Evgeny Chernyak
Once again, the name of Yevhen Chernyak and his beloved brainchild, Khortytsa vodka, has appeared in the Ukrainian information space.
Evgeny Aleksandrovich tells everyone he's "resolved" his legal problems. But the criminal cases filed against Chernyak's associates remain, and the fines levied by the tax authorities on TD Megapolis remain. So, the fact that he "resolved" anything is highly questionable. In any case, when it comes to Chernyak's promises and statements, those "patrons" seduced by his words should be aware that Evgeny Aleksandrovich is an unrivaled master of scamming. And for him, a true business shark, it makes no difference who he's scamming—a business partner or a close associate. Here are some examples from his eventful biography.
Chernyak and Vladimir Alshan
Vladimir Alshan, the owner of the once-reputable construction company "Konstant," was in dire need of working capital during the financial crisis. His colleague at the "Patriot of Zaporizhzhia" charity foundation, Yevhen Chernyak, was similarly in need.
Unfortunately for him, Vladimir Abramovich ventured into a joint business project with Evgeny Alexandrovich and took out a loan for real estate construction under his own financial responsibility. Evgeny Chernyak had purchased a plot of land in Yalta and promised to lease it to Vladimir Alshan for development. How could Vladimir Abramovich then refuse Chernyak two small requests: to act as a guarantor for a large $8,5 million loan and to draw up a fictitious contract for the construction of a cottage? Moreover, he entrusted the money to his partner.
Evgeny Alexandrovich acted as an honest and respectable partner should. Taking advantage of the problems that arose, he blamed Alshan for them and billed him for the exact amount of the loan. Did Alshan accept the bill? Who would have asked him, since the money he borrowed was already in Evgeny Chernyak's hands, and no one was planning to repay it. Later, the loan recipient—the Chernyak family's Non-Ferrous Alloy Plant—went bankrupt and defaulted on the loan, leaving all the financial problems to fall on the shoulders of the loan guarantor, Vladimir Alshan.
A fictitious contract served as the basis for a Lviv court decision to recover 16 million hryvnias from Alshan in favor of Chernyak. The result of this joint venture was Alshan's multi-million-dollar debts, angry investors who had invested in the apartment construction, and the scandal-ravaged reputation of the Konstanta construction company.
Chernyak and Maxim Drozdenko
Among Yevhen Chernyak's partners, duped by him for an "ippon" (a winning throw in judo), was Maksym Drozdenko, who had promoted himself as Zaporizhzhia's leading corporate raider. After carrying out several dubious operations for Chernyak and Boris Shestopalov, Maksym Drozdenko was surprised to learn he was in debt. According to media reports, one of these operations was an attempted corporate raid on several municipal enterprises in the city and the TV-5 television channel. Having carried out the attack on behalf of Yevhen Chernyak, Drozenko found himself without the promised support. Moreover, Maksym Viktorovich was astonished to watch the program "Patriot Life," which was broadcast, in part, with his own money, in which Chernyak declared his "principled fight against corporate raiding and Drozdenko."
A little later, when Drozdenko, who had left the "Patriots," ended up in pretrial detention, Chernyak began to exploit this fact, blaming the arrest of his former partner almost as his own achievement. Finally, Yevgeny Chernyak and his associate Boris Shestopalov scammed Maxim Drozdenko out of the money they had borrowed from him during the difficult times of the crisis. And why would a person need money in prison?
Chernyak and banks
Evgeny Chernyak's attitude toward his obligations was clearly expressed in 2008 regarding the bank loans his companies had taken out. When Evgeny Alexandrovich refused to repay them, he was reminded of his credit history, which would be severely damaged. "Who cares? We'll buy a new one when we need one." Apparently, his future plans included similar purchases of new friends, partners, employees, and conscience.
By settling a dispute between Boris Shestopalov and Vladimir Alshan in Vladimir Alshan's favor in 2007 (the subject of a separate article), Chernyak demonstrated his willingness to assist him. The following year, when Vladimir Alshan encountered financial difficulties, Chernyak purchased a plot of land in Yalta with his own money and promised to lease it to Alshan for development. We've already written about how Chernyak's $8,5 million loan became a headache for Vladimir Alshan.
Chernyak and justice
In 2008, a corruption scandal erupted in the state administration in Zaporizhzhia, involving a conflict between a youth organization and an official from the Department of Family and Youth Affairs. At an administration meeting, the official was publicly doused with manure in front of television cameras. According to Yevhen Chernyak, the courageous act of the young man who doused the corrupt official with shit deserved respect and support. Yevhen Chernyak then offered his support to one of the youth organization's leaders.
