Andrey Ivanchuk
One of the most intriguing characters in the current Verkhovna Rada is Andriy Ivanchuk. Ukrainian media have at various times referred to him as the "cashier" of the People's Front, a "close friend of Arseniy Yatsenyuk," and even the "director of parliament." Experts say he is currently the leading contender for the role of "eminence grise" in the prime minister's entourage. This is hardly surprising, as they have known each other since childhood and shared the same path to power and "big money." What lies behind the past of one of Yatsenyuk's closest allies, and what role does he play in parliament today?
Side by side with Yatsenyuk
Andriy Ivanchuk was born in Ivano-Frankivsk in 1973. His fateful meeting with the future Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yatsenyuk, took place in the city of Kolomyia, where Arseniy Petrovich was attending school for a year. Their parents were close friends and often met during family celebrations. The future politicians studied law together at Chernivtsi University. While still students, they co-founded the auditing firm "Yurek-Audit" with Valentyn Hnatyshyn (the son of the former governor of the Chernivtsi region). One of their first clients was the Chernivtsi Machine-Building Plant, which Ivanchuk later took over. Incidentally, during his time as president of Yurek-Audit, Arseniy Yatsenyuk earned the nickname "Senya the Scammer"—rumor has it that it was bestowed upon him by Chernivtsi crime boss Valeriy Chynush, one of whose companies he served. Incidentally, his company, Nadina, was involved in the illegal supply of petroleum products to gas stations. Law enforcement caught wind of this and wanted to put Chinush in jail, but thanks to Yatsenyuk and Ivanchuk, he managed to avoid criminal liability. Another prominent client of their company was Mykhailo Papiyev (former Party of Regions, former governor of Chernivtsi Oblast, and current MP from the Opposition Bloc).
In the 90s, Andriy Ivanchuk worked as a lecturer in the criminal law department. Concurrently, he served as deputy chairman of the board of the regional branch of Bank Aval in Snyatyn. He was promoted to this position by Arseniy Petrovich, who at that time already held the position of deputy chairman of the board of the entire bank. In 2006, a year after Yatsenyuk's appointment as Minister of Economy, Ivanchuk was "unexpectedly" appointed vice president of the Energy Company of Ukraine.
In 2007, Yatsenyuk became speaker of parliament and, of course, helped his friend rise to power. At his instigation, Ivanchuk was appointed director of the state-owned enterprise Ukrinterenergo in 2008. However, he didn't last long in this position—he entered politics, heading the Front for Change party. During the 2010 presidential election, he also headed Arseniy Yatsenyuk's campaign headquarters. After the Batkivshchyna and Front for Change parties merged, he was elected deputy head of the party. In the 8th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, he serves as head of the Committee on Economic Policy.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Andriy Ivanchuk in the Verkhovna Rada
"Sugar" interests
Andriy Ivanchuk's business interests are quite narrow. They extend to sugar production, agriculture, media, and fuel trading. One of his main business partners is former Party of Regions member Valeriy Kalestin. The media dubbed him a "turncoat deputy" because, after gaining a seat in the Verkhovna Rada on the Our Ukraine party list, he defected to the Party of Regions in 2007.
The Kalestins and Ivanchuk jointly own the trading houses Agrocenter, Technocenter, Techno-Center Plus, and Galplast+. Through these, they own several sugar factories (Vladimirtsukor and Gorokhovsky Sugar Factory). Ivanchuk personally managed one of these factories from 2004 to 2007. In 2011, the businessmen managed to profit from a sugar tender held by the Agrarian Fund. Vladimirtsukor won one of the tenders, receiving 170 million hryvnias from the Agrarian Fund for the supply of 20 tons of sugar beet. The deception consisted in the fact that, according to the terms of participation in the tender, Vladimirtsukor was required to submit documents indicating that the factory was leasing facilities for processing sugar cane, not sugar beet. As a result of the fraud, the plant failed to supply sugar beets to the agricultural fund, and a case was opened against the company's director, Felix Bohdan, according to which the plant caused damage to the state amounting to 170 million hryvnias.
Another sugar refinery, the Gorokhovsky Sugar Factory, owned by Kalestin and Ivanchuk, also found itself in trouble. Having taken out a 15 million hryvnia loan from Oschadbank, the refinery's management had no intention of repaying it. As a result, the bank filed a lawsuit demanding bankruptcy, but the lawsuit was dismissed. Local media later reported that the refinery had completely ceased operations.
The partners own a small business in Rohatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Their television and radio station, "Zakhid," is located there, as is the restaurant "Elite Center," which is now registered to different people. Ivanchuk also has interests in an agricultural association and an oil depot in western Ukraine. This is not surprising, as one of his first joint business ventures with Kalestin was the Ukrainian Oil and Gas Company, a petroleum product supplier.
"Poverty only on paper"
According to the documents, Andriy Vladimirovich was on the verge of poverty. In 2012, as the manager of several companies mentioned above, he declared a total annual income of 12 hryvnias. His declaration also included two cars, a yacht, and a large country house, all registered in his wife's name. The most interesting thing is that maintaining all this property costs significantly more (even for a single month) than his entire official income for the year.
Ivanchuk's income statement
His "family" mansion is located in the village of Ivankovichi. Incidentally, there isn't a single home in this small community worth less than $2 million. The media has compared Ivanchuk's mansion to a "small Mezhyhirya"—it's surrounded by a double fence, the grounds are cluttered with surveillance cameras, guest houses, and even enclosures for animals (thankfully, not for ostriches).
In this whole situation, law enforcement and government officials should be interested in the question: "Where does Ivanchuk get the money to maintain the mansion and the surrounding area (1.3 hectares), if, according to his declaration, he earns pennies?"
"Feats" in the Rada
Fighting
In June 2013, Andriy Ivanchuk got into a fight on the sidelines of the Verkhovna Rada with MP Ihor Skosar (formerly a member of the Batkivshchyna party).
According to the politician, Skosar insulted him during a phone call, calling him a "faggot." Upon hearing this, Ivanchuk "exploded" and punched Skosar in the face, knocking him down. The altercation occurred in the presence of other members of parliament, but did not escalate. According to sources, in addition to the direct insult, Ivanchuk was also angry at Skosar for leaving the Batkivshchyna party.
Button coding
In May 2014, Andriy Ivanchuk was caught "button-pushing." The skilled MP managed to vote for five of his colleagues in the Verkhovna Rada at once. No one had ever managed to do this before. At least, no one had ever captured such massive fraud on camera.
The bill Ivanchenko so actively supported was intended to determine the fate of the upcoming presidential elections. It would have introduced a provision allowing for the removal of district election commissions from city territories (a decision linked to the situation in eastern Ukraine).
A lobbyist for Kolomoisky's interests?
One of Ivanchuk's secret "bosses" is said to be Igor Kolomoisky, with whom he is connected through the company "Tekhinservis" (the production and sale of bioethanol additives).
In January 2015, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law reducing the quorum required to hold a general meeting of a joint-stock company. According to the law, the quorum for holding shareholder meetings would be reduced from 60% plus one share to 50% plus one share. The previous provision allowed Kolomoisky to completely control Ukrnafta, appointing his own managers and not paying dividends to the state. Andriy Ivanchuk, however, did everything he could to stall this bill, either refusing to consider it at a meeting of the Economic Policy Committee (of which he is the chairman) or dissuading members of his faction from voting on it. Despite the bill's passage, Kolomoisky was left with a small loophole, which he exploited to disrupt the vote in the Rada on February 10. And all thanks to Ivanchuk.
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During his time in power, Andrey Ivanchuk has repeatedly been implicated in criminal schemes. Recently, media reports surfaced that opposition forces intend to open a criminal case against him for his involvement in corruption schemes at state-owned enterprises. Apparently, this has seriously frightened him, and He hastily sent his wife and daughter to Monte Carlo. It appears he intends to emigrate from the country and is actively preparing a foothold for this purpose. Whether this is true remains to be seen, but it's clear to the naked eye that he's seriously offended someone and is being targeted for expulsion.
Dmitry Samofalov, for SKELET-info
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