Grigory Kozlovsky
Grigoriy Kozlovsky is the president of the RUKH football club, a businessman, philanthropist, former member of the Lviv Regional Council, and co-owner of the Lviv Tobacco Factory.
Three years before the war, Grigoriy Kozlovskyi began construction of the RUKH Football Academy around Lake Vynnyky. By the fall of 2021, training groups had already been formed and began training and studying at the academy. The academy's U-19 team recently won the Ukrainian Youth Championship.
Special Correspondent RBC-Ukraine I visited the academy's base and asked Grigory Kozlovsky about football, politics, business, and volunteering during the war, as well as what Ukraine will be like after its victory over Russia.
— Congratulations to the U-19 team on their victory in the Ukrainian Youth Championship and on receiving a state award from the Ministry of Defense for their assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- Thank you!
These events seem to reflect the lives of most Ukrainians now, when they have to do their jobs and yet there's a war going on. What changed in your life after February 24th? How did you feel then?
"The anger that hasn't subsided since the war began, and the pain—those were the two most vivid feelings I had in my soul. In fact, the first three days were a shock; it was hard to pull myself together. By 12 o'clock, I was literally just lying in bed staring at the ceiling. I wouldn't call it depression—more like shock. The shock of how to go on living, how to defend the country, how everything should be. Then we pulled ourselves together and started moving forward."
War is war, but victory is still possible. The enemy must be driven from our land. We must pull ourselves together and do everything we can to ensure our country's victory.
Since the war began, Lviv has become one of Ukraine's main humanitarian centers and volunteer hubs: it handles large numbers of refugees and logistics for military and humanitarian aid. This places a significant burden on the city. In your opinion, are the city, the government, and the city and regional councils fulfilling this mission?
"As the war since 2014 has demonstrated, we have a very developed society that loves Ukraine, especially in the West. And nothing unites Ukrainian society like a common enemy. The volunteer movement that was active at the beginning of the war later diminished somewhat, but it was still there. The city and the region would have had the hardest time coping..."
Today, we have about 200 refugees. And what was happening at the train station: 30-35 refugees a day, I saw it myself. Believe me, when a child is given a slice of pizza and the mother says, "You're not eating it, save it for tonight," it brings tears to your eyes. Children were wrapped in curtains, in sheets—people were fleeing their homes as best they could. It's a huge tragedy.
But the self-organization of Ukrainians who joined this process greatly helped us get through it and truly helped the people who came here. We had up to a thousand people living and eating at the academy itself.
On the 24th, the war started. I called the supplier and asked, "Do you have meat?" "Yes." "How much?" "9 tons." "We'll take it." They didn't ask what exactly, they just said, "We'll take it!" "Do you have buckwheat?" "5 tons." "We'll take it." That's how we bought groceries. We were preparing about a thousand meals a day for the train station alone, all by ourselves. Now we've reached 4,700, but it's easier now because charities have started helping too. The first two months, it was entirely our initiative. Plus, I had about a thousand people living at the academy. It's a really cool story of mutual aid.
Volunteering and mutual aid are truly amazing. Is the government doing anything to address the problems of displaced people in the city?
"Regarding Maxim Kozitsky, who is now the head of the region and is fully responsible for certain areas of assistance, I can say that I see complete support and assistance—and it's a two-way street. If someone needs to go somewhere, bring something, take something away, or distribute something, we call and say, 'Do you have somewhere to donate?' 'Yes, give it here.' That's the whole business-like thing."
I don't have any major complaints about Mayor Sadovy right now, even though he's less involved in all these stories. But I can say that Andrei Ivanovich is sincere and upright by nature, because he's a difficult mayor, let's say, but during the war, he became more humane. The war has had a positive effect on him, to be honest (laughs).
Overall, the city and region have no problems with the authorities. Lviv is now volunteering as a single organism, and there are no problems at all. We are truly fighting, and we have nothing to fight for: we have one goal—to win this war.
— What's the current situation with the football club and the Rukh Academy? Do the players have the same training opportunities and support they had before the war?
