Dmitry Tabachnik and Mikhail Tabachnik. Brother for brother
The Tabachnikov family business is a unique example among the country's political families. The elder brother, Dmitry Vladimirovich, is a prominent politician and former Minister of Education and Science, who, while not ascribed rank to himself and altered Ukrainian history, also "briefly loaned" paintings to museums. The younger brother, Mikhail Vladimirovich, is a millionaire who made his name in the construction business and heads Graal LLC, a company that plans to build a 160-meter skyscraper on European Square in Kyiv.
Today, the Tabachnik brothers are content with supporting roles, and the hype surrounding them has died down. However, we are reporting on their activities, which are unknown to the general public but are carried out intensively and purposefully.
The beginning of the Tabachnik brothers' journey
Tabachnik Dmitry Vladimirovich Born on November 26, 1963, in Kyiv to a family of engineers, his parents named him Yuri at birth, after Yuri Gagarin, but six weeks later they changed the name to Dmitry. His great-grandmother insisted on this, arguing that the entire courtyard was full of Yuri's.
the Tabachnik family
A very interesting story surrounds our hero's family. One of Dmitry Vladimirovich's grandfathers, Iser Tabachnik, the son of a poor Jewish artisan, fought in the Red Army during the Civil War, while the other joined Denikin's ranks. But Tabachnik's great-grandmother, Natalya Frantsevna Glebova, a prominent Russian noblewoman who once waltzed with Emperor Nicholas II himself, did not accept the Revolution. She told her great-grandson how good things were in Russia before the Revolution and how bad things were after it. Perhaps these stories inspired a love for Russia in young Dmitry?
Immediately after finishing school, in the summer of 1980, Dmitry Vladimirovich worked for one month as a film inspector at the Central State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents of the Ukrainian SSR.
Dmytro Tabachnyk received his higher education at one of Ukraine's top universities, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KSU), in the Faculty of History. His successful studies at the university were recognized with a Lenin Scholarship. He also received the USSR Medal "For Courage in a Fire": together with his comrades, Dmytro Vladimirovich saved cows from a burning barn.
In 1985-1986, Tabachnik worked as a correspondent for the editorial board of the Kiev University newspaper. Since 1986, he has been a member of the Union of Journalists of Ukraine (now the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine).
In 1986, the young man entered graduate school at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, where he earned a doctorate in history. From November 1989 to February 1990, he was employed by the institute. During this time, Tabachnyk's commercial streak blossomed. He brought Petro Shelest, the former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, from Moscow to Kyiv and spent five evenings with him, discussing Ukraine's recent history. These lectures were paid for. According to Tabachnyk, he gave the proceeds to Shelest.
Dmitry Tabachnik actively toed the party line – from 1983, he was deputy secretary of the Komsomol for the entire Kazan State University. He was then accepted into the Communist Party, which opened the door to a political career. Tabachnik remained a party member until 1991, when the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was dissolved.
In the early 1990s, our hero became famous as a historian. He published several political and historical portraits, as well as several monographs, including one on repressed military leaders and the fate of party activist Vladimir Shcherbitsky.
Such active work in 1990 allowed Tabachnyk to become deputy head of the Kyiv City Committee of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine (LKSMU), which was renamed the LKSMU (Youth for Democratic Socialism) that same year. He was also elected to the Kyiv City Council, where he remained a deputy until 1994. For two years, from 1900 to 1992, Dmitry Vladimirovich worked as a consultant for youth affairs in the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
In 1992, he became responsible for the Ukrainian government's relations with the press. His position was head of the Cabinet of Ministers' press service. Dmytro Tabachnyk owed this appointment to then-Prime Minister Leonid Danilovych Kuchma. Dmytro Vladimirovich's talents were widely known behind the scenes. Kuchma requested a selection of publications from the press service's star and took a liking to the resourceful young man. Naturally, he was promoted to the position of government press secretary—head of the main department for information and relations with the press and public. Tabachnyk managed to combine this role with his position as first deputy chairman of the State Committee of Ukraine for Press, Publishing, Printing, and Book Distribution. Rumor has it that Dmytro Vladimirovich wanted to concentrate and control all information flows in the country.
Dmitry and Mikhail Tabachnik. Brother for brother
Tabachnik Mikhail Vladimirovich Born April 11, 1970, in Kyiv. He received his higher education at the Yaroslav Mudryi Kharkiv National Law Academy, specializing in Law. After graduating from the academy, Mikhail Vladimirovich was drafted into the army. After serving and returning to the capital, the young man found work as a legal consultant at the small state-owned enterprise "Mileta." Apparently, the service didn't pay well, so after two years at the company, Tabachnik Jr. left to work for Informeco-Albatros as a marketing engineer. A year later, he was promoted and became a senior consultant at the enterprise "Konversiya."