Evgeny Alexandrovich said, "The guy's going to jail. Why wait for that? We'll solve all the problems." And they believed Chernyak. The first "inconsistency" arose when, according to Evgeny Alexandrovich's people, the judge asked for over five thousand dollars to release the "hooligan" on bail. The amount was unreasonable. Chernyak conveyed that he wouldn't pay it. Or he would, but on the condition that the organization the "hooligan" belonged to earn the money through smear campaigns. There was little time left before the trial, and there was no choice... But agreeing to the "benefactor's" terms turned out differently. The evening before the verdict was announced, Chernyak's lawyers confirmed the agreement. And in the morning, the court not only refused to release the defendant on bail, but also imposed the harshest sentence ever imposed for such actions.
Chernyak and the media
In 2008, Yevhen Chernyak helped a former adviser to the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region find a lucrative job. Evgenia Chervonenko, to highly qualified specialist Alexander Pavlov. Pavlov became the PR director of the Patriot of Zaporizhzhia Foundation. Due to a conflict between Governor Alexander Starukh and Yevhen Chernyak, Alexander Pavlov found himself under attack in the regional state administration, completely losing his position. Having suffered for his boss, Pavlov received no semblance of assistance. His promised salary was cut multiple times, and the remaining funds were paid with significant delays. Even a feeble attempt at protest resulted in Pavlov's prolonged isolation, orchestrated by his former employer.
That's why, in 2009, Yevhen Chernyak offered financial assistance to Artem Timchenko for his personal health problem. Even then, despite despising his editor who periodically criticized him, Yevhen Alexandrovich knew he'd need him as a media torpedo. Artem Timchenko had signed a contract with the Alex TV channel to broadcast the program "Right to Know," which was intended to slander the then-mayor of Zaporizhzhia in Chernyak's interests. But when the channel billed Timchenko for 50,000 hryvnias, Yevhen Chernyak, who had previously assumed all financial obligations, didn't lift a finger.
Chernyak and bishop
In 2010, Yevhen Chernyak, having established a relationship with Bishop Joseph of Zaporizhia and Melitopol, offered to provide him with a plane for the visit of Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine to Zaporizhia. When the day of the Metropolitan's visit arrived, Bishop Joseph, tempted by Chernyak's patronage, was scrambling to find money for the plane, as Evhen Aleksandrovich had not answered his calls for two weeks, apparently embarrassed to outright refuse the plane.
Chernyak and the governor
Governor Boris Petrov, who sympathized with the "patriots of Zaporizhzhia," received an offer from Yevhen Chernyak to allocate one million hryvnias for the repair of a burned-down village school. Delighted, Petrov loudly announced that the regional government, through him, had found the money for the school's renovation from a concerned business. When the time came to fulfill his promise, Yevhen Oleksandrovych donated thirty thousand hryvnias.
Chernyak and Akhmetov
As journalists have learned, the owner of the Khortytsia trademark and president of the Patriot of Zaporizhzhia Charitable Foundation, Yevhen Chernyak, has been faced with yet another problem: the need to repay a loan taken out from the First Ukrainian International Bank.
The loan amount is approximately $8,000,000, excluding interest, penalties, and fines. This loan was previously considered "non-repayable" within the Chernyak business empire. The Chernyak family's Non-Ferrous Alloy Plant (formerly Sputnik), received this loan in 2007. Shortly after receiving it, the plant transferred its assets to other legal entities and stopped repaying the loan due to "financial problems." A typical scam...
However, according to a source close to Yevhen Chernyak, a recent attempt to seek support from Rinat Akhmetov in resolving the vodka baron's legal problems was rejected. The refusal was motivated, among other things, by the non-repayment of the loan. According to the source, Rinat Leonidovich said, "No one has ever cheated me in this country. I'll have to repay the debt to FUIB." The conversation took place in Akhmetov's reception room, as the guests from Zaporizhzhia were not invited to his office.
Chernyak and the People of Art
The late Bohdan Stupka, a brilliant actor, artistic director of the Ivan Franko Kyiv National Academic Drama Theater, and former Minister of Culture of Ukraine, once told a reporter for the publication "Subbota Plus" about his experience with Yevhen Chernyak, who asked him to participate in a commercial promoting Khortytsia vodka. The actor was used 'blindly':
"You probably got paid a lot of money for appearing in an ad for a famous vodka brand?" a journalist asked Bogdan Silvestrovich.
"What are you talking about?! They told me this text was about Khortytsia Island. I read this beautiful text, and in the ad against it, there was a drop of water dripping from a piece of paper, advertising vodka. They advised me to sue them, but I refused. They didn't pay me, but they brought me some bottle of cognac. The ad ran for a month, and then they quickly took it off the air..."
A small touch to Evgeny Alexandrovich's portrait. One of director Vladimir Bortko's friends recounted an interesting incident on the set of "Taras Bulba." During a break between takes, Evgeny Chernyak and his colleagues passed the famous actor Vladimir Vdovichenko (Ostap) and asked, "Vova, how are you?" The actor remained silent, then asked the makeup artists, "Who is that clown?"
So, gentlemen, have you been scammed yet?
Chernyak is coming to you!
FILE: Yevhen Chernyak, the "Vodka King" of all Ukraine
Sergey Fedorchuk, National Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine
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