On February 23rd, we had a tournament with 20 teams, and on the 24th, the war started, leaving 260 kids at the academy. Literally in the first week, we moved them abroad, some to Romania, some to Poland, some to Slovenia, and some to Slovakia. We isolated our academy and allowed the kids to train. There were issues with coaches leaving because not everyone had permission. That meant those over 60 and those who didn't have Ukrainian passports left. But there were critically few coaches, so that was a problem. Of course, our training wasn't exactly suspended, it was limited.
— Which clubs' kids were at the comedy club after the Russian attack?
"From various cities: Melitopol, Mariupol, Odessa, Kharkiv, and Dynamo Kyiv. There was shelling and war everywhere. We kept the children here for almost a month, training. The children didn't even notice the war had started; they had a unique opportunity to train at the best training facility in Europe."
Our training process continues unabated, but it's a shame all our children aren't in Ukraine. I hope the situation will stabilize and we can get our academy back to full operation.
U-19, U-18, U-17—everyone trains, lives a full life, two training sessions a day, and it's a regular process with the older players, too. But with the younger players, it's not entirely clear what's going on abroad. You know, I'm used to seeing everything myself, managing everything, being everywhere. And when you can't see something, it feels like something's wrong.
— A week before the war began, a large-scale recruitment campaign was announced for the Rukh Academy. How did the war affect these plans?
Grigory Kozlovsky: We had three good projects. We were planning two with bloggers from "Trendets" and Roman Bebekh. We wanted to find a popular football star. And when we found this person, we envisioned him playing professional football for FC Rukh. That would have been really cool and very interesting. It's a shame it didn't happen.
And the third project is recruiting for the academy. Last year, we experimented with recruiting children born in 2010, meaning 10-year-olds. No one in Ukraine had ever done this before, as they were considered too young. This year, we wanted to go even further—enrolling 10- and 9-year-olds. And the following year, we'd recruit 9- and 8-year-olds. The goal was to reach the point where our academy would accept children as young as 8.
So, there were a lot of plans, a lot of dreams. What will it be like now? I believe it will, but it will be harder, because no one is thinking about football right now. Everyone understands that it's a war, everyone is having a hard time, everyone needs to survive. But the war will end someday, we will defeat the enemy, and football players don't fall from the sky and aren't developed overnight. Who should develop them—why not us?
— British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed awarding the right to host Euro 2028 to Ukraine. What do you think of this idea?
Grigory Kozlovsky: "I believe that for such a gesture we should once again bow to the great English people and the great English Prime Minister. Boris Johnson is a man who has proven himself a great fighter for justice and the will of other nations. Ukraine is currently waging a similar struggle. And I can tell you that with allies like these, it's possible and even necessary to conduct reconnaissance missions."
Regarding Euro 2028, I think when Boris Johnson spoke about it, it was also a sign of his love for the Ukrainian people, because he loved us so much that he's willing to give up his shirt. But I believe everything should be done on a sporting basis. It's better to fight with your head held high and not get through than to get through without a fight.
— Do you see the guys from Rukh among the players at this championship?
"Of course I do! I dream about it! I once said that my dream is for 11 Rukh graduates to play for the national team. That's a bit much, but the higher the bar for your dream, the more results you'll achieve."
Grigory Kozlovsky supports the idea of holding Euro 2028 in Ukraine, but is convinced that the host country should be determined based on sporting principles (photo: RBC-Ukraine)
How do you see Ukrainian football developing in the wake of the war? Is it even possible?
There will be changes, and they will be dramatic. It's hard to even predict how global these changes will be. I think there will also be huge problems. The only thing I personally count on is that Ukrainians are a very athletic nation. We've always played football, no matter how tough it was.
Ukrainians are a football country, a football nation. I think we'll overcome this, it's just that the road will be longer, the road will be harder. But I'm absolutely certain that we'll reach the finish line and rise from the ashes of football. I wouldn't venture to make any other predictions, but everything will be fine.
In this context, by the way, my idea of merging the Ukrainian Premier League and the Polish Championship into a single league could be useful. To do this, we would need to create a sort of extra league, featuring 10 Ukrainian and 10 Polish teams each. Can you imagine the potential of such a league, stretching from the Black Sea to the Baltic? Such a unified league would be incredibly expensive! A crazy, unrealistic dream.
You recently resigned as a member of the Lviv Regional Council. What was the main trigger for this decision?