At the same time, Mikhail Tabachnik began to engage in business: he is involved in deals to import high-quality French wines.
The all-powerful Dima and Misha's big business
In 1994, Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma ran for president. He appointed Dmytro Tabachnyk, then 30, to lead his campaign. Dmytro Vladimirovich handled the job brilliantly, and Leonid Danilovich became president. The newly appointed Guarantor appointed his trusted aide as head of the presidential administration and also made him his personal speechwriter.
After his appointment, Tabachnyk's ambitions skyrocketed. Legends and jokes were made about them. Behind the scenes, it was rumored that Kuchma was working as president in Dmytro Tabachnyk's administration, the situation in the country was called "DIMOcracy," and Dmytro Vladimirovich himself was dubbed "all-powerful Dima." One cannot disagree with the latter—in a single moment, all the levers of state control were concentrated in Tabachnyk's hands: he influenced the President's personnel decisions (thanks to his assistance, he found himself in Kuchma's team). Vladimir Litvin), he secretly supervised those who wrote the Ukrainian Constitution (he was considered one of the authors of the Constitution adopted in the summer of 1996), extorted businessmen, lobbied for important business schemes, and perpetrated corrupt practices. Moreover, six months into Dmitry Vladimirovich's tenure, Leonid Kuchma signed an order prohibiting anyone other than Tabachnyk from using the "On instructions from the President" stamp on official documents.
Dmitry Tabachnik, Leonid Kuchma and Alexander Volkov
Dmytro Tabachnyk divided the Presidential Administration into two camps—Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv. He led the latter. Access to the President was exclusively through Tabachnyk. Incidentally, this is precisely why Kuchma managed to hold on for so long: compassionate people attributed all the crimes and failures to Dmytro Vladimirovich, while Leonid Danilovich emerged as the "innocent lamb."
Tabachnik's younger brother, Mikhail, assisted him in maintaining total control. At the time, he was actively developing his business and seeking access to oil traders. He didn't hold the same high-status official position as his brother, but he had his own office in the Presidential Administration.
Perhaps this contributed to the President's soured relationship with the members of parliament, who, perhaps for the first time in their lives, united to oust the insolent leader. Tabachnyk was in open conflict with then-Verkhovna Rada Speaker Oleksandr Moroz. More widely publicized was the scandal between Dmytro Volodymyrovych and a group of Leonid Danilovych's advisers, who had brought him to the presidency: Oleksandr Razumkov, Dmytro Vydrin, and Viktor Nebozhenko. However, the officials suffered a fiasco, Kuchma himself sided with Dmytro Tabachnyk, and three advisers were forced to resign from the Presidential Administration.
Dmytro Tabachnyk's only friend was Oleksandr Mykhailovych Volkov, an aide to the President of Ukraine. These two men were implicated in a number of high-profile murders that occurred during Kuchma's presidency. The first victim, in 1995, was Akhat Bragin (aka Oleksandr Sergeyevich Bragin, and Alik Grek), who had been at the forefront of the creation of Ukraine's largest financial and industrial group, which, after his death, became the core of his business empire. Rinat AkhmetovaHe was killed at Shakhtar Stadium during a football match by the explosion of a powerful radio-controlled device. The second, in 1996, was Yevhen Shcherban. The politician and his wife, Nadezhda, as well as an aircraft technician and a flight mechanic, were shot dead at the Donetsk airport near the plane's steps.
At the same time, an assassination attempt was made on Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko. Lazarenko would later claim that Oleksandr Volkov organized the assassination. There's no doubt that if it was Volkov, he was acting in tandem with Tabachnyk. The politicians wanted to stage a coup in the Donetsk region. This is further supported by the fact that two days after the assassination attempt on Lazarenko, the leadership of the Donetsk region was replaced. Volodymyr Shcherban, a close friend and partner of Yevhen Shcherban, was removed. Serhiy Polyakov was appointed chairman of the Donetsk Regional State Administration in his place, and Viktor Yanukovych was appointed his first deputy. All appointment decrees were signed by Leonid Kuchma, and drafted by Tabachnyk.
Incidentally, during the "war" between Dmitry Tabachnik and Pavel Lazarenko, the newspaper "Kievskie Vedomosti" published commissioned articles about Mikhail's entrepreneurial activities, even listing the names of the companies he registered in offshore zones.
