Valeriy Khoroshkovsky: What is the Ukrainian oligarch-general hiding in his closets?
How did a simple guy from Pechersk become a billionaire? How could a billionaire be appointed head of the Security Service of Ukraine, and even awarded a general's rank? And how can one remain for years considered the owner of a company that was actually owned by someone else? This man's biography is a living embodiment of the thoroughly corrupt Ukrainian government, business, and politics, which neither reforms nor revolutions can change. But even against this backdrop, Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi has his own skeletons in the closet, which he prefers to carefully conceal from prying eyes.
Valery Khoroshkovsky. The Sewage Worker's Marriage
Valeriy Ivanovich Khoroshkovsky was born on January 2, 1969, in Kyiv. The future general-minister's parents were neither ordinary workers nor bigwigs. His father, a civil engineer, started out as a site foreman and later supervised the construction of the Salut Hotel (located on Slavy Square). His mother, Olga Nazarovna Khoroshkovskaya, was a teacher at the time and later became a university professor and earned a doctorate in pedagogy. She also wrote several school textbooks, including the controversial, super-expensive primers published in 2011-2012, which made Khoroshkovsky's mother famous throughout Ukraine.
Olga Nazarovna Khoroshkovskaya
High school student Valera Khoroshevsky's plans included enrollment at either the Moscow Combined Arms School or the philosophy department of Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. But in the end, he never even got around to submitting an application—as Khoroshevsky later claimed, he was "cut down." No, not because of a section on the application form, but because the number of places at these schools was limited, and many were eliminated even before the competition.
In 1986, Valeriy Khoroshkovsky graduated from high school, enrolled in the DOSAAF driving school, and went to work as a lathe operator's apprentice at the Arsenal plant. But he didn't enjoy standing behind a machine, so as soon as he got his driver's license, he immediately went to work as a truck driver at the Kyiv Zoo. He never revealed the details of that job to journalists, but his acquaintances said the young Khoroshkovsky hauled elephant—pardon me, elephant excrement—in the back of an old GAZ-53—in other words, he worked as a sewage disposal worker. They also say that from that time on, Valeriy Ivanovich became a passionate fan of deodorants, which he liberally doused himself with for the rest of his life.
Anecdote in the topic:
Two friends meet. One of them works as a sewage worker.
- Listen, you smell like someone took a shit! You should use some cologne.
Taking the criticism in his stride, the sanitation worker bought a bottle of Lesnoy cologne. with the scent of pine. I poured the whole bottle on myself.
They meet again.
- Well, how is it now?
He sniffs. - It's like someone took a shit under the tree!
In May 1987, Valeriy Khoroshkovsky served his mandatory military service in the Soviet Army, in the Odessa Military District. With his driver's license, Khoroshkovsky was already on his way to the motor vehicle battalion, but he ended up in a training unit in Kerch, where he spent the first six months of his service, and then served near Odessa.
Immediately after demobilization, in 1989, Khoroshkovsky enrolled in Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, but not in the philology department, but in the law department. He immediately became fascinated with the "cooperation movement," which was rapidly developing during the then-perestroika era: first, he printed calendars, then tried assembling furniture and sewing hats. However, Valera Khoroshkovsky didn't want to work with his own hands from dawn to dusk, assembling sofas or cutting trousers. He wanted big money, that is, commerce, but this required connections and some start-up capital—which an ordinary Kyiv student didn't yet have. But after Khoroshkovsky's marriage in 1990, everything suddenly changed: the modest "cooperator" transformed into a serious businessman.
His wife, Elena Khoroshkovskaya (born 1966), is the most enigmatic face of the Ukrainian elite. This is primarily because the face of this "first-tier" businesswoman, who was included in the list of the 100 richest women in Ukraine, has been virtually unseen. It's impossible to find even casual photographs of her in open sources, and she has never appeared in public alongside her husband—and yet Valeriy Khoroshkovsky himself loves posing for the camera. Moreover, when Elena replaced her husband as director of UA Inter Media Group Limited from 2008 to 2012, no one, except a small group of close associates, was ever fortunate enough to catch even a glimpse of the new boss. There was even a joke (not far from the truth) that Elena Khoroshkovskaya was only listed as director, while in reality Valeriy hid her in a closet at home, along with the rest of his secrets.
