Petro Poroshenko: Biography and the Truth About Ukraine's "Chocolate King"
With Western countries, and more specifically the United States, already placing their bets on Ukrainian oligarch Petro Poroshenko, political journalist Georgy Rozhko felt it his duty to tell Skelet.Org who he is.
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko is, first and foremost, one of the five richest oligarchs in Ukraine (worth $1.8 billion), a sponsor of the Maidan, and, oddly enough, an Odessa native (he was born and spent his childhood and youth in the Odessa region).
Poroshenko was born on September 26, 1965, in Bolhrad. He graduated with a degree in International Relations from Kyiv University. In the early 90s, his entire family (both his father and his now-deceased brother) went into business, founding the Ukrprominvest corporation, of which Petro Oleksiyovych became CEO. Ukrprominvest includes dozens of companies, such as ROSHEN, the Leninskaya Kuznya plant, and others.
According to the online publication "Version", several years ago the concern "Ukrprominvest" included: State Enterprise "Ukrprominvest-Confectioner": Kyiv Confectionery Factory named after K. Marx (24,9% of shares); Vinnytsia Confectionery Factory; Kremenchuk Confectionery Factory; Mariupol Confectionery Factory (49% of shares); LLC "Ukrprominvest-auto" - the official agent of JSC "AVTO-VAZ", the official distributor of AVTT "UAZ", dealer of OJSC "GAZ", the largest supplier of IZH, ZIL cars to Ukraine, the official importer of KIA (Korea), HYUNDAI (Korea), ISUZU (Japan), SUBURU (Japan), SAAB (Sweden) cars, scooters and motorcycles YAMAHA and KAWASAKI (Japan); Ukravtozapchasti LLC (supply and wholesale of spare parts, units, assemblies, tires, etc.); Ista Trading House (production and sale of batteries); Cherkasy Auto Repair Plant OJSC (production of Bogdan small city buses, assembly of minibuses based on Gazelle vehicles, production of an emergency workshop for repairing main gas pipelines based on the KRAZ-260G vehicle, etc.); Lutsk Automobile Plant OJSC (assembly of LUAZ, UAZ, VAZ vehicles); Leninskaya Kuznitsa Plant OJSC (construction of river-sea vessels); branch of the Transport and Forwarding Enterprise (freight and passenger transportation in Ukraine, the CIS, the Baltic States, Eastern and Western Europe); Autoexpo company (organization of the largest automobile exhibitions in Ukraine, spare parts, service); taxi depot in Kyiv; three sugar factories; Lipetsk confectionery factory "Likonf" (Russia). Poroshenko also controls Channel 5, Niko-fm, and the newspaper "Pravda Ukrainy." Poroshenko often boasts that he started with cocoa beans. Yes, he started with cocoa beans, but while at the helm, he managed to acquire a significant share of Ukraine...
Petro Poroshenko. Crime Family
Petro Poroshenko is married to Maryna Poroshenko, and they have four children: Alexey, Evgeniya, Alexandra, and Mikhail. Evgeniya and Alexandra's godparents are Viktor Yushchenko and Oksana Bilozir.
Alexey and Petro Poroshenko
Oleksiy Ivanovych Poroshenko, former co-owner and CEO of Ukrprominvest CJSC, is now a Hero of Ukraine (Viktor Yushchenko awarded the title to his relative, reportedly for his services to the Maidan of 2004), and previously had a criminal record (he was imprisoned in 1986). Then the Criminal Cases Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Moldavian SSR found A. Poroshenko guilty of committing a crime under Articles 155-1, 123, Part 2, 220, Part 2, and 227, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the MSSR (embezzlement of property by a group of persons; acquisition of property obtained by criminal means; carrying, storing, and acquiring weapons)... Oleksiy Ivanovich received a 5-year prison sentence in a general regime correctional labor colony with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to hold leadership positions for a period of 5 years.
He simply stole a little, falsified reports a little, gave a little bribes, hoarded weapons a little... By the way, regarding weapons, the Poroshenko family earned their first serious capital from smuggling from Transnistria, including weapons smuggling.
Transnistrian scandal
"He (Poroshenko) uses his position as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to lobby for personal business interests that are clearly criminal in nature. Furthermore, Petro Poroshenko is a lobbyist for the interests of the criminal Smirnov-Antyufeev regime in Ukraine. At one time, Smirnov paid Kuchma $2 million a month in exchange for allowing the Ukrainian border with the Transnistrian section of the Moldovan border to function as special checkpoints for smuggling.
Among the wide variety of goods smuggled through this section of the border via several illegal schemes, a significant proportion are illegal arms shipments manufactured in Transnistria. The Investigative Department of the Transnistrian association "PRO EUROPA" managed to obtain copies of documents belonging to the Limited Group of Russian Forces, confirming weapons production in Transnistria, which the organization is presenting to the Ukrainian public. It should be noted that weapons shipments pass through the Kotovsky detachment of the State Border Service of Ukraine, then through the Illichivsk port to their destination. The Illichivsk port is controlled by an organized crime group, in which Petro Poroshenko has a significant interest, thereby effectively complicit in the illegal transit of various weapons systems through Ukrainian territory.
Transnistrian weapons were supplied to illegal Abkhaz armed groups and the gangs of the international criminal and terrorist Karadzic, whose actions have been classified as genocide by the European Parliament. Poroshenko's interest in maximizing the port's cargo turnover has led to the current violation of the Ukrainian government's regulation on the procedure for registering commercial transit operations involving economic entities from the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova. After dozens of "Transnistrian" trains were detained in Illichivsk, Poroshenko conducted the appropriate "work" with the heads of the Kotovsk customs office, and today contraband is freely crossing the Ukrainian border.
Poroshenko's interests in the State Border Service of Ukraine are represented by his first deputy, Pavel Shisholin, who personally oversees the security of Transnistrian cargo, yet has the audacity to claim that border guards are keeping the border with Transnistria under lock and key, using satellite communications. Oleksandr Simonov, head of the Odessa Customs Office, is also involved in lobbying for his interests . — Boris Asarov, Chairman of the Transnistrian Association "PRO EUROPA."
This is the "future president" who loves laws and weapons...
Political prostitution for the sake of business
But above all, Petro Poroshenko is a common political prostitute. He successfully enriched himself under Kuchma, enriched himself under Yushchenko, and enriched himself under Yanukovych. Poroshenko has served twice as a minister, once as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, three times as a member of parliament, and… a billionaire. He has been at the helm of Ukraine almost since the very beginning of independence. All of Ukraine's economic and political crises are, in part, his achievements.
Poroshenko's political career began back in 1998, when he was elected as a member of parliament of the third convocation. He ran in single-member constituency No. 12 in the Vinnytsia region. He joined the United Social Democrats parliamentary faction and was elected to the party's Politburo, led by Viktor Medvedchuk . He also served on the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance and Banking, again under Medvedchuk and Kuchma. Yes, he was friends with Kuchma and Medvedchuk.
In 2000, Poroshenko left the SDPU and created an independent center-left faction, Solidarity.
A year later, he played a key role in the creation of the Party of Regions, but a short time later, he split with Kuchma's supporters and headed the campaign of Viktor Yushchenko's opposition bloc, Our Ukraine. Quietly and calmly, for business purposes, he switched to the radically opposite side.
In March 2002, he entered the Verkhovna Rada of the 4th convocation from Our Ukraine and headed the Budget Committee (until September 2005).
In 2003, Poroshenko founded Ukraine's first pro-Orange news channel, Channel 5, which has since become internationally known for its bias and dishonesty. But more on that channel later...
In 2004, a new stage in Poroshenko's political career began. In July, he became deputy head of the "Power of the People" coalition, one of the leaders and sponsors of the "Orange Putsch," and a potential candidate for prime minister. However, the prime minister's post went to Yulia Tymoshenko . Poroshenko, in January 2005, took the post of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
During the political crisis in Ukraine in September 2005, amidst the corruption scandals that erupted, Poroshenko was personally dismissed by the president. The entire cabinet of his main political rival, Tymoshenko, was also dismissed.
In the 2006 parliamentary elections, Poroshenko was re-elected on the Our Ukraine list and headed the parliamentary committee on finance and banking.
Since February 2007, Poroshenko headed the board of the National Bank of Ukraine; his three-year term in this post expired on February 23, 2010. However, the NBU Council, which elected the new governor, Igor Prasolov, convened for a meeting only on April 26, 2012.
On October 9, 2009, Poroshenko was appointed by the Verkhovna Rada to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and three days later Yushchenko returned Poroshenko to the National Security and Defense Council.
On March 11, 2010, he and the entire Cabinet of Ministers were dismissed by the new President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.
On February 23, 2012, after a meeting with Petro Poroshenko, President Viktor Yanukovych appointed him Minister of Economy. Poroshenko returned to the leadership of the Party of Regions, which he had once contributed so much to creating. Everything for business—everything for the family.
He was dismissed from his post as minister following his election as a member of the Verkhovna Rada of the 7th convocation. On December 12, 2012, he announced that he would not join any parliamentary faction and became a member of the Committee on European Integration. He then temporarily went quiet—he wanted to be clean before the elections, at least for mayor of Kyiv, and at most for president.
Thus, we clearly see how Petro Poroshenko successfully navigated political factions while simultaneously earning his first million, his first ten million, his first hundred million, his first billion. And now, as a reminder, his fortune is estimated at $1.8 billion. And all of this was acquired during his years of so-called "state" service.
Poroshenko is considered a close confidant of Viktor Yushchenko, who is also the godfather of Poroshenko's daughters. As the richest businessman among Western supporters, Poroshenko was and remains the main sponsor of the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013-2014 Euromaidan. He himself jokingly says that he "sponsors the revolution with food, water, and firewood."
Political prostitution for the sake of business
In February, as the political crisis in Crimea escalated, Petro Poroshenko arrived in Simferopol as a representative of the new Ukrainian authorities. He was rightly greeted with shouts of "Russia," "Berkut," "Get out of Crimea!" and pelted with all sorts of garbage. Poroshenko then hurriedly left in a taxi, which the police had forced him into. This is how much the people love this politician.
Petro Poroshenko. And now to the dirty work…
Threats to Brodsky
On April 18, 2001, Yabloko faction leader Mykhailo Brodsky claimed that Petro Poroshenko had threatened him for criticizing State Tax Administration Chairman Mykola Azarov . Poroshenko denied the accusations. Interestingly, as early as September 2005, Mykhailo Brodsky was among those who publicly accused National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko of corruption.
Budget falsification (just like his father!)
On March 13, 2002, Nestor Shufrych, one of the leaders of the SDPU (o) , accused Petro Poroshenko, the chairman of the parliamentary budget, of falsifying the 2003 budget. According to him, during the redistribution of local budgets in Vinnytsia, the Vinnytsia region, and Cherkasy, the standards were illegally increased by 11 million hryvnias. Shufrych asserted that 4,5 million hryvnias were allocated to the district where Petro Poroshenko was elected. The Prosecutor General's Office was instructed to investigate the matter. Poroshenko himself denied the accusations, calling them disinformation.
Petro Poroshenko. Tax evasion
In 2003, the State Tax Administration in Volyn Oblast opened a criminal case against the management of the Lutsk Automobile Plant (LuAZ), which Petro Poroshenko controls through Ukrprominvest, for tax evasion. In July 2004, the Volyn Oblast Court of Appeal ruled the tax authorities' actions unlawful. As a reminder, at the time, Petro Poroshenko held the position of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine—a position he held in his own right, empowering him to resolve any issue with law enforcement.
Attempts to put pressure on Channel 5
In November 2003, a telephone conversation was published featuring voices resembling those of Petro Poroshenko and Channel 5 board chairman Vladislav Lyasovsky. In it, the voice resembling Poroshenko's, among other things, rudely attempts to explain to Lyasovsky that journalists were wrong to cover Viktor Yushchenko's visit to Donetsk on October 31, 2003. In other words, according to the published recordings, Poroshenko attempted to interfere with the channel's editorial policy.
The gist of the conversation was that Poroshenko, using unparliamentary language, demanded that the news service of the television channel he supports with his oligarchic "hard-earned" money be "restored." More specifically, he ordered the dismissal of journalist Andriy Shevchenko for failing to adequately cover the events in Donetsk.
I will cite only the most famous fragment of the conversation:
- Poroshenko: I'll find you some journalists in an hour. For the money they get.
- Lyasovsky: If that's the position, consider this issue no longer relevant. There will be decent people who will provide proper coverage. I don't think there were any problems before.
- Poroshenko: Please, your program, f..., I won't air it. I don't have an "Hour with Andriy Shevchenko" program! Understand? I have my own news program, on my channel, for which I pay "bucks"!
Lyasovsky: I understand that. - Poroshenko: Not a single fucking bastard showed me up in Donetsk. I was crawling all over the barricades! Are they fucking nuts or something? Plyushch and Chervonenko are the fucking bosses there, for fuck's sake! Who the hell are you promoting? What the fuck is going on? There's an event going on! So maybe you should get off your ass and go to Donetsk, not Vinnytsia! It's not just Shevchenko's fault, f...! There's a situation in Donetsk! Go to Donetsk, my dear! Because if they're the "stars," then you're there! Do you understand?
- Lyasovsky: Yes. I understand. And it's definitely my fault.
In principle, there's nothing surprising about this manner of communication between the owner and manager, especially by Ukrainian standards. However, the scandal arose because this conversation refutes the narrative of channel owner Poroshenko's non-interference in journalists' affairs. And here the protagonists of the story find themselves in an extremely awkward position: they cannot (and do not) deny the fact of the conversation, but they are trying to reduce it to a simple technical issue, not censorship.
Another scandal, again involving Channel Five, arose in the summer of 2013. Channel Five's "face," Tatyana Danilenko, having learned that her employers were no longer requiring her services as a presenter and journalist, decided to take punitive action against the main culprit behind her supposed dismissal—owner Petro Poroshenko. Danilenko stated that if she were fired, she would publicize in the media and through journalistic organizations information about various sordid harassment by Petro Poroshenko, along with comments that her dismissal was the result of jealousy and ethnic intolerance on the part of the channel's director toward Mustafa Nayem (with whom the journalist is in a relationship). Danilenko also intends to provide the public with over a hundred examples of Poroshenko interfering with the channel's editorial policy, such as the removal of materials about President Yanukovych and his entourage. After this incident, the topic died down and the parties came to an agreement.
This king is such a lover and fighter for a free press...
The Lenin Forge Case
The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine accused Petro Blindar, director of Leninskaya Kuznya OJSC (which, according to some sources, is controlled by Poroshenko), of embezzling and misappropriating 17 million hryvnias. According to the prosecutor's office, on April 23, 2001, Blindar entered into a fictitious agreement with the Baget company and, after transferring 17 million hryvnias to its account, spent the funds the same day. On August 30, 2001, the company was liquidated and removed from the state register.
Petr Poroshenko. Extortion
One of the members of the parliamentary investigative commission handling the Kolesnikov case , on condition of anonymity, said that Boris Viktorovich gave testimony regarding Pyotr Alekseevich.
"He said he was invited to Poroshenko's office on April 1, 2005, for a meeting. The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council informed Kolesnikov that a criminal case was being prepared against him and Rinat Akhmetov . The organizers allegedly wanted to obtain shares in several of Akhmetov's businesses, as well as television channels. Boris did not specify whether he believed Petro Akhmetov was acting as a friend warning a comrade or as an extortionist. If the latter, the case has legal prospects. If found guilty, Poroshenko faces up to 12 years in prison for extortion."
As is well known, the media reported at the time that Ukraine's Prosecutor General, Svyatoslav Piskun, also testified to the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the "Kolesnikov case." During questioning, he allegedly stated that shortly before Kolesnikov's arrest, Poroshenko approached him and allegedly declared that he knew "how to make $2 billion." He claimed that Kolesnikov and Akhmetov's brother, Igor, needed to be arrested, "then Rinat would pay everything for both of them." Piskun, according to him, refused. After which Poroshenko allegedly said, "Well then, we'll go to your deputy, Shokin . "
"Chocolate Bunny" (son of the "Chocolate King")
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko served only briefly as Minister of Foreign Affairs—from October 2009 to March 2010. His tenure, understandably, was short. However, it was during this period that his son, Oleksiy Petrovich Poroshenko, at the age of 24, became Deputy Head of Ukraine's Trade and Economic Mission (TEM) in China.
Petro, Alexey and Maria Poroshenko
In December 2009, Chinese Ambassador Zhou Li visited the Roshen factory in Vinnytsia, which, as is well known, belongs to the Poroshenko family. I won't claim that then-Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko had a hand in this visit. Perhaps the Chinese guest was just curious about Roshen products. But what is certain is that during the ambassador's tour of the candy factories, the possibility of exporting candies to the Chinese market was actively discussed. Ultimately, nothing came of it—the Chinese didn't like Roshen products, and the deal fell through.
Petro Poroshenko's business plan is quite clear. Rapidly developing China, with a population of approximately 1.5 billion, is an excellent market for such products. And who better to lobby for his father's interests than his own son?!
It's unlikely anyone doubts that Petro Oleksiyovych arranged for his son to advance his business in China. Therefore, it seems to me that Poroshenko Jr.'s activities do not quite correspond to his status as a civil servant.
Petro Poroshenko. Family estates
In 2009, Petro Poroshenko's family completed construction of a grand estate in the village of Kozin in Koncha-Zaspa, 10 kilometers from Kyiv. The new estate covers approximately two hectares.
Previously, there was a recreation center for workers called "Chaika" here, which belonged to the Kyiv confectionery factory named after Karl Marx, which is now owned by Poroshenko's related concern, Ukrprominvest.
Do you agree that it reminds you of the White House in some ways?
The central feature is a large white house, which, incidentally, resembles the White House in the United States. A smaller house, located twenty meters away, completes the ensemble. Poroshenko's property also features what appears to be a guest cottage, a log bathhouse complex, two gazebos by the water, and a colonnade. Poroshenko also has his own private chapel.
Poroshenko's people took land from the blind.
It so happened that next to Poroshenko’s estates there was a recreation center of the Ukrainian Society of the Blind “Ivushka” (on the Kozinka River in Koncha-Zaspa).
As a result, in February 2014, the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine opened a case regarding the seizure of the lands of the Ukrainian Society for the Blind's "Ivushka" recreation center. At that time, the Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation into the seizure of two sites at once: the lands of the UOS recreation center, the Ukrainian Society for the Blind "Ivushka," and the lands of the Karl Marx "Chaika" confectionery factory.
There is an opinion that Poroshenko wants to expand his land holdings at the expense of the area of these bases.
The case was opened based on the transfer of the recreation center itself to a commercial entity, Soyuz-Invest LLC, which serves as a front for the real mastermind behind the raid, who, according to the disabled victims, is Poroshenko. The suspect is Oleksandr Kramnistyi, director of the Society for the Blind. Prosecutors have a logical question: did Kramnistyi have the right to personally sign a joint venture agreement with Soyuz-Invest LLC without first having the Presidium of the UOS approve the text of the agreement, thereby acting contrary to the interests of the UOS in favor of a commercial firm?
How much impudence and cynicism does it take to treat people in this way, who not only don’t have chocolate millions like some, but are also deprived of the ability to see?!
Poroshenko's mercenaries threw people out onto the streets.
But before the incident with the seizure of property from disabled people, there was an equally loud scandal filled with cynicism...
Poroshenko's mercenaries threw people out onto the streets.
In 2008, residents of the dormitory at 5 Surikova Street—four families in total—were forcibly evicted. The residents consider their eviction illegal. Petro Poroshenko is the primary shareholder of Leninskaya Kuznya OJSC (to which the dormitory at 5 Surikova Street was illegally assigned). The conflict with the dormitory residents had been ongoing since 2005. On April 1 of that year, President Viktor Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko personally met with the residents of the dormitory at 5 Surikova Street. At the time, they promised the residents that they would not be evicted. Ultimately, they were deceived—they were thrown out into the cold.
Yatsenyuk's financial connection with Poroshenko
In October 2004, during Arseniy Yatsenyuk's tenure as Governor of the NBU (National Bank of Ukraine), Mriya Bank was granted a stabilization loan of 50 million hryvnia at 11,5% per annum.