In 1996, Dmytro Tabachnyk attracted public attention. The Ukrainian Perspective Foundation, specifically Mykola Tomenko, Sergey Kudryashov, Sergey Odarych, and Yuriy Orobets, accused the head of the Presidential Administration of ties to Russian terrorists operating in Crimea. This all stemmed from Mr. Tabachnyk, allegedly at the request of commander Oleksandr Lebed and on behalf of Leonid Kuchma, appealing to the Supreme Court of Ukraine to reconsider the legality of the death sentence handed down by the Supreme Court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to Russian citizen Arkady Tanasevsky. In the summer of 1994, this serviceman committed mass murder in Simferopol: he and his accomplices shot people inside the Centurion insurance company. The exact death toll was not disclosed, but unofficial estimates ranged from 5 to 25. This was the first case to be prosecuted under the Criminal Code article "terrorism," an exotic offense for Ukraine at the time. Tanasevsky was executed the day after the verdict was announced, without the opportunity to seek pardon. Apparently, the Ukrainian side was eliminating witnesses. Why did Tabachnyk seek a review of the verdict? Most likely, he was participating in the "cleansing" of the business and political space "to suit Russian interests." It was precisely at this time that the neighboring state began active operations in Ukraine and Crimea.
Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Vasyl Maliarenko began defending Dmitry Vladimirovich. He stated that the head of the Presidential Administration was fulfilling a request from a private individual, and therefore there can be no charges against him, as he did not exert pressure on the court.
Tabachnyk's career skyrocketed in 1996 due to a "personal indiscretion." One day, Leonid Danilovich's television was turned on at just the right moment. On the 1+1 channel (Oleksandr Tkachenko was the channel's deputy general producer at the time), they were reporting on how, in seven years, Dmitry Vladimirovich Tabachnyk had risen from senior lieutenant to reserve colonel. It turned out he had risen through the military ranks in just two years, from 1994 to 1996, by orders of the Minister of Defense: major in 1994, bypassing the rank of captain; lieutenant colonel in March 1995; and reserve colonel in February 1996. Naturally, Kuchma would not tolerate such impudence and asked Tabachnyk to resign. The Prosecutor General's Office declared the documents conferring military ranks on Tabachnik invalid; he remained at the rank of senior lieutenant.
The demoted Dmitry Vladimirovich didn't grieve for long. He moved to Misha Tabachnik's office on Pushkinskaya Street. His younger brother had just founded the Avto Trade Company group in 1996. The brothers managed the enterprise together for a while, then expanded their reach, moving to an office building in Podil.
The Second Coming and Business Prosperity
Leonid Kuchma endured for about a year without his loyal servant. However, Tabachnyk was always close to his boss. For example, after being dismissed as head of the Presidential Administration, he assumed the chairmanship of the National Council on Youth Policy under the President of Ukraine.
In 1997, Leonid Danilovich appointed Tabachnyk as his advisor. Less than a year later, Ukraine was rocked by another high-profile assassination. This time, the victim was Vadym Hetman. He was shot in the elevator of his own building. Hetman had crossed Tabachnyk, or rather, his man, First Deputy Minister of Information of Ukraine Mykhailo Onufriychuk, who essentially controlled all information flows while Dmytro Volodymyrovych headed the Presidential Administration. This happened during the Verkhovna Rada elections. Hetman was running in the 198th district in Cherkasy and lost to Onofriychuk. The "culprits" were identified in 2002, but the mastermind behind the assassination remained unknown.
While serving under Kuchma, Dmytro Tabachnyk decided to pursue an active political life. In 1998, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada as a member of the "Party of Labor and the Liberal Party - Together!" bloc (led by Volodymyr Shcherban). From September 1999 to June 2000, Tabachnyk was a member of the "Revival of Regions" group, and from July 2000, of the Serhiy Tigipko "Labor Ukraine," in 2001 he became secretary of the inter-factional association "To Europe Together with Russia," and in 2002 he received a parliamentary mandate on the list of the "For a United Ukraine!" bloc (many memes were associated with this political force, for example, the acronym "For a United Ukraine" is worth mentioning, especially during the 2000s crisis).
Of course, Dmitry Vladimirovich doesn't forget about Kuchma. In the 1999 presidential elections, Tabachnyk became deputy head of Leonid Danilovych's campaign headquarters. Without a doubt, Kuchma was elected for a second term and kept his adviser. In July 2002, Tabachnyk "whispered" to Leonid Kuchma about the need for constitutional reform in Ukraine. According to his plan, the country would transition from a presidential-parliamentary to a parliamentary-presidential form of government. A month later, Leonid Danilovych officially announced this.
In November 2002, Tabachnyk received another promotion: he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in Viktor Yanukovych's government. He would serve in the Cabinet for three years.