"I've had this idea since last year. I made my first attempts to leave last fall, but they persuaded me to stay until the new year. Out of respect for certain people, and given my personal friendship with some of my fellow party members, I didn't do it until the new year. But we had an agreement that I would resign at the first session after the new year. And as soon as the regional council announced that there would be a session, I immediately submitted my resignation. It wasn't a surprise to anyone there.
— In one interview, you said that the very concept of a regional council has run its course. Why do you think so?
"You see, this is such a baffling entity to me. Either the regional council needs some additional powers, or the council needs to be scrapped. In its current state, it doesn't do anything but politicking."
For example, someone wrote a statement, and they're fighting over who gets to read it, who gets to call each other what. I didn't go there to make enemies or sling mud. I hoped the regional council would provide more opportunities for me to realize people's dreams. There are no such opportunities there. As chairman of the engineering commission, I didn't see such opportunities.
It all boiled down to the idea of dividing 5-6 million at the end of the year and having someone do something—I'm not happy with that situation. I wanted to have the authority to actually positively influence certain business processes. Unfortunately, there's no such thing there.
— Have you decided that you will be more useful in your position?
"I'm sure of it. This body is completely moribund and no longer needed. The new government had an idea for executive committees, and I think it's practical, correct, and quick. Because decisions need to be made quickly."
If you could just come and listen to how they can chew over a single question for six months. And then, six months later, ask them how it all started—they won't even remember. Going there just to chat—that doesn't work for me. I value my time; I'd rather spend it with my children, my family, and the academy. Look how many stars I have running around here. I'd rather devote my time to them than waste it there.
Grigory Kokhlovsky: "I hoped the regional council would provide more opportunities for me to realize people's dreams" (photo: RBC-Ukraine)
You've called on other entrepreneurs to join in supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces. What kind of assistance is currently in greatest demand?
"This is the first time I've appeared publicly as a volunteer. I've never done that before, although I actually have over 15 awards: presidential, military, commanders, generals, and church awards. I never talked about it, I just did it quietly. But when you no longer have any political future, that is, when it's in the past for you, it's a relief; you can talk about it, and no one will accuse you of trying to gain publicity to run for office. I'm not running for the Verkhovna Rada, I've said this often."
I have a deal with my wife. She's a singer, Yulia Dumanskaya, and she can confirm that we have an agreement: she doesn't go to corporate events, and I don't go to the Verkhovna Rada. And, in principle, we both agree on this. We've decided to focus on our family.
As for requests, there are requests for everything. It's like a bottomless pit, that whole story.
We've just ordered 6,000 shovels because the ones we have now break within two weeks. They're just simple sapper shovels. There's nothing people don't ask for. Last week, we delivered two truckloads of medicine to a military hospital. It's ironic: we delivered them, and they said, "Don't bring them to us anymore, we've run out of room." Before that, they'd delivered buses and ambulances...
Our guys just went to Poland and brought 11 buses. They were distributed through the city council. Everything's going, everything.
If you know anyone on the front lines, you can ask them what they smoke—90% of the time, they're cigarettes from our factory (Lviv Tobacco Factory, ed.). I think we've now become the main supplier of cigarettes to our soldiers. I don't want to give you any numbers, lest anyone faint, but we're talking about serious things. But I'm not doing that; I'm proud of it, because it truly is a strategic product. And once upon a time, all manufacturers were required to have strategic reserves for war. Now that's gone; there are no dry rations. Nevertheless, these are our soldiers... they need everything.
We had this funny story. When things were really hot in Kyiv, the guys needed something because there was so much panic and confusion. They said, "We need meat, we need meat." We started producing more meat, and they said, "The meat is spoiling, it might not arrive." I said, "So let's load up on live piglets, about 10 of them, and give them some to eat. And when they need it, the guys will take them." At least they're alive and won't spoil. But it didn't come to that, everyone laughed. But I said, "I'm not joking, if there really is such a problem and nothing can be done, then there is such a possibility." There's always someone in the battalion from the village who knows what to do about it. But it didn't come to that. You see how kind our people are in the service. They didn't feel sorry for slaughtering a pig, but they could easily slaughter a Muscovite.
This winter, you opened a ski resort in Vynnyky, and before that, a restaurant in Lviv. How much has your business been affected by the war?
"The cigarette business suffered the most because many of our warehouses in the east were looted. There were cases of looting, and it was painful. Plus, we stopped; it's a complex business, a very challenging one, especially since we have four of the world's largest manufacturers operating in Ukraine, and we have to compete with them. But despite that, geographically, we were the least affected because other companies were also having problems."
I personally made an offer to other manufacturers who are having problems with their products: I'm willing to provide my space so we can produce cigarettes here. Because we didn't need it: sales were down, everything collapsed, there were thefts. We need to collect what was given away.
Everyone was surprised, because that's not how things work in our business; it's a tough business. But I decided that a strategic product should be present in the country, not just on the front lines. The last thing we needed was tobacco famines or riots. That was a potential problem. So I made a proposal to everyone, and some negotiations took place, but they resolved the issue on their own. However, the losses were significant, and we'll have months to get back on our feet.
And the next thing we're facing, as I understand it, is exchange rate fluctuations. We also had significant loans. It's painful, but whatever doesn't kill us should make us stronger—I'm convinced of that.
— What do you think Ukrainians can expect in the coming years?
"I'd also like someone to tell me what awaits me. So, to make predictions... We can fantasize now, create some dynamics. But these will be the thoughts of one person."
It will definitely be hard, very hard. But I think we Ukrainians are now stronger and more united than ever. Unity will be our strength, and it will help us somehow get through this.
After 30 years, we shouldn't be calling ourselves "easterners." We shouldn't be asking what language Ukraine should have; we shouldn't be asking whether we need the Moscow Patriarchate—we have many unresolved issues.
But in our unity, we must prioritize one thing: the survival of our homeland. Anyone who opposes this is an enemy who has no place on our soil.
I think we're in for a lot of legislative changes that will allow people to quickly strip themselves of their citizenship. I was shaking this morning, watching someone in Donetsk complain about not liking her Ukrainian passport. I think we need to pass laws that will quickly help them become Mongolians, and let them go back to their "historical homeland."
Today, a Ukrainian passport is prestigious and fashionable around the world, and when you hold it abroad, you feel proud of your country. Many people dream of becoming Ukrainians now. I think the EU and other European institutions are waiting for us. There will still be many bright things ahead, but for this to happen, we need to work hard and be united. For in unity lies our strength. Believe me, we will rebuild. The most important thing for us is to be free. And we will certainly not give our freedom to anyone—of this I am convinced.
Another friend of Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda, recently visited Ukraine. The Lviv region is Poland's closest neighbor in Ukraine. How do you assess Poland's assistance and its role in Ukraine's European development?
"Andrzej Duda is a great man. No less great than Boris Johnson. He's a man who has demonstrated that he loves freedom, not just in words, but in deeds, and does everything he can to achieve it. Incidentally, if you abbreviate Ukraine, Poland, and England, what do you get? UPA—the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. You see, it wasn't just a coincidence. May God grant that we achieve victory together and that this "UPA" remains economically united."
I'm embarrassed, of course, in front of the Poles about Eurovision! I haven't felt this embarrassed in a long time, after watching our jury scold us. I think it will be easier for us now to choose who will represent Ukraine, not the jury. It was disappointing. And even in their speeches yesterday, the presidents of Ukraine and Poland remembered that neither enemies nor the Ukrainian jury will divide us. How powerful and beautifully it was. How painful it was for people.
If any Poles read this interview, I would also like to sincerely ask the great Polish people for their personal forgiveness for the misunderstanding that voted on our behalf.
— What, in your opinion, is the main reason for the resilience and defiance of the Ukrainian people?
"It's a genetic code. A genetic code for survival. We've been fighting for our authenticity for a thousand years, we've been fighting for our country for a thousand years. And over all these years, without even realizing it, we've acquired a genetic code that awakens at a moment we never expected. And we do things we never even dreamed of before. That's where we get those examples of heroism, those examples of that spirit, that devotion to country that the whole country, the whole world, now admires."
Muscovites, Europeans, and Americans are all in shock. We're shocked by ourselves, because this genetic code is hardwired into each of us. And it awakens the moment we're faced with a question of survival. The survival of a nation. This isn't just a single genetic code; it's a collective genetic code for survival. And then you can tell who's Ukrainian, and who's a sapling from a palm tree that grew in the Urals or in the swamps of Moksha—I think you understand what I mean. That's our strength.
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