On the far right is K.K. Prodan, next to him is V.V. Shcherbitsky
This strange secrecy surrounding Elena Khoroshkovskaya is explained, among other things, by her origin: Skelet.Org There is information that she is a close relative of Konstantin Prodan, the former head of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (1984-91), who in the early 90s controlled not only the "party gold" but also the Chernobyl disaster liquidation fund. According to some bloggers, Elena is his biological youngest daughter, but this fact is carefully concealed. So much so that in all public documents and media mentions, Elena Khoroshkovskaya was given no patronymic until 2009, when her husband listed her as "E.V." in his income tax return. After that, with a twist, the media began calling her Elena Vladimirovna.
How did a poor first-year student manage to win the heart of a relative (or, more accurately, the daughter) of one of the most influential people in Kyiv? Those who knew Valeriy Khoroshkovsky from his student days let it slip that it was reminiscent of the romance between Svirid Petrovich and Pronya Prokopovna in the comedy "Chasing Two Hares." Valeriy was greatly aided by his always-sleek, combed, and polished appearance, which later earned him the nickname "Ken." The affair was apparently very passionate, because just a few months after their wedding, the Khoroshkovskys' eldest son, Denis, was born in 1991.
Valery Khoroshkovsky. Student Business
Since 1991, the business of married student Valeriy Khoroshkovsky has taken off. First, his former hopeless venture with a furniture workshop has transformed into a serious company, "Merckx," co-owned by Vadim Grigoriev. Initially, it focused on two areas: "red assembly" of computers (using imported and domestic components) and furniture production. As early as 1994, "Merckx" became known as a supplier of furniture (not handcrafted, but factory-made) to the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, and then to various government agencies and commercial companies. This is quite logical, considering that Khoroshkovsky's likely father-in-law, until 1991, held the position now known as the head of the "State Administration of Rights" (DUS or "Dusya"), which deals with precisely these types of matters! By 1995, Merckx's scope of operations had expanded: its subsidiaries began producing alcohol and food products, and also established a service network at Boryspil Airport. Gradually, Merckx became a business group, owning the following enterprises: Zhitomirmebel Merckx CJSC, Merckx-Mebel DP, Merckx-International, Merckx-Technology OJSC, the Brovary Woodworking Plant, MebelSAM CJSC, as well as subsidiaries engaged in the trading of raw materials and soda (the Crimean Soda Plant).
Secondly, in 1992-93, Valery Khoroshkovsky and several of his fellow students (apparently in their free time) undertook something that even plant directors and ministry officials couldn't handle: organizing payments and offsets between enterprises in the former USSR. According to Khoroshkovsky, this was his student work to supplement his scholarship. But considering that such transactions required a highly reputable "roof" in government or big business to guarantee these payments and offsets, and international banking institutions to facilitate their transfer, Khoroshkovsky is being very modest.
Khoroshkovsky's third business venture as a student was metal trading. In 1992, he formed a joint venture with Vadim Gurzhos, who managed the office of the Swiss-Italian metal trader Sitko. In this partnership, Khoroshkovsky, a simple third-year Kyiv student, secured bank loans and oversaw payment transfers, while Gurzhos sought out buyers and sellers of the products. This business brought him the largest profit: several million dollars from just one transaction! A few weeks later, Khoroshkovsky created his own company, BOVI, which sold products from the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Plant to countries in Southeast Asia. And in 1993, Khoroshkovsky came across the Kerch Metallurgical Plant, whose director, Yakov Apter, introduced him to Alexander Abramov, who became his close business partner. At that time, Abramov was the owner of the Ferrotrade company, and later became a co-owner of the Evraz Group holding and one of the largest Russian oligarchs.