During the Orange Revolution, he was one of the leaders of Yanukovych's presidential campaign. It was built on slogans such as granting Russian the status of the official language, maintaining Ukraine's neutral status, non-membership in NATO, and participation in the Common Economic Space. During the 2004 presidential elections, Tabachnyk and Cabinet Minister Anatoliy Tolstoukhov distinguished themselves by attempting to interfere with the work of the newspaper "Uriadovyi Kurier." Despite a ban from the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the politicians signed a decree sending to print an issue of the newspaper that carried the Central Election Commission's announcement that Viktor Yanukovych had won the second round of the election. The Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case under the article "Abuse of Authority." Tabachnyk himself laughed it off, calling the case "purely political." As the Orange Revolution died down, so did all the charges.
While Viktor Yushchenko was in power, Dmitry Vladimirovich had to settle for "little"—in 2005, he became one of the leaders of the Labor Ukraine party. But even here, Tabachnyk's name found itself at the center of a scandal. It turned out that the party's leaders, Volodymyr Sivkovych, Alexandra Kuzhel, Nikolai Knyazhitsky and Dmytro Tabachnyk held an extraordinary congress of their political party and expelled leader Valeriy Konovalyuk, electing Sivkovych as chairman. Upon learning of this, Konovalyuk responded by expelling these party members. Both sides filed lawsuits. Ultimately, this situation can't evoke any reaction other than laughter. This incident marked the end of the relationship between Dmytro Vladimirovich and the Labor Ukraine party.
Tabachnyk ran in the 2006 elections with a different political force – the "For Yanukovych!" bloc. He won a seat in the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Rumors circulated behind the scenes that Tabachnyk would become deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, this also didn't happen. He was more likely "sitting back" on the Crimean peninsula before the big leap. And it did happen – Dmitry Vladimirovich became deputy prime minister in Yanukovych's new Ukrainian government, responsible for humanitarian issues. By 2007, the politician was already an active member of the Party of Regions and ran for parliament on that political force's ticket. Why the Party of Regions? The answer is simple – Mykhailo Tabachnyk was already a member and, apparently, helped Dmitry Vladimirovich make the right, almost "family" choice. However, the 2007 "coup" forced the Yanukovych government to withdraw from the political arena. But the kindly Dmitry Tabachnyk decided to help his beloved party in this, too. Through the Sintez bank, which supervised Alexander LoifenfeldWith the Tabachnyk brothers as the "ideological masterminds," Dmytro Vladimirovich laundered a large sum of money. He channeled funds to organize a visit to Kyiv for Party of Regions supporters protesting President Yushchenko's dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada. But it didn't work, and Yulia Tymoshenko, who became prime minister, took over. She allowed Tabachnyk to take the lucrative position of first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Science and Education. But Dmytro Vladimirovich was "working" on two fronts: he served as Minister of Science and Education in Yanukovych's opposition "shadow" government.
In 2008, early elections to the Kyiv City Council were announced. Dmytro Tabachnyk was considered one of the leading contenders for the post of mayor and the main ideologist of the election campaign. He ran on the Party of Regions list, but as the second-place candidate, and soon handed over his position to another party representative. A highly illogical move for such a mastermind of political intrigue. However, many linked this to statements Tabachnyk made about the Party of Regions' "father and wallet," Rinat Akhmetov. He claimed that Rinat Leonidovych and his businessmen were bargaining with Viktor Yushchenko. For this, Akhmetov decided to punish Dmytro Tabachnyk: he was not included in the party's presidium.
In 2009, Dmitry Vladimirovich, having put all grievances behind him, placed his bet on the future presidential candidate, Viktor Yanukovych. He became involved in the public movement "For a Neutral, Non-aligned Ukraine" and became the chairman of the "Civil Harmony Council" association, which effectively supported Viktor Yanukovych.
For his loyal support, Yanukovych repaid Tabachnyk with the position of Minister of Education and Science in the government. Mykola AzarovHe resigned as a deputy and began a flurry of activity.
Dmitry Tabachnik and his brother's support
Throughout this time, Dmitry Vladimirovich received tremendous support from his brother Mikhail. His affairs were more than successful.
In 1998, Mikhail Vladimirovich participated in the construction and management of the Tiko supermarket chain. The first Tiko-Market store, with a selection of 12,000-15,000 products, opened in January 2000 on Kyiv's Peremohy Square. Within a couple of years, the number of visitors exceeded the owners' wildest expectations—in 2002, it hosted approximately 1 million visitors. A second store under this brand opened in Obolon. This marked the end of the chain's development. This was most likely due to the opening of the Velyka Kyshenya supermarket on Peremohy Square, which attracted a significant portion of Tiko-Market's customers. The brothers didn't grieve for long and found a suitable buyer for their brainchild. They acquired the Fozzy Group (Silpo chain) chain of stores at an inflated price. The deal price was not disclosed, but it was estimated at $2 million (the purchase price per square meter of each acquired property was approximately $1,000).
