Saakashvili to persuade him to support Yushchenko’s candidacy—if the latter wins, he says, he will become a lynchpin in the confrontation with Russia. Saakashvili is sold by the idea and takes Zhvania to see Boris Berezovsky. The Russian businessman who brought Putin to power and then helped Saakashvili become president of Georgia enthusiastically climbs aboard the undertaking. On the one hand, he is passionate about politics; on the other, he expects to acquire some Ukrainian enterprises as a reward, allowing him to become not just a Russian dissident, but a European businessman.

However, the more he finances Yushchenko’s campaign, the less he likes working with his team. They gladly take his money but do not listen to his advice. Moreover, they fear publicity—God forbid that anyone find out that Berezovsky is sponsoring Yushchenko! That would only anger Putin and scare off voters. The oligarch is disgruntled about this state of affairs: the scheme “give money and don’t interfere” does not suit him in the slightest. For Yushchenko to win, concludes Berezovsky, he needs a broad coalition, which means that he, Berezovsky, should give money not only to Zhvania but to other Ukrainian politicians too.

Berezovsky reaches out first to Oleksandr Volkov, Kuchma’s former aide and the architect of his victory in the 1999 presidential election. Volkov eagerly joins the campaign. He introduces Berezovsky to Yulia Tymoshenko, the Joan of Arc of the Ukrainian protests and Yush­chenko’s former colleague in government. Tymoshenko turns out to be a very shrewd political player: she understands that Berezovsky, as the campaign sponsor, needs to feel appreciated. That means consulting him on a regular basis. Of course, she does not listen to his advice, but the main thing is to create the impression that his opinion matters.

Tymoshenko succeeds where both Zhvania and Yushchenko failed: she makes Berezovsky believe that he is not only the campaign’s sponsor but also its brains. It is then that the oligarch puts forward a new condition: he pledges more money to Yushchenko only if he enters into a public alliance with Tymoshenko and promises to make her prime minister after winning the election.

Outraged, Zhvania and his people make an alliance with another sponsor—Ukrainian businessman Petro Poroshenko, owner of several chocolate factories. He is close to Yushchenko, who, in 2000 as prime minister, became the godfather of Poroshenko’s two daughters. He also knows Medvedchuk well, having been a member of his party and even run for parliament on the party’s lists.

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