Russian oligarchs Alexander Abramov (left) and Roman Abramovich (right)
Khoroshkovsky's fourth business, from 1991 to 93, involved an intricate barter scheme: exported metal was exchanged for consumer goods and components supplied to Russian VAZ and GAZ automobiles, while the cars received in exchange were sold on the market for cash. "This was our main source of cash," Khoroshkovsky later recalled.
The young businessman's busy schedule left no time for study. However, money can work wonders, and in 1994, Valery Khoroshkovsky successfully earned a law degree—a skill that would prove invaluable later, when he held high-ranking government positions. Moreover, according to his official biography, Khoroshkovsky remained at Kazan State University as a graduate student in the economics department and earned his PhD three years later. However, during these three years, no one at the university ever saw him.
Khoroshkovsky's first attempt at power came in December 1995: he ran in the Rada by-election in Irpin Electoral District No. 211, but lost in the second round to Serhiy Buryak, chairman of Brokbusinessbank. The reason for his defeat was quite simple: Khoroshkovsky entrusted his election campaign to political strategist Serhiy Teleshun, who simply screwed him.
Crimean Company
It would seem that the young businessman had everything any Ukrainian could dream of at the time. But Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, with his sporting passion, craved more. In 1995, he became close to Vyacheslav Pustovoitenko, through whom he connected with Pustovoitenko's father, Valeriy Pustovoitenko, who was already vying for the post of minister in the Ukrainian cabinet. Under Pustovoitenko, Valeriy Khoroshkovsky received the title of economic advisor to the prime minister, and in 1996, his extensive Crimean assignment began.
Valeriy Pustovoitenko introduced him to Sergey Kunitsyn, Chairman of the Krasnoperekopsk City Council. With Kunitsyn's help, Khoroshkovskyi's first act was to create Ukraine's first free economic zone (SEZ), "Sivash" (1996-2001), whose administration was headed by Kunitsyn. The triumvirate of Pustovoitenko, Khoroshkovskyi, and Kunitsyn ruled the "Sivash" zone undividedly for three years, deciding which enterprises registered within it would receive the required benefits. Until 1998, it was the only operating SEZ in the country, and its entities included such enterprises as the Crimean Soda Plant, Titan, and Brom.
But Khoroshkovsky didn't forget his old friends: in 1997, his company, Merckx, in partnership with Alexander Abramov's Ferrotrade, began acquiring Ukrsotsbank, one of the largest in Ukraine. Having acquired it, they began buying up the assets of the metallurgy, chemical, and energy companies they serviced: keeping some for themselves, reselling others at a profit. Among them was the Crimean Soda Plant, which was transferred to Ukrsotsbank's management in November 1999, effectively becoming part of the Merckx business group. Abramov was interested in acquiring metallurgical enterprises, but Khoroshkovsky fell in love with Ukrsotsbank, buying out Abramov's stake in it by 2001.
Meanwhile, the Kunitsyna Khoroshkovsky and Sergei Kunitsyn were linked by more than just business: they were involved in the merger of the Union of Crimean Entrepreneurs with the Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine, which resulted in the formation of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), whose leader would become Prime Minister Pustovoitenko. In 1998, both were promoted: Sergei Kunitsyn became Chairman of the Crimean Government, and Khoroshkovsky became a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In the 1998 parliamentary elections, Khoroshkovsky put his eggs in two baskets: he received number 27 on the PDP electoral list and ran in Krasnoperekopsk electoral district number 9, where he won with 53%. He was aided in this by a criminal tragedy that unfolded a year before the elections: on December 23, 1996, Leonid Grigoryevich Ryabika, head of the Razdolnensky district administration, was murdered. He was a highly respected and popular Crimean politician, considered a sure winner of the upcoming elections in the same 9th district. Meanwhile, another potential candidate, Yuriy Tolovirko, director of the Poseidon firm, was accused of Ryabika's murder. He was suspected and arrested on the unofficial orders of Sergei Kunitsyn, who gave the order to law enforcement agencies. Then, on his own orders, he was acquitted and released three months before the elections, in which Tolovirko was no longer able to participate. And although neither then nor subsequently were any facts connected to Valery Khoroshkovsky's involvement in this deadly plot uncovered, the murdered Ryabika became considered the first ghost (or skeleton) in his closet. Because this was only the first of many strange deaths of people who, in one way or another, intersected with Khoroshkovsky in business, politics, or personal relationships.
Having become deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's budget committee and, in 1999, a member of the supervisory board of Oschadbank, Khoroshkovsky continued to expand his business, becoming close with British businessman Robert Shetler-Jones. He was called the "Eastern Europe manager" of major Western financial communities, particularly the Rothschild family, and also an agent of the British MI6. In Ukraine, he gained notoriety as Dmitry Firtash's man (Read more about it in the article DMYTRO FIRTASH. THE STORY OF A TERNOPIL BILLIONAIRE) and one of the founders of RosUkrEnergo. Subsequent "deals of the century" between Valeriy Khoroshkovsky and Dmitry Firtash were often brokered by Shetler-Johnson: for example, RSJ Erste Beteilingungsgesellschaft GmbH, a company he registered in Hamburg, became the buyer of the Crimean Soda Plant and Crimean Titan CJSC, which became part of Dmitry Firtash's Group DF.
Pustovoitenko's resignation had no impact on Khoroshkovsky's career – he fit harmoniously into the new government team and was even considered as a candidate for the post of head of the National Bank, but it was only on October 11, 2000, that he became merely a member of its board. However, he was actively involved in the privatization of Ukrainian energy facilities: on March 26, 2001, his Ukrsotsbank acquired the assets of the bankrupt Luhanskoblenergo for 115 million hryvnias ($23 million). The deal caused a scandal, and attempts were made to declare it illegal, but by April of that year, the Starokyivskyi District Court of the capital dismissed the claims. A year later, Khoroshkovsky sold Luhanskoblenergo to a specially created LLC, Luhansk Energy Association, owned by Konstantin Grigorishin (Read more about it in the article Konstantin Grigorishin, Distinguished Oligarch of Ukraine and Russia).
Valery Khoroshkovsky: "Bloody Ken" on the way to a billion
2002 marked the year of Valeriy Khoroshkovsky's first major sell-off. The main reason cited was the failure of his political project, "Team of the Winter Generation," in the parliamentary elections: after spending tens of millions of dollars on round-the-clock television advertising and leading Russian political strategists, the party garnered only 2,02% of the vote. (The political strategists and ideologists of this project simply disagreed. The ideologist was Alexander Yakovlevich Korotenko, who had once propelled Irina Khakamada to the Olympus of power. But his ideas were not accepted by the political strategists. In fact, they later formed the basis for Yushchenko's "TAK!" project, which organized the Maidan in 2004.)
Those who invested in the project, buying spots on the list for themselves or their associates, had to return their money. Among them was President Kuchma's influential son-in-law, the oligarch Viktor Pinchuk.Read more about it in the article Viktor Pinchuk: Ukraine's richest son-in-law)—Khoroshkovsky first ceded his stake in Ukrsotsbank to him, and then sold the rest for $250 million. Three years later, Pinchuk resold Ukrsotsbank to the Italian UniCredit for $2,2 billion. Among Khoroshkovsky's other enterprises sold that year were the Galakton dairy concern, a 20% stake in Ferrotrade CJSC, and the aforementioned Crimean Soda, Titan, and Luganskoblenergo.