Some rather prominent personalities have emerged among the Tabachniks' business partners. For example, Vladislav Milenky, former Deputy Minister of Ukraine for Family, Children, and Youth Affairs, and Alexander Tretyakov, former first aide to President Yushchenko, who at one time headed the company ATEK-95, specializing in the oil business. Their acquaintance with Tretyakov significantly advanced the family business. In fact, ATEK-95, headed by Mr. Tretyakov, co-founded the company RUR Group in the late 90s, along with a number of foreign investors and the Kirovohrad oil trading firm Interresources. Alexander Tretyakov served as chairman of ATEK-95, RUR Group, and JSCB Transbank. Some time later, 98% of the bank's shares were acquired by the Bahamian company Thyssen Corporation. Thanks to this, Transbank became one of the few Ukrainian banks that had a significant number of oil trading companies at their core, including OJSC Neft Yug, DP Slavyanskie Nefteprodukty, and TiCo, owned by Mikhail Tabachnyk. In the early 2000s, the oil company ATEK-95 established itself in the capital region and attempted to establish a jobber gas station network for the Russian-Belarusian oil company Slavneft in Ukraine. Mikhail Tabachnik began persistently lobbying for the giant's interests. However, this effort was short-lived. The bet on the unstable Slavneft failed to yield the expected results. As a result, several of the group's traders, such as TiCo, Yukon, and ATEK-95 itself, completely lost their independence. Mikhail Vladimirovich sold the unprofitable TiCo gas station chain to LUKOIL. The deal could have been worth approximately $30 million.
Since 2003, Mikhail Vladimirovich has managed the companies TIKO-Construction and Graal, which are engaged in construction.
"Put Tabachnik in jail - then we'll go to class."
The year 2010 marked a turning point for Dmytro Tabachnyk, following his appointment as Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine. The official earned a bad reputation for his anti-Ukrainian statements. For example, Tabachnyk declared that the treatment of the Holodomor as genocide in school textbooks was "nonsense" and would be removed.
The main slogan of students during the time of Dmitry Vladimirovich's ministry was "Put Tabachnik in jail - then we'll go to class."
True, Tabachnyk paid no attention to such trivialities. He immediately began to implement brilliant projects that brought in millions and baffled all Ukrainians.
SvitOsvit. Immediately after his appointment, Tabachnyk decided to create a portal, the "Single Educational Information Window of Ukraine," which would provide all information about schools, universities, and kindergartens. Three agencies took over the project: the Ministry of Education (legalization orders), Imperia-Info LLC (managing the process), and the SvitOsvit information agency (content management). The portal was fully operational and even useful. However, it turned out that university rectors had received certain documents, specifically contracts with Imperia-Info LLC. The website's services cost 7500 hryvnias per quarter, or 30 hryvnias per year. Therefore, if all universities were to pay, the total revenue would be 24 million hryvnias per year. The proceeds would be split between Imperia-Info and SvitOsvit. The latter, oddly enough, was founded in 2010. The official location, of course, is Verkhniy Val 72. This address also houses the business center of the Tiko group of companies.
InforesursAnother super project from the Minister of Education for the people. In 2011, the state-owned enterprise "Inforesurs" was created. Officials set it a very specific task: to create a database of information on incoming students and graduates. The database was called the Unified State Electronic Database on Education Issues (EDEBO). At some point, everyone began to think that a truly useful resource was being created. But Tabachnyk's main rule: everything comes at a price. In order for a student's name to be included in the state database, the educational institution must make quarterly payments to Inforesurs. This amounted to approximately 6,5 million hryvnias per year from universities.
Textbooks with errorsAt the beginning of the 2013 school year, another scandal erupted. Parents, teachers, and education experts reported hundreds of grammatical and stylistic errors in the new mathematics textbooks for first and second grades. An expert review concluded that these textbooks were simply unsuitable for teaching. Tabachnyk tried to salvage the situation, but failed. He was forced to acknowledge the obvious. The ministry even promised to publish supplements to cover up the erroneous sections of the books. The ministry did not conduct a public investigation into the disgraceful textbook case. Why? The majority of the 117 million hryvnias allocated for printing the new books went to two companies: Obrazovanie Publishing House LLC and Genesis Publishing House LLC. The former was headed by Tamara Tkachenko. Before becoming director of Obrazovanie Publishing House LLC, she headed the state-owned Obrazovanie Publishing House, which reported to the ministry. The editor-in-chief of Genesis Publishing House LLC was Alexander Udod, who had previously headed the Institute of Innovative Technologies. This institute commissioned textbooks on behalf of the state, certified them as "Approved by the Ministry of Education," and held printing tenders using taxpayers' money. It also reported to the Ministry of Education and Science, and therefore to Education Minister Dmitry Tabachnik.
