Vasily Mokan
Why is the popular UDAR party being called a political project of Kyiv's criminal underworld? And what do the most notorious figures of Klitschko's team have in common with Zelenskyy's inner circle? The Cabinet of Ministers' permanent representative in parliament, Vasyl Mokan, knows the answers to these questions. This completely inconspicuous and unknown figure to Ukrainians worked for many years as the personal political strategist of the scandalous Arthur PalatnyAt the same time, since at least 2015, Mokan has been a colleague and business partner of Dmytro Razumkov, now the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.
As you can see, the connection between them is obvious, even though they are not only formally different political forces but also ostensibly competitors in the struggle for Kyiv's mayoral seat. Let's uncover the shocking details these political strategists have been hiding from us for years...
Vasily Mokan. Bandit Party
Vasyl Ivanovych Mokan was born on April 19, 1985, allegedly in Lviv. Why allegedly? Because that's what his publicly published biography now says. However, one of its variants Lviv was called "the hometown of the people's representative." The meaning seems to be the same, but not quite. However, Mokan's Facebook page, as well as his old declaration from 2016, indicate that he is from Kosovo. It wasn't this discrepancy that prompted Skelet.Org We conducted a little research, which revealed that Vasyl Mokan's family actually hails from the picturesque Hutsul town of Kosiv (Kosiv) in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. They all lived on Shkriblyaka Street: Vasyl himself, his parents Oksana Viktorovna and Ivan Ivanovych, his younger brother Ivan (born in 1988), his uncle Vasyl Ivanovych Mokan (born in 1956), and his cousin Andriy (born in 1980). Today, next to their house, on the neighboring plot, is the "Moskalivka" tourist hotel and estate, and it's possible the Mokan family is related to it. To confirm all this, we also found that Vasyl Mokan is a member of the Kyiv public organization "Ivano-Frankivsk Community" (ERGPOU 25665309). So the question arises: why did Mokan lie about Lviv in his biography? If he was only born there, then why is there nothing about Kosiv in his biography? In short, even upon first meeting Vasyl Mokan, we realize he's insincere, shady, and possibly even a pathological liar. This isn't surprising, considering who (and under whom) he worked for so many years.
After graduating from high school, Vasyl Mokan went to Kyiv and enrolled in the Philosophy Department of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, majoring in political science. He then completed his postgraduate studies and defended his dissertation on "The Effectiveness of Electoral Technologies in the Modern Electoral Process." It was a rare case where the dissertation topic perfectly matched his calling and work. After all, Vasyl Mokan is a true political strategist, and a very capable one at that, to take on such a complex task as laundering Artur Palatny's image!
However, he started out as a simpler character. After graduating from university, the search for a good job brought young Vasyl Mokan together with Oleh Velikin, who was then known as Artur Palatny's "little man." However, everyone has forgotten this, as has Velikin's scandalous and criminal past—thanks in part to Mokan, who managed to craft a completely new public image for him. And if we look at Velikin's biography, we see a sophisticated statesman, a former member of the Kyiv Regional Council and the Verkhovna Rada, one of the founders of the UDAR party and the former head of its Kyiv regional organization, and an ally. Vitali Klitschko And, of course, Artur Palatny. But there's a huge gap in Velikin's biography before the mid-2000s.
Oleg Velikin
What's erased there? The "wild" 90s, which brought Velikin his fortune, a wealth of useful connections, close friendships with Palatny and Klitschko, the image of a "serious guy," and the title of vice president of the "MMA Federation of Ukraine." By the way, readers Skelet.Org It's no longer surprising that many presidents and vice-presidents of Ukrainian sports federations have direct ties to organized crime groups from the 90s!
In the early 90s, the Zair club and restaurant opened in Irpen, becoming a hot spot for criminals, businessmen, and flighty youth. It was controlled by three men, who later became its co-founders. The first was Igor Borzilo, the commercial director of the Zair joint venture, which owned the restaurant and several other businesses. According to Irpen residents, Borzilo was a sort of "criminal accountant" appointed by the gang to manage the business. The second was Konstantin Bedovoy, then known under the criminal code nicknamed Kostya KaloshaHe made his living by trafficking drugs in Kyiv and the surrounding region, operating under the command of crime boss Viktor Rybalko (Rybka). Kostya Kalosha initially sold his own drugs at Zaire, and then added "girls" to the mix, working there as strippers and prostitutes. This brought Kostya into close contact with Artur Palatny, another member of Rybka's organized crime group, who also owned a restaurant (Rio, in the basement of Klitschko's house) and specialized in human trafficking. The third co-founder of Zaire was their buddy, Oleg Velikin. Unfortunately, his role in the criminal enterprise of Zaire and Rybka's organized crime group at the time is still being clarified, as Velikin's trail was thoroughly wiped clean in the 90s. However, he wasn't the only one!