However, that year, Khoroshkovsky was not only selling but also actively seizing assets, significantly increasing his skeleton collection. Initially, these were the "authorities" of Crimean organized crime groups, particularly the so-called "Bashmaki" gang, who had founded and long controlled the well-known company Soyuz-Victan. But "bigwigs" also had a stake in the company, including Sergei Kunitsyn and Valery Khoroshkovsky, who, starting in the late 90s, began to increase their stake by extorting from weakening and executed "authorities." The struggle was accompanied by arson, assaults, kidnappings, and murders. In 2002, in particular, "authorities" Sergei Kolesnik and Grigory Posunko, hired by someone to carry out sabotage (arson and vandalism of the company's stores), went missing. Soyuz-Victan director Andrei Okhlopkov and his deputy Viktor Udovenko ("VIKTAN" is a derivative of "VIKTOR" and "ANDREY") were accused of organizing their kidnapping and murder. They were arrested and even sentenced to 15 years, but after agreeing to hand over their shares of Soyuz-Victan to Khoroshkovsky and other "bigwigs," prosecution witnesses suddenly claimed to have incriminated them. Meanwhile, Udovenko, released from pretrial detention, went to Moscow to live with certain people who, according to Khoroshkovsky's promise, were supposed to "place" him. And they did indeed place him, but only in a cemetery.
And on July 27, 2002, a certain Alexander Kroiter was killed by unknown persons, who, according to data Skelet.OrgHe acted as an intermediary, coercing witnesses to testify against Okhlopkov and Udovenko, then withdraw their testimony. Earlier, on the night of July 20, crime boss Vakha Musotov, also a Soyuz-Victan shareholder, was murdered in Crimea. He had allegedly demanded dividends from Khoroshkovsky shortly beforehand. The exact number of Soyuz-Victan shares Valery Khoroshkovsky controlled remained another of his secrets: when he sold them to Fabien Pictet & Partners in 2006, the details of the deal were declared a trade secret. However, before the sale, Khoroshkovsky was called the "vodka king"—and not just in Ukraine, as Soyuz-Victan was one of the three largest vodka companies in the world. Following the deal, Korrespondent magazine estimated Khoroshkovsky's net worth at $930 million.
Khoroshkovsky's assets in 2005
But let's return to 2002, when Khoroshkovsky was still striding toward his billion-dollar fortune, over the bodies of his competitors and partners who suddenly perished. In late October, police found the body of Mikhail Kolomiets—a well-known Kyiv journalist, editor, and co-owner of the Ukrainian News news agency, who had disappeared shortly before—in the Belarusian forests. The police ruled it a suicide, and Kolomiets' colleagues (in particular, Yegor Sobolev) conducted a journalistic investigation and concluded that he may have been driven to it. But who? At the time, only one name was mentioned: Khoroshkovsky, whose Agency for Humanitarian Technologies (directed by Vladimir Granovsky) had owned 50% of Ukrainian News since 2000. The reason for his suicide was said to be the large debts that Kolomiets had incurred, with his last loan of 20 thousand dollars taken out from Ukrsotsbank using his shares of Ukrainian News as collateral.
This wasn't "Bloody Ken's" last victim. In April 2005, MP Igor Pluzhnikov, who owned the Inter television channel, signed an agreement to sell most of his assets to oligarch Konstantin Grigorishin. But in June, Pluzhnikov suddenly fell ill and was taken to a German clinic, where he died suddenly of toxic hepatitis. Doctors believed it could have been deliberate poisoning. Then came the unexpected news: Valery Khoroshkovsky became the owner of 61% of Inter shares! He immediately brought Vladimir Granovsky into the management team and soon rushed to transfer the shares to five offshore companies associated with Russian oligarch Alexander Abramov: Prime Legal Services Limited, Quabdrus Consulting Limited, Quimica Overseas Limited, Shiraka Limited, and Apuane Overseas Limited. Why? It was said that, unable to find the necessary funds to purchase Inter, Khoroshkovsky borrowed them from Abramov, who repaid his debt with shares in the channel. Nevertheless, Khoroshkovsky continued to be considered Inter's formal owner, as Ukrainian law prohibited the sale of the country's central television channels to foreigners. And the entire country pretended nothing had happened.