It's understandable why Dmitry Vladimirovich didn't see the errors in the books—he covered for his subordinates, who, under his protection, became successful millionaire businessmen and received government contracts.
Buildings for brotherWhile serving as minister, Tabachnyk transferred some of the property of state-owned enterprises under the Ministry of Education's jurisdiction to his brother's companies. These included non-residential premises in the building of the Ministry of Education's state-owned enterprise "Inforesurs" at 27 T. Shevchenko Blvd., valued at 13 million hryvnias, as well as premises in the building of the Ministry of Education's state-owned enterprise "Trade and Supply Association" at 37 Sahaidachnoho Street, valued at over 22 million hryvnias. Since 2011, these buildings have belonged to five companies: "Riotrade," "SAN 11," "Prades Publishing House," "SK Artbud," and "Ukr-Stroy Management."
In 2015, a criminal case was opened on this matter. The prosecutor's office, through the commercial courts, decided to sue the new owners for these properties.
The Lost Paintings. The National Art Museum of Ukraine traditionally provides the government with paintings for display in the offices or corridors of the country's leadership. Imagine the confusion when four paintings by the eminent Ukrainian impressionist Mykola Glushchenko disappeared from the walls of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. A scandal erupted, and officials nodded their heads in the direction of Dmytro Tabachnyk and chuckled. True, the paintings were eventually found, but only two of the four. And even those, experts declared, were forgeries.
It's worth noting that Dmitry Tabachnik is considered one of the most prominent collectors of Russian paintings of the mid- to late 19th century. He is also the co-owner of the most powerful center for distributing counterfeit paintings—the Corners Auction House.
Dmitry Tabachnik. High-profile cases
Lviv Central Department Store and the Stolichny restaurantThis story began in 1995. At that time, the Lviv Central Department Store (the largest retail space in the capital of Galicia) was re-registered as a closed joint-stock company and was owned by the employees. Five years later, an additional share issue was carried out through investments by Polish entrepreneurs Jerzy Konik and Jarosław Nowacki. Thus, the Poles became shareholders of the Lviv Central Department Store. But six months later, "outside" management came to the closed joint-stock company and carried out a corporate raid. The management tacitly represented the interests of Dmytro Tabachnyk. Dmytro Vladimirovich managed to acquire the Lviv Central Department Store thanks to his good connections in the State Securities and Stock Market Commission, specifically with the First Deputy Executive Secretary of the State Securities and Stock Market Commission. Andrey Portnov He was friends with Ivan Grantsev, the former head of the securities issue registration department. Everything followed a well-worn pattern: the case went to court, the department store's assets and rights were resold to others, and the Poles, consequently, were left holding the bag.
A similar scam to the TSUM case was repeated in Kyiv with Stolichny OJSC (better known as the Stolichny Restaurant, located in the very center of Kyiv, where Khreshchatyk meets European Square). At the end of 2003, Stolichny was converted from an OJSC to an LLC. But Comrade Ivan Grantsev noticed an "inaccuracy" in the paperwork, and the commission canceled the re-registration. Then it was a matter of technique: a lawsuit was filed, followed by a traditional shareholders' meeting without the participation of the main shareholders, and a new director was appointed. In this case, Yevgeny Garkusha became the chairman of Stolichny OJSC's board. Meanwhile, Stolichny itself knew nothing of the situation. Garkusha resold the property several times, including to the Graal company.
The Grail's Outrage. The beginning of this story can be traced back to 2003, when the Kyiv City State Administration held a tender for the reconstruction of European Square. The investment tender was won by a little-known firm called "Graal." This victory made the firm the de facto owner of the land within the block located behind the Dnipro Hotel. Graal proposed a design for a 160-meter skyscraper with an underground parking garage for 1100 cars. Experts immediately exposed the firm's identity and its affiliation with Mykhailo Tabachnyk's business. The most ironic aspect of this situation was the purely nominal nature of the tender. This was confirmed by the fact that the competition committee was chaired by Irina Okuneva, the director of Graal.
The skyscraper's construction was hampered by a building at 4B Grushevsky Street. Representatives of a company attempted to commit a form of construction vandalism and have the building demolished. Their plan failed, and community activists intervened. They converted the building into a community and cultural center and even obtained documents certifying the building's cultural heritage status. But a few days later, an unknown force intervened, and the Main Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Kyiv City State Administration rescinded its order.
However, demolishing a building in the center of the capital is no simple matter. Although the building had been considered uninhabited since 1989, the apartments still had owners. So, Grail decided to buy all the apartments in the building in 2006. But the project stalled. Today, it's back on the public agenda. Former Moscow City Council member and oligarch Alexander Loifenfeld has joined the demolition, which is being disguised as a reconstruction project.