Konstantin Bedovoy (Kostya Kalosha)
In the mid-2000s, former members of the murdered Viktor Rybalko's organized crime group parceled out his empire among their own enterprises and became respectable businessmen—though their businesses continued to rely on smuggling, gambling, and prostitution. Borzilo made a fortune in shady fabric dealings, Velikin became the CEO of Kyivtorgservis LLC, Konstantin Bedovoy entered the funeral services business (but even there, he operated under the criminal methods), and Palatny, who became Rybalko's primary heir, officially ran restaurants, clubs, and hotels, but unofficially controlled the entire "nightlife" of these establishments. It was then that these former "brothers" of Rybalko's decided to enter government and politics. It was Velikin who took the first step: in 2005, he joined the Central Council of the Pora party, and six months later, Klitschko joined, immediately leading the party in the 2006 elections.
Igor Borzilo
The choice wasn't random: on the one hand, "Pora" accepted anyone and everyone into its ranks (as long as they wore a yellow scarf), while on the other, the "Rybkovites" supported the 2004 Maidan even during the lifetime of their "father" (Rybka was killed in 2005), providing their people to guard it—as they did later in 2014. They weren't alone: other "authorities" participated in the Maidans, not just those from Kyiv: for example, residents of Lviv came there with their people. Igor Krivetsky (Pups) и Vladimir Didukh (Vova Morda)So the leaders of "Pora" and "Klitschko's friends" came together during the "Orange Revolution," laying the foundations for the future "UDAR."
But participating in politics meant putting oneself on display, and to do so, they had to shed their gangster tendencies and their criminal past. Yanukovych, who had been criticized for his criminal record for years, was a familiar example to everyone—and the "Rybkinites" were also shouting "Get the convict out!" (this while Rybka was still alive). This problem wasn't unique to them: all over Ukraine, former "brothers" were swapping their leather jackets for silk blazers and heading to the polls. Therefore, the profession of political strategist became highly sought after, and the young graduate of Kyiv National University, Vasyl Mokan, quickly found employers.
Velikin's first political experience, like that of almost all the "Rybkinites" (except Klitschko), was unsuccessful—it turned out that simply joining the party leadership wasn't enough. It wasn't until 2008-2009 that they relaunched their political career, following all the rules of political science. Velikin, Palatny, and Yaroslav Pogarsky (a former associate of Pora leader Kaskiv) even founded the Kyiv Institute for Strategic Development (EDRPOU 36217274). It's worth noting that it was precisely then that Vasyl Mokan's career began!
Igor Borzilo became deputy mayor of Vyshneve in 2009, was elected to the Kyiv Regional Council in 2010, became deputy of the Kyiv-Svyatoshinsky District State Administration in 2011, became first deputy mayor of Irpen in 2013 – and immediately got into trouble high-profile scandals involving land grabs. Borzilo, however, was not involved in the UDAR project; he was initially a member of the Party of Regions, then joined Nash Krai. However, he always maintained close ties with his associates Velikin and Bedov. For example, in 2013, Velikin, then head of the Kyiv UDAR, appointed his friend Kostya Bedovy to head the party's Irpin branch, and media outlets reported that UDAR was selling its organizations to the Party of Regions.
In 2010, Velikin himself was elected to the Kyiv Regional Council of the sixth convocation, and he hired Vasyl Mokan as his assistant. This was the first, very brief, mention of the young political strategist, and no one paid any attention at the time. And today, everyone forgets that Mokan had worked for Velikin (and possibly other "Rybkovites") even before that. Incidentally, they became such close friends that Mokan and Velikin later graduated practically together from the Institute of Senior Management Personnel at the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).
Vasily Mokan and Artur Palatny
Then came the triumphant parliamentary elections of 2012, in which UDAR unexpectedly received almost 14% of the vote! The young party's strongest branches were in Kyiv and Lviv, and here's an interesting coincidence: soon after, the leader of Lviv's UDAR Yaroslav Ginko was disgraced throughout the country as a “swindler”It seems that "UDAR" was indeed created from footage with a criminal undertone! But thanks to the efforts of political strategists like Mokan, this was concealed from voters.
These elections raised the bar for "Little Vasya," which is precisely how Vasyl Mokan looked next to his new boss, Artur Palatny. Soon after winning his parliamentary seat in 2012, Palatny hired him as his assistant—"borrowing" him, so to speak, from Velikin. Vasyl Ivanovich labored diligently in this responsible position for seven years (the entire 7th and 8th convocations), helping Palatny clear his criminal record and build a new political reputation.
However, Vasily Mokan had to deal with more than just that. No matter how hard Palatny tried to clean up or cover up his past, he remained the same corrupt and criminalized "dealer" in the present, accustomed to conducting his business through schemes and dirty tricks, using old and new connections. Therefore, one can only guess what assignments Palatny's trusted assistant Mokan carried out all these years!
Mikhail Shpolyansky, for Skelet.Org
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!