Things get more interesting. By the end of 2006, Inter shares were transferred to another offshore company, UA Inter Media Group Limited, which was considered to be the property of Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, as he was its director.
Moreover, when he was appointed head of the Customs Service, his position as head of UA Inter Media Group Limited was taken over by his mysterious wife, Olena, whom no one has ever seen. However, UA Inter Media Group Limited itself is owned by another company, KH Media Limited, which, in turn, through yet another company, is owned by KH Management Limited, in which Firtash owned at least 50% of the shares. A very convoluted offshore scheme, in which the true owner is hiding somewhere!
And what was the point of Abramov giving Inter shares back to Khoroshkovsky? And why, at the end of 2006, did the K-1, K-2, and Megasport TV channels, which belonged to Firtash, become the property of UA Inter Media Group Limited? There is an opinion that, in fact, KH Media Limited initially belonged not to Khoroshkovsky, but to Firtash – who, in February 2013, bought UA Inter Media Group Limited from himself! And the 2,5 billion that Firtash allegedly paid Khoroshkovsky for Inter simply transferred from the account of one of his companies to the account of another. Moreover, there is an opinion that Firtash plays the role of either an intermediary or an “asset manager” in this convoluted scheme, while the real owner of Inter remains the Russian oligarch Alexander Abramov (Read more about the TV channel in the articles Anna Bezlyudnaya. Or the Rise and Fall of the Inter TV Channel и Kremlin gang on Inter. Stolyarova, Deserted, Nikitin).
Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, the SBU's Gas General
In November 2002, Valeriy Khoroshkovsky became Minister of Economy and European Integration in Viktor Yanukovych's coalition government. The following year, he earned a doctorate in economics, which raised many questions: some said he simply bought it, just like his PhD (and his diploma before that). But this joy was marred by a serious falling out between Khoroshkovsky and the "Donetsk people": Mykola Azarov particularly disliked him.Read more about it in the article Nikolai Azarov. The Survivor). According to one version, he was irritated by Khoroshkovsky's appearance, which included showing up to Cabinet meetings in jeans and an untucked shirt. According to another, Nikolai Yanovich was irritated by Khoroshkovsky's fascination with Scientology. A third version claims that the pro-Russian "Donetskites" had a falling out with Khoroshkovsky over his fundamental opposition to Ukraine's accession to the EEU. Most likely, Khoroshkovsky and the "Donetskites" belonged to different and competing oligarchic groups, so they simply couldn't find common ground.
On December 28, 2003, Khoroshkovsky resigned, and in 2004 he left for Russia, where he served as executive director of the Evraz Group holding company, owned by his old business partner, Abramov. A rather surprising move for someone who, just a few months earlier, had been making fiery speeches against the economic integration of Ukraine and Russia! Even more surprising was his return to Kyiv in 2005, where the new government welcomed him with open arms.
Valery Khoroshkovsky
In December 2006, having become First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Khoroshkovsky returned to public service, and in December 2007, he became head of the Customs Service. When appointing a man whose fortune was estimated at almost a billion dollars to this post, they promised: at least he won't steal! But it appears they were sorely mistaken. Corruption in Customs under Khoroshkovsky hasn't diminished at all; quite the contrary, he himself came up with the original proposal to instruct the Customs Service to organize auctions of confiscated goods. This system, controlled by Khoroshkovsky, would not only allow profiteering from the sale of confiscated goods from "black smugglers" (those who don't pay bribes) but also create a channel for duty-free import of goods: trucks would travel to the border, their cargo would be seized, then sold to their shell companies, who, without paying duties, would transport it on to its destination. But Khoroshkovsky did not have time to carry out his plan: after a serious quarrel with Prime Minister Tymoshenko, in January 2009 he was transferred to the position of deputy head of the SBU.