Bread business. In April 2002, the Crimean Property Fund issued an order to transfer a 51% stake in Krymkhleb OJSC free of charge to several Crimean agricultural enterprises with which Krymkhleb had no dealings. And then, somehow miraculously, a controlling stake ended up in the hands of the Kyiv-based Hermes-Agro, a subsidiary of the leasing company Khlib Ukrainy. Its founder was Graal LLC. Graal's founders, in turn, included Avto Trade Company LLC and Glebov & Partners Insurance Financial Group CJSC, both owned by Mikhail Tabachnik.
In 2007, bread prices began to rise sharply in southern and eastern Ukraine. A prominent member of the Party of Regions, the Khlib Ukrainy Leasing Company, held a monopoly on bread companies in these regions.
"Fake" Order Bearer. In 2003, a scandal erupted. Oleksandr Moroz, leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, publicly stated that a group of high-ranking Ukrainian politicians belonged to the international Masonic organization "Order of St. Stanislav." He did not provide names, which helped quiet the matter. However, three years later, Levko Lukyanenko accused Mykola Azarov of wearing the Order. This was contrary to his oath as a people's deputy. Pavlo Vyalov, Prior of the Order, who had implicated many politicians, answered for Azarov. He revealed the names of those who had been members of the Ukrainian Masons, including Dmytro Tabachnyk. The matter was widely discussed, and it eventually emerged that Pavlo Vyalov, the "Grand Prior of the Order," had previously been prosecuted by Ukrainian law enforcement for fraud, and that he had invented the "Order," its attributes, titles, and awards. He sold all this props to those who wanted them for large sums of money; the amounts were not disclosed, but figures of several hundred dollars were mentioned.
Illegal privatization. In 2004, the Donetsk group set its sights on the country's publishing and printing industry. A Cabinet of Ministers resolution approved a new composition of the supervisory board of the State Joint-Stock Company "Ukrvidavpoligrafiya," appointing Raisa Bogatyreva, a medical doctor, as chairperson. A month later, Serhiy Nagoryansky, Chairman of the Board of the State Joint-Stock Company "Ukrvidavpoligrafiya," was "unexpectedly" dismissed. His replacement was Yaroslav Babiy, previously First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the State Joint-Stock Company and a person close to Dmitry Tabachnyk. Several months later, Yaroslav Babiy approached Dmitry Vladimirovich with a proposal to exclude the printing enterprises managed by the State Joint-Stock Company from the list of assets ineligible for privatization. Mr. Tabachnyk responded to this letter very quickly, and most importantly, positively. Following this, there was a massive resignation of the heads of the largest economically successful and profitable printing companies, and the enterprises themselves were handed over to interested parties.
The Dr. P scandal. It was Dmitry Tabachnik who, using his visa and forged documents, elevated the fraudster and pseudo-doctor Andrey Slyusarchuk, better known as "Dr. Pi," to prominence—or, more accurately, conferred the academic degrees of "Doctor of Medical Sciences" and "Professor." Tabachnik, using Ministry of Education letterhead, wrote a letter confirming that Slyusarchuk, who claimed to be a professor of neurosurgery, had indeed graduated from several higher education institutions, including in Russia.
However, no verification of this information was conducted. He didn't bother to check for documents relating to Slyusarchuk's dissertation defenses. It's worth noting that only Dmitry Vladimirovich had this information, as after the liquidation of the Higher Attestation Commission, all the documents were in his department. However, the politician relied on (or was he aware of?) the false documents provided by the swindler and awarded the "professor" the degree of "Doctor of Medical Sciences."
Moreover, Tabachnyk initiated the awarding of the swindler and his driver (!!!) the highest state prize in the amount of 150 thousand hryvnia each.
In July 2016, the scandalous doctor was released on bail thanks to the "Savchenko Law."
Great Ukrainians. In 2008, Dmytro Tabachnyk represented Yaroslav the Wise on the controversial television project "Great Ukrainians" on the Inter channel. In the final program, Yaroslav the Wise emerged as the number one Ukrainian, sparking a massive scandal. The project's editor-in-chief, Vakhtang Kipiani, declared the voting results illegitimate. Kipiani explained that in less than 24 hours, approximately 550,000 text messages had arrived in favor of the ancient Kyivan prince. And the day before the final vote, he was only in fourth place, with no more than 60,000 votes. Tabachnyk himself secured Yaroslav the Wise's victory by allocating 550,000 hryvnias through a bank and then, using a client database, without their consent, but in their name, conducting a computer vote for the desired candidate.