Yatsenyuk and Poroshenko's financial connection
The loan was issued in accordance with a secret NBU Resolution No. 473, issued in a single copy on October 6, 2004, classified as "banking secrecy." These funds, it was stated, were intended to rehabilitate Mriya Bank, which had allegedly been undermined by an 11% outflow of individual depositors.
At that time, the interbank market interest rate was 20% per annum and higher. The NBU issued loans at a rate of 11,5% only against government-issued securities, while Mriya received an 8-month loan at a rate of 11,5% against promissory notes and corporate rights.
Soon after the incident, in 2006, Mriya Bank was sold to Vneshtorgbank (Russia) for 70 million US dollars.
Thus, the financial institution, allegedly suffering from an 11% (!) depositor outflow, was rehabilitated at government expense and then sold. Clearly, the state didn't profit from the sale. But it's unclear why Poroshenko's bank received a loan at a significantly reduced interest rate, and even secured not by state-issued securities, but by illiquid promissory notes from the "chocolate king"'s companies.
It is also unclear why Yatsenyuk formalized the deal through a secret decree and what his personal role was in this operation...
Poroshenko lost his post due to corruption ties.
Another chapter of Poroshenko's biography is connected with the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. He served as Secretary of this influential body from February to September 2005. He lost his post following a scandal involving accusations of corruption and lobbying among the President's inner circle. It all began with a controversial press conference by Secretary of State Oleksandr Zinchenko. The heaviest barrage of criticism fell on Poroshenko and his party colleagues Mykola Martynenko , Oleksandr Tretyakov, and David Zhvania.
"Our shame today is the accusation of corruption against our high-ranking party members," stated a statement at a congress of members of the Uzhgorod district party organization. "The names of Poroshenko, Tretyakov, Martynenko, Zvarych , Zhvania, and Chervonenko compromise honest, decent people who have linked their future with the People's Union 'Our Ukraine,' and compromise both the new Ukrainian government and our President . "
"Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Poroshenko, the president's first aide Tretyakov, and several of their aides, in particular Martynenko, are cynically implementing their plan to exploit power for their own ends ," said Oleksandr Zinchenko.
"Ask the businessmen in Crimea and the Odessa region... Poroshenko's desire to transform the National Security and Defense Council into a full-fledged NKVD is the height of cynicism." "Smugglers have been reinstated in customs, and they are 'paying' their benefactors in full; shadow privatization schemes have been resumed ," Zinchenko added.
According to Zinchenko, First Assistant Tretyakov "is recreating the methods of Sergei Levochkin," "he monopolized access to the president, cut him off from the flow of information, and disrupted the president's schedule." "Poroshenko, Tretyakov, and the campaign appoint their own people and feel free to participate in privatization processes ," he added.
Poroshenko against the EEU and the Customs Union
He also does not support the creation of a Single Economic Space or a Customs Union. In May 2005, as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Poroshenko declared the groundlessness of Nazarbayev and Lukashenko's claims about creating a Single Economic Space without Ukraine: "The creation of a Single Economic Space in the form it was conceived without Ukraine's participation is impossible and devoid of economic sense for all participants in the integration union."
In June 2005, on Channel 5, Poroshenko said, "We have a line, and that line is a free trade zone without the creation of supranational bodies or a customs union." He noted that Ukraine's integration into the EEU is currently proceeding transparently, something that was not the case under the previous government.
And in November, still serving as minister, Poroshenko noted that Ukraine had no plans to join the Customs Union: "On November 28, the first meeting of the trade dialogue group, which was created, in part, on my initiative, will be held. This is the official institutionalization of relations between Ukraine and the Customs Union... If Ukraine were planning to join the Customs Union, why formalize relations between two entities of international economic relations?"
In January 2013, Poroshenko stated on Radio Liberty that the conditions for Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union were currently lacking: "Ukraine is currently demonstrating behavior that does not pose an immediate threat to Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union. These conditions do not exist today."
Poroshenko for repression of opponents of European integration
Incidentally, back in March 2013, Petro Poroshenko began a campaign to intimidate opponents of European integration with sanctions and other repressions. Even then, he declared, as if on behalf of Brussels, "If there is no movement toward Europe, the European Union will take decisions to hold accountable those who impede this movement." This is not a slip of the tongue. He later clarified that "this will also be a matter of holding accountable officials who impede this movement."
Poroshenko supports Ukraine's NATO membership
Poroshenko supports Ukraine's accession to NATO and, as Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated in December 2009: "I believe that this can be done in a year or two, if there is political will, if there is public desire, if there is public support for the politicians who are working on this, if there is a clear and correct information policy."
Poroshenko supports Ukraine's NATO membership
Petro Poroshenko is against the Russian language.
Moreover, Poroshenko advocates a radical language program: only the Ukrainian language for Ukraine.
In May 2012, in an effort to save money (increase profits), the Roshen confectionery corporation replaced the Ukrainian-language labels on its chocolate bars with Russian-language ones, avoiding the need to produce two types of packaging—one for Russia and one for Ukraine. In November, nationalists made a big deal out of this on social media. Poroshenko then announced that Roshen would reinstate Ukrainian-language labels on its products. He wrote on Facebook: "Therefore, I initiated a discussion of this issue at the Roshen Corporation Board of Directors, and my arguments were accepted: Ukrainian goods on the Ukrainian market should be in Ukrainian... This is as important as the fact that Ukraine should have one official language—Ukrainian. This is my position: it has been, is, and will remain unchanged."
Poroshenko against federalization
Poroshenko is an opponent of federalization in Ukraine. In May 2006, in an interview with the newspaper "Delo" (Delo), in response to the BYuT accusations against Nasha Ukraina (Our Ukraine) of secret negotiations with the Party of Regions, he stated that "negotiating and meeting are two completely different formats... Meetings are necessary, because if a political force that represents 40-50-70% of a given region is driven into a corner, it may begin to act inappropriately... I am convinced that failure to find a compromise could lead to federalization. Moreover, security and the territorial integrity of the country are the highest priorities. The people will curse us if we allow the country to split. They will chant anathema in church."
Petro Poroshenko. Brief summary
Thus, this candidate is not suitable for Ukraine for the following reasons:
- Poroshenko built his empire from Soviet enterprises, which he bought up "for nothing," obtaining rather dubious loans and exploiting his political position. Petro's father is a former convict, and Petro himself was removed from his government post due to corruption scandals.
- Poroshenko is a political prostitute. Kuchma, Yushchenko, Yanukovych—it's all the same to him—the main thing is to be at the helm and lobby the interests of his business.
- Poroshenko is a political comrade and relative of Viktor Yushchenko, under whom Ukraine suffered a serious decline (resulting in his being replaced by Viktor Yanukovych), while Poroshenko significantly increased his fortune. Incidentally, Ukraine was already cracking back then, and only ten years later did the country finally split into two Ukraines.
- Poroshenko is opposed to rapprochement between the fraternal peoples of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. Poroshenko has traditionally opposed the Eurasian Union and the Customs Union. He also supports NATO expansion and believes that Ukraine should join the alliance.
- Petro Poroshenko is against the Russian language in Ukraine.
- Poroshenko is one of the main sponsors of the Euromaidan, which resulted in the overthrow of the legitimate government in Kyiv, the rise of the junta, the split of Ukraine into two parts, the loss of Crimea, and the serious possibility of losing all of southeastern Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko. Postscript
Poroshenko is a shining example of the reigns of Lazarenko, Kuchma, Yushchenko, and Yanukovych. He served successively under Lazarenko, Kuchma, Yushchenko, and Yanukovych. The first corruption scandal under Yushchenko began precisely with the conflict between Tymoshenko and Poroshenko. In principle, Poroshenko could have gone to jail, as did virtually everyone at the top. He possesses untold treasures, earned through "honest" labor alongside Lazarenko, Kuchma, Yushchenko, and Yanukovych. Yet he continues to influence the minds and sentiments of the crowd, orchestrating yet another election campaign for himself, giving the crowd what it asks for—bread and circuses. And now he's even laying claim to the presidency of Ukraine... Lord, save Ukraine from this filth!
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