Viktor Yushchenko and Valeriy Khoroshkovsky
It was a genuine shock: of course, Yushchenko had appointed outright eccentrics with American registration like Nalyvaichenko to head the SBU, but at least they were career security officials. Khoroshkovsky, on the other hand, had only two years of service as a driver in a motor battalion and a doctorate in economics. As if to mock him, in March 2009, Yushchenko also appointed Khoroshkovsky as head of the Anti-Terror Center. Nevertheless, in his new post, Khoroshkovsky proved himself a better security official than Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, who had been involved in Holodomor photo exhibitions.Read more about it in the article Valentin Nalyvaichenko: Spy, Diplomat, and Corrupt Official). He also appeased his employees by building a new five-entrance apartment building for them.
However, his activities were aimed at protecting the interests of his associate, Dmitry Firtash, rather than the state. On March 2, 2009, the SBU's investigative department, acting on Khoroshkovsky's personal orders, opened a criminal case into the "theft by officials of Naftogaz Ukrainy and the Cabinet of Ministers of gas belonging to the company RosUkrEnergo (from Firtash's personal reserves) stored in underground gas storage facilities." Masked special forces troops seized the Naftogaz office, and documents were seized, including contracts signed by Prime Minister Tymoshenko.
Following the 2010 presidential elections, Khoroshkovsky became one of two representatives of the former government who not only were not dismissed, but were even promoted. On March 11, Khoroshkovsky was appointed head of the SBU, and in June, his close acquaintance Viktor Pshonka, who served as Deputy Prosecutor General from 2006 to 2010, took the post of Prosecutor General of Ukraine. (read more about it in the article Viktor Pshonka: The Rise and Fall of the Prosecutor's Caesar)And once again, Khoroshkovskyi immediately took up the issue of Firtash's "stolen" gas: in the summer of 2010, he began interrogating his former associates in the "Orange" government. Besides searching for those responsible for the gas "theft," he also collected compromising evidence against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko—which, as early as 2011, was used to initiate criminal proceedings against her. At the same time, he actively collaborated with Viktor Pshonka, and it so happened that former "Orange" officials in the employ of the "Donetsk" enthusiastically pursued members of Yushchenko's team.
In 2010, Nalyvaichenko pressured Ruslan Kukharenko, head of Kyiv's Main Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, who refused to sign a permit to demolish a historic outbuilding on Poshtova Square to make way for a residential building for Dniprobudmashina, a company owned by his old "student business" partner, Vadym Grigoriev. Khoroshkovsky then resorted to his usual method: Kukharenko was accused of embezzlement and jailed. The outbuilding was demolished, after which Kukharenko was released. Kyiv residents, for some reason, blamed this outright "lawlessness" on the "Donetsk gang."
The official income of the head of the SBU, however, would be the envy of many oligarchs. For example, in 2010, Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi's total income was 5,154,000 hryvnias (4,9 million hryvnias in dividends and 235,370 hryvnias in salary). His family received over 41 million hryvnias (33 million hryvnias in dividends, 1,595,000 hryvnias in gifts, and 1,369,000 hryvnias in salary). Valeriy Ivanovych declared 48,8 million hryvnias in his bank accounts, while his family's bank accounts held 310 million hryvnias. The Khoroshkovskyi family also turned out to be significant landowners: they owned several plots totaling 126 hectares, on which 4708 square meters of housing were built! They also owned several apartments totaling 1265 square meters, and an impressive fleet of cars: five Mercedes-Benzes, a Maybach 62-S, a Bentley Continental, and a Porsche Cayenne. In 2010, Korrespondent magazine estimated Khoroshkovsky's net worth at $804 million.
These incomes seemed insufficient, and in 2011-2012, Khoroshkovsky's name was linked to a scandal surrounding his mother, Olga Nazarovna's, school textbooks. The problem was that their cost to the budget was prohibitive, even for that time of shameless embezzlement: 647 and 497 hryvnias each. They tried to explain this by citing their small print runs, and the Minister of Education and Science, Dmitry Tabachnyk, personally stood up for Khoroshkovskaya.Read more about it in the article Dmitry and Mikhail Tabachnik. Brother for brother).
On August 12, 2011, by decree of President Yanukovych, Valeriy Khoroshkovsky was awarded the rank of General of the Army. This was an unprecedented move: jumping straight from the ranks of the privates to the rank of Field Marshal, Khoroshkovsky left even Valeriy Heletey far behind.Read more about it in the article Valery Geletey. I'm not happy to serve, but I must be subservient.), whom Yushchenko promoted from colonel to colonel general within a year. But this was followed by a fall: six months later, on January 18, 2012, Khoroshkovsky was transferred to the position of Minister of Finance, and on February 22, he was promoted to First Deputy Prime Minister. This was a strange move, given that Khoroshkovsky and Azarov had never been able to get along. After the parliamentary elections in October 2012, both awaited the decision of the President and the coalition: which of them would be nominated for the prime minister's post? Khoroshkovsky's chances, even with the support of Firtash and Pinchuk, were slim. On December 14, 2002, after a personal conversation with Yanukovych, he submitted his resignation, then arranged the transfer of the assets of UA Inter Media Group Limited (real or fictitious) to Firtash, and left Ukraine again. By that time, according to Focus magazine, Valeriy Khoroshkovsky's net worth had dwindled to $430,1 million, but he acquired property in London and Monaco, where he spent the next year and a half in a captivating manner. According to the Ukrainian Border Service, from December 28, 2012, to September 21, 2014, Khoroshkovsky did not even show his face in his homeland.
Do they sometimes come back?
Khoroshkovsky planned to return to Ukraine, as usual, after the Maidan, hoping to settle in under the new government. He had some chances of doing so. Firstly, he had old friends in UDAR and Poroshenko's Solidarity, including the new Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko.Read more about it in the article Vitali Klitschko: The Dark Past of the "Looking Tomorrow"). Moreover, Khoroshkovsky and Klitschko are co-owners of the elite Moscow club "Senator Beach Club," and their common bond extends beyond just their shared shares. In 2013, an accident occurred at the club: employee Andriy Nechiporenko died, allegedly after falling overboard from a boat and being mauled by its propellers. However, other employees privately claimed that Nechiporenko died after a fight with Artur Palatny, a member of parliament and deputy leader of UDAR. Klitschko and Khoroshkovsky subsequently tried hard to hush up the matter.
Secondly, Khoroshkovsky was counting on the support of Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whom he had helped secure a job in the Crimean government in 2001, recommending him to Valery Gorbatov and Sergei Kunitsyn. Therefore, he had some chance of at least securing a spot on the UDAR or People's Front lists. However, both parties rejected Khoroshkovsky – he was too odious a figure from his past, and the parties running for the elections preferred to include ATO battalion commanders on their lists, not Yanukovych's costumed generals. And then Khoroshkovsky managed to reach an agreement with Sergei Tigipko (Read more about it in the article Serhiy Tigipko: Komsomol oligarch covers his tracks) about registering as a candidate on the list of his party, "Strong Ukraine." He even managed to appear on several election television shows.
However, the plan was thwarted by journalists (specifically, Sergei Leshchenko), who accused Khoroshkovsky of falsifying his autobiography. Initially, he wrote that he had been unemployed since December 2012, but then amended this statement, claiming that from December 2012 to March 2014, he allegedly worked as the chairman of his lawyer, Porokhnyak's firm, Kyiv Law Company, and was sent abroad by the firm. The reason for this manipulation is that candidates must have lived in Ukraine for the last five years, while Khoroshkovsky spent more than a year and a half in England and tropical resorts.
As a result, Khoroshkovsky's candidate was removed from the "Strong Ukraine" party, and the police took up the falsification of his vote. However, this poses no threat to him for now: he has once again fled abroad, where he will wait in complete safety and comfort until the next change of power in Ukraine. Or, at least, until Ukrainians forget his past, with its closets filled with skeletons and ghosts...
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
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