Looting of museumsThe incident occurred in 2004. Dmytro Tabachnyk, then Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, donated 39 letters from Mykhailo Hrushevskyi to the State Museum of the History of Ukraine on behalf of then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. They had been stolen from the Lviv archives several years earlier. Employees of the Lviv State Historical Archives recognized the gift as their own documents but remained silent. The public noticed the gift. However, Dmytro Volodymyrovych claimed he knew nothing of the gift's value, and that the documents had been purchased from a private collector. He soon added that he knew nothing about the gift.
In fact, this story began back when Dmytro Vladimirovich headed the Presidential Administration. He was approached by Mark Shraberman, a former employee of the Lviv Archives, then an Israeli citizen and an employee of the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, who proposed working together. The gist of the job was to transport valuable historical documents to Israel. Apparently, Dmytro Tabachnyk agreed. For nearly a decade, Mark Shraberman served as Leonid Kuchma and Dmytro Tabachnyk's constant translator and close companion during their visits to Israel. Incidentally, in 2001, Shraberman participated in the illegal smuggling of Bruno Schulz frescoes from Drohobych to Israel. He was caught but later released, apparently thanks to high-ranking patrons.
Pseudo-scientistWhile still head of the Administration, Dmytro Tabachnyk earned a doctorate in history. A telling fact speaks volumes about the quality of his work. Mykola Tomenko, then just a political scientist, decided to read this work with a pencil in hand. He effortlessly found over 600 grammatical errors in the monograph. Most likely, the monograph was written by political scientist Dmytro Vydrin, who served as President Leonid Kuchma's domestic policy advisor from 1994 to 1996. Incidentally, his name is listed as a co-author. So, Dmytro Vydrin, without much thought, jotted down his thoughts, accumulated over a couple of years of work, as a scholarly paper, and Tabachnyk, without much reading or delving into the text, sent them off to print. Dmytro Vydrin's grammatical errors are understandable—his entire scholarly career since 1972 has been conducted in Russian; he knew no other language.
Embezzlement of state property. In 2015, Tabachnik was served with a notice of suspicion of embezzlement of state property. He was even placed on a wanted list. The court seized Dmitry Vladimirovich's bank accounts. But they were empty; Tabachnik had transferred all his assets to his mother a month before the charges were filed.
Dmitry Tabaknik. On love, family, and wealth.
Dmitry Tabachnik and Tatyana Nazarova
Dmitry Tabachnik is married to Tatyana Nazarova, an actress at the Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Russian Drama Theater and a People's Artist of Ukraine and Russia, who starred in the TV series "Roksolana" and "The Milkmaid from Khatsapetovka."
The young people met in 1990 at the studio of the UT-1 central television station. Dmitry Vladimirovich and his friends were attempting to record a program called "Intimate History Cabinet" about unknown chapters of Ukrainian history, while Tatyana Nazarova was scheduled to record the program in the same studio. They officially married two and a half years later, in October 1993. The Tabachnikovs have been together for over 20 years.
However, in 2013, Dmitry Tabachnyk was spotted with the "glamorous journalist" Alena Berezovskaya, previously reported in the media as Yanukovych's mistress. The couple celebrated Alena's 25th birthday together. Furthermore, the journalist accompanied the former minister during his official visit to the Kingdom of Morocco that same year.
Dmitry Tabachnik and Alena Berezovskaya
Dmitry Vladimirovich lives in a luxurious 559-square-meter house and owns a 6.960-square-meter plot of land in the Kyiv region. The estate is located in an elite cottage community in Koncha-Zaspa, behind a long iron fence and a security guard's cabin.
Dmitry Vladimirovich prefers clothes from Yves Saint Laurent, Brioni, Cartier, and Paul Zillieri. Several boutiques representing these brands are owned by Mikhail Tabchnik. Dmitry Vladimirovich's love of fine clothing is legendary. He wears suits in blue, green, and gray, with lighter shades in the summer. Among his circle, Dmitry Tabachnik is known as the Pink Flamingo. He dislikes brown and similar colors, finding them rather gloomy. The elder Tabachnik owns about three hundred ties. This is again due to his younger brother, Misha. He and his wife, Bogdana, often travel to Paris for ready-to-wear fashion weeks, and consequently, he supplies his brother with ties from there, in large quantities. Dmitry Vladimirovich keeps them hanging on pins. He believes that a tie stored rolled up looks more like a cow bridle. Dmitry Vladimirovich also doesn’t like expensive lighters: “I keep losing them, and then it’s a shame.”
Tabachnik Sr. has a hobby: he collects paintings and weapons. According to experts, Dmitry Tabachnik's collection of hunting weapons and rifles alone is valued at $200.
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In one interview, Dmitry Tabachnik said, "I believe that nothing in politics lasts forever." Apparently, he decided to modestly remain silent about himself.
Arina Dmitrieva, for Skelet.Org
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