Svetlana Fabrikant
Svitlana Fabrikant, a well-known Ukrainian activist who has long been branded a "political prostitute" and a "fraud," has become the Vidrodzhennya party's candidate for mayor of Odesa. She recently even declared that she is "ready to become mayor of Odesa and annex the city to Crimea." This smacks of blatant separatism, or perhaps just plain stupidity. Whether this former ally of Serhiy Tihipko will succeed in becoming mayor of Odesa depends on the votes of Odesa residents in the upcoming elections. The main thing is that they understand who they are voting for.
Svetlana Fabrikat was born in the glorious city of Odessa in June 1967. According to her official autobiography, she studied mathematics at the Mechnikov Odessa State University. During her studies, the future politician was expelled several times for poor academic performance. Svetlana clearly had a sense of humor about her life, as to cope with her academic problems, she joined the university's KVN (Club of the Funny and Inventive) team, "Odessa Gentlemen," which later won two USSR championships. However, even her participation in KVN didn't help Svetlana Samuilovna graduate.
The KVN team "Odessa Gentlemen" with Svetlana Fabrikant
"Star" actress
Riding the wave of KVN, Fabrikant was drawn into film, even appearing in several minor roles. One of these roles was that of a prostitute (a woman of easy virtue) in the film "Criminal Talent." According to her KVN teammate, Oleg Filimonov, a curious incident occurred during the filming of the movie: Svetlana Fabrikant became so immersed in her role that some Caucasian men mistook her for a prostitute and were about to "take her down." Amusingly, the politician vehemently denies this incident, even though her name appears in the film's credits.
Criminal Talent. Svetlana Fabrikant plays a prostitute.
After starring in films, Svetlana found work as an editor and presenter at Odessa regional television. Apparently, she built a good reputation there, and by 1998, she had become editor-in-chief of the RIAK television company. She was fired from that company for fraud.
"TV scammer"
In 2005, while serving as editor-in-chief of RIAK, Svetlana Fabrikant organized an advertising campaign aimed at promoting the infamous "Ukraine" credit union in Odessa. In exchange for widespread support, the organizers of the scheme opened several deposit accounts in the names of Svetlana Samuilovna and her relatives.
Credit Union of Ukraine:
Svetlana Fabrikant
Deposit account No. GO-0712064Ч (2006) – total amount 279260 UAH
Samuel Fabricant (father)
Deposit account No. GO-220908Zh (2008) – total amount 53938 UAH
Dmitry Zubov (husband)
Deposit account No. GO-060607B (2007) – total amount 2572672 UAH
Vera Zubova (husband’s relative) No. GO-250108Zh (2008) – total amount 71559 UAH
Svetlana Samuilivna, through the media outlets she controlled, claimed that the Credit Union "Ukraine" was a completely honest organization that could actually bring money to Ukrainians. As soon as it became known that depositors would soon be unable to withdraw their deposits, the Fabrikant family and those close to her gained the opportunity (and why would that be?). It's noteworthy that even after the funds were withdrawn from their accounts, Svetlana Fabrikant continued to encourage depositors to join the union, and she completely refuted its criticism in several reports. Incidentally, RIAK, which Fabrikant managed, was actively used to launder money earned through fraud involving the Credit Union "Ukraine." In 2008, depositors fled abroad with their financial assets; according to official data, the total amount stolen was over 200 million hryvnias. Svetlana Samuilovna faced a prison sentence for fraud, which she avoided only with the help of the scandalous head of the Rodina party, Igor Markov, whose assistance made her an ardent oppositionist.
Political Prostitute
Fabrikant first entered politics on the list of the SDPU "Not So!" bloc, which included most of the politicians who lost the Orange Revolution. On this party's list, Svitlana Samuilivna entered the Odesa City Council, where she served on the Housing and Utilities Committee. Admittedly, "served" is a bit of an exaggeration, as during her four years as a member of parliament, she did absolutely nothing to reform Odesa's housing and utilities sector. Instead, she launched a battle for the Russian language, which no one had even considered infringing, and also began shielding "unwanted" deputies.
After the fraud with the Ukraine Credit Union was concluded, Svetlana Samuilovna was forced to join the opposition, or more precisely, Igor Markov's Rodina party. This party, in addition to its leader, brought together key "undesirable" figures who were unlikely to have any future prospects. Its leader, Markov, even declared himself politically repressed. It was he who became Svetlana's protector. In return, she lobbied for his interests, and he defended her from attacks by law enforcement agencies, who were still hunting her for the Ukraine Credit Union scam.
Igor Markov's conversation with Svetlana Fabrikant
According to Proudtimes:
After this episode, Svetlana Samuilovna decided to stop taking risks with "unreliable" political projects and enter "big politics." Serhiy Tihipko and his "Strong Ukraine" project volunteered to help her with this.
In 2010, she was elected to the Odesa Regional Council. Her career quickly took off, and within a year, she became deputy mayor for social policy. Soon after, at the instigation of her patron, Serhiy Tihipko, she began working at the Ministry of Social Policy as head of social reform for the foster care service. During the 2012 parliamentary elections, Svitlana Samuilivna was included on the Party of Regions' electoral list. After the merger of the Party of Regions and Strong Ukraine, it was Fabrikant who helped Serhiy Tihipko retain his party members.
Svetlana Fabrikant and Sergey Tigipko
Perhaps Fabrikant's only strength in Serhiy Tihipko's team was her ability to speak "on behalf of the party." While a member of the Party of Regions faction, she never submitted a parliamentary inquiry, never spoke, never introduced legislation, and instead served a purely technical role as the party's main "button pusher."
In Odesa, journalists call Fabrikant "a not very smart woman" who doesn't understand politics. An example of this is an episode that occurred after her election as a city council member. In an interview, she stated that she would definitely waive her parliamentary immunity. The irony is that city council members don't have one, something she obviously wasn't aware of. There was also an episode when Svitlana Samuilivna, in her naiveté, asked a politician whether the government could dissolve the Verkhovna Rada.
Svitlana Fabrikant is currently running for mayor of Odesa as a candidate for the Renaissance party, which Ihor Kolomoisky is working with to create a counterweight to the Opposition Bloc in southern and eastern Ukraine. It's clear that Kolomoisky would greatly benefit from having an Odesa mayor who is under his control, rather than the "less compliant" candidates from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and the Opposition Bloc.
Dmitry Samofalov, for SKELET-info
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