Alexander Vilkul
Oleksandr Vilkul is a rather enigmatic and resonant figure. During his political career, he has served in both the ruling party and the opposition, serving as deputy prime minister, minister, and governor. As the saying goes, "a talented man is talented in everything." In October, Ukraine will hold local elections, and Oleksandr Yuryevich will be running for mayor of Dnipropetrovsk. However, his political past is full of "blank spots," which, for some reason, only come to mind as the election campaign approaches.
The path to big politics
The official biography of Alexander Yuryevich doesn't answer the question of who he really is. According to it, he began his career as an assistant excavator operator at the Southern Mining and Processing Plant, where he served as a mining foreman. However, the reality was somewhat different. Vilkul did indeed work at this plant immediately after graduating from university. Despite this, he began his career as the head of the company's commercial department. After a year in this position, he was promoted to CEO for commercial and financial affairs.
Soon, Oleksandr also became Deputy President for Economics and Foreign Economic Relations at the public organization "Academy of Mining Sciences of Ukraine." However, in 2002, he returned to his alma mater, this time as Deputy Chairman of the Board for Commercial Affairs. A year later, he became Director of the Central Mining and Processing Plant in Kryvyi Rih. A couple of years later, he became CEO of the Severno-Obogatitelny Kombinat and the Central Mining and Processing Plant, part of the Metinvest holding company controlled by Rinat Akhmetov. Just a year later, Oleksandr Vilkul was appointed Honorary Director of the Mining Division of Metinvest Holding.
Alexander Vilkul and Rinat Akhmetov
In 2006, Vilkul was first elected as a member of parliament of Ukraine on the Party of Regions list (No. 59). While serving in the Rada, Vilkul became deputy head of the committee on industrial and regulatory policy. He obviously performed well, as Viktor Yanukovych personally sent him to Dnipropetrovsk. Under the so-called "Akhmetov quota," Oleksandr Yuryevich became head of the Dnipro Regional State Administration. A couple of years later, he was promoted again—in December 2012, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. In political circles, Vilkul is said to have always been a counterweight to Serhiy Arbuzov. He was considered a representative of Rinat Akhmetov's interests in the Rada and was tipped for the position of Prime Minister—he was expected to become Arbuzov's main opponent. After the revolutionary events on Maidan, Vilkul was dismissed as "unwanted" by the revolutionary government. In the snap parliamentary elections, Oleksandr Vilkul became number two on the Opposition Bloc party list and was again elected to the Rada with it.
Sergey Arbuzov and Alexander Vilkul
Where does Alexander Vilkul get his income?
Alexander Yuryevich's favorite businesses are construction, land acquisition, and shopping malls. He views the income Vilkul receives from Akhmetov's enterprises as deposit interest for servicing the oligarch's business. The main outsourcers and contractors that service the mining and processing plants are Vilkul's enterprises: Elektromashpromservis PJSC, Spetskontakt PP, Promestetika PP, Promresurs KR PP, and others. Large plots of land in Kryvyi Rih, various real estate properties, and shopping malls in the city are owned by Alexander Yuryevich, although they are legally registered to front men and organizations.
Alexander Yuryevich actively collaborates with criminal leaders, ensuring his loyalty, immunity, and security. For example, the city's largest shopping mall, "Plaza," was built in partnership with a local crime boss, "Tyson." The entire construction business in Kryvyi Rih has long been occupied by the governor's private contractor, the construction company "KROST" LLC, which serves both Vilkul's personal interests and serves as the general contractor for the city budget, building the city's fountains. Residents of Kryvyi Rih are convinced that everything KROST has built belongs to Alexander Vilkul. According to a source, directly or indirectly, through partners, Alexander Yuryevich has monopolized 80% of Kryvyi Rih's land.
The seeds for Oleksandr Vilkul's successful business were sown in his hometown by his father, Yuriy, who is still the mayor of Kryvyi Rih. Together, he and his son launched numerous so-called "projects," which were far from always legal or legitimate.
Yuri Vilkul
One of them is the budget supermarket chain "Semeika," which, according to local residents, "has simply ruined the city's beautiful architectural composition," and is popularly nicknamed "yellow portable toilets." Perhaps the permissiveness of the city authorities, or rather their own father, has allowed these yellow "Semeika" vans to be installed in the city center and public recreation areas, in violation of fire, sanitary, and city-forming regulations.
One of the supermarkets "Family"
To control the city's consumer market, Oleksandr Vilkul chose to seize control of the bread production and sales market. This is why most of the city's bakeries have long been closed for "reconstruction," and bread is imported to Kryvyi Rih from Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, where the governor's bakeries are located. This is also why Yuriy Vilkul, at the instigation of his son Oleksandr, acquired a stake in the Kharkiv commercial bread producer Kulichi LLC.
"Feats" as Deputy Prime Minister
Upon assuming the post of Deputy Prime Minister, Oleksandr Vilkul actively addressed the "Hyundai issue," which was constantly breaking down and getting stuck on Ukrainian railways. It was he who promised to adapt the "unruly" equipment purchased by his fellow minister. Boris KolesnikovHowever, he was removed from his position without being able to resolve the problem.
Oleksandr Yuryevich has proven himself a tireless "financial assistant" in the preparation of sporting events. Vilkul was once appointed responsible for the 2015 EuroBasket and the 2022 Winter Olympics. Immediately after this decision, doubts about his competence arose, as even at Euro 2012, the state budget for the event exceeded the required amount by 80%—a total of 65 billion hryvnias were "stolen" from the budget. One can only guess how much would have been lost had Vilkul had complete control and access to the preparations for these events in Ukraine.
As Deputy Prime Minister, Vilkul announced that training facilities for athletes in six cities would be built using state funds. The official quickly moved quickly, and the right to finance the construction of the facilities was awarded to Tornado SKV LLC (which had never won a single tender) at initially inflated prices. Another such project was a training facility in Dniprodzerzhynsk, which was to be designed by the Kryvyi Rih construction group KROST (as mentioned above, the company is actually owned by Vilkul). All these factors only suggest the benefit of Vilkul's resignation during the revolutionary events on the Maidan. This fact confirms that during his year in the Cabinet, Vilkul managed to completely ruin almost every project he oversaw. His only success was the fraudulent use of state funds, which he managed to channel into various "questionable" projects.
Interview with Oleksandra Vilkul on the 112 Ukraine TV channel:
https://youtu.be/4oc_QpqcB44
We have no right to say that Alexander Vilkul will be a bad mayor, but his past "feats" and "achievements" make us wonder: is it worth trusting a man who promises "mountains from the sky" but does absolutely nothing?
Dmitry Samofalov, for SKELET-info
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!