Vitali Klitschko: The Dark Past of the "Looking Tomorrow"
Posters and billboards featuring city council candidates and those aspiring to high-ranking city leaders are increasingly appearing on the streets of Ukraine. The leading candidate for mayor of the Ukrainian capital remains Vitali Klitschko, one of Ukraine's most famous athletes and the incumbent mayor of Kyiv since June 2014.
First name Vitaly Vladimirovich Klitschko It is known to almost every Ukrainian, but few people know (or rather, not everyone knows) that his biography contains quite a few “dark spots” that his political team is carefully trying to hide.
Criminal connections
Every time Vitali Klitschko ran for office, he faced media attacks, and they were far from unfounded. Even in his youth, he was implicated in suspicious connections with the well-known gas magnate and former MP Igor Bakai, who had long been involved in promoting the Klitschko brothers in professional boxing.
In 1997 year Igor Bakai The Klitschko brothers and Klitschko entered into an agreement under which they were to transfer 50% of their earnings to the businessman, in exchange for which he was obligated to fully provide the boxers with everything they needed for their athletic development. The sums the businessman was to receive were colossal, and the percentages from the deals at the time amounted to tens of millions of US dollars. At one point, the Klitschko brothers even met with American promoter Don King, but according to the official version, "the parties did not sign the contract due to the excessive demands of the boxers."
The photo shows the Klitschko brothers, crime bosses "Borovik" (Andrey Borovik) and "Rybka" (Viktor Rybalko), New York, 1996, the photo was taken before entering Don King's office.
Rumor has it that Don King turned the athletes down because he didn't want to get involved with the Ukrainian and Russian mafia. Judging by the photo of the athletes with notorious crime bosses, their ties to the underworld are simply undeniable. Having failed to reach an agreement with promoters in America, the Klitschko brothers found them in Germany. From that moment on, money flowed into their laps—or rather, not all of it, but only half, which Igor Bakai left them.
However, things weren't going so smoothly for their business partner in Ukraine. He was removed from his position as head of Naftogaz, and the feeding trough for him was closed, which meant that the boxers' funding ceased. At that point, Vitali, the main initiator of the Klitschko brothers' financial ventures, decided to no longer pay his "investor." Quite simply, the boxers had screwed their patrons.
Igor Bakai
In 2002, perhaps seeking to atone for their sin against Igor Bakai, the Klitschko brothers came to Rivne to support their "friend" in the parliamentary elections. During a press conference, they fervently assured voters that they had come to support him not for money, but out of a desire to change something in Ukraine.
Time passed, Igor Bakai lost the election and was soon placed on the wanted list at the instigation of Yuriy Lutsenko. Since then, neither Vitali Klitschko nor his brother, Vladimir, have tried to avoid mentioning their "sponsor-benefactor," who, incidentally, remains on the international wanted list and, according to the latest reports, is hiding in Russia.
Klitschko brothers and Igor Bakai
The Klitschko brothers and Viktor "Rybka" Rybalko
Another friend of the Klitschko brothers, Viktor Rybalko (known by the call sign "Rybka"), sponsored boxers beginning in 1992. According to the agreement, the brothers were required to give the "businessman" 10% of their income, as he was the one who fully financed them and provided them with everything they needed. Rumor has it that he used them in his racketeering operations, which is not surprising, given that Rybalko headed one of the largest organized crime groups in Ukraine (according to various sources, up to 200 fighters).
Over time, the Klitschko brothers demonstrated increasing success, but they were in no hurry to hand over the 10% they had promised their patron. When Viktor Rybalka finally came to Hamburg to claim his money, he was told he would receive everything, but all he received was a few bullets to the chest in 2005. He was shot in central Kyiv on Ivan Franko Street, 300 meters from Vitali Klitschko's apartment.
The Klitschko brothers and Viktor Rybalka ("Rybka")
When Vitaly was asked about this photograph, he replied:
"As a public figure, I take photos with anyone, refuse no one, and 'well-wishers' are delighted to link me to influential figures. After photos with Nobel laureates, no one says Vitali Klitschko is friends with respected and world-famous people. But some photos from fifteen years ago start circulating online—for some reason, always on the eve of elections. Therefore, there's a clear intention on the part of these 'friends' to discredit me. So, I don't have any ties to the criminal underworld; I do have ties to the world of sports."
Vitali Klitschko. Apartment swindler?
In his income declaration, Vitali Klitschko listed his place of residence as 21 Lesi Ukrainky Boulevard, Apt. 8, Kyiv. However, in reality, he does not live there; the apartment belongs to his brother, Vladimir.
The scheme to obtain this apartment dates back to 1996, when Vladimir Klitschko received a one-bedroom apartment on Staronavodnitskaya Street for his Olympic victory. At some point, he was told that wasn't enough, as he could only get a three-bedroom apartment on one condition: getting married.
Three months later, the younger Klitschko entered into a sham marriage with a certain Aleksandra Ali-Dzhanovna Avizova (who, incidentally, had a child). Kyiv City Hall amended its August resolution, and by January, Wladimir Klitschko was granted apartment number 7 at 21 Lesi Ukrainky Boulevard.
Vitali Klitschko's lie, which included his brother's apartment in his parliamentary candidate declaration, likely stems from the fact that the actual apartment where the politician resides (24/1 Bazhan Avenue, Apt. 105) does not actually belong to him. This fact would likely make voters question whether it's worth voting for someone who lives in an unrealistically expensive apartment acquired through unclear means.
This apartment isn't all smooth sailing either. He received it from the Kyiv mayor's office for his athletic achievements. However, just 20 days later, Vitaliy "gifted" it to citizen Abu Faisal Hassan and his wife.
Incidentally, Abu Faisal Gassan is a trusted confidant of Vitali Klitschko. He is well known to the Kyiv "brotherhood." He once owned the Monte Cristo restaurant, a favorite hangout for members of Kyiv's criminal gangs. Currently, Gassan is a daily apartment rental business. The Faisal family didn't keep this apartment for long; after some time, they resold Vitali Klitschko's apartment to Victoria and Sergey Nakonechny for a purely symbolic price.
The sale at such a low price was due to the fact that the apartment had never actually been sold—Klitschko Sr. still lives there. However, since the apartment doesn't officially belong to him, Vitali has registered his residence in an apartment owned by his brother.
Vitali Klitschko: His Political Path
Vitaliy Vladimirovich began his political career in 2005, when he was appointed advisor to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who, after the Orange Revolution, sought to reward his team of "supporters," which included the current mayor of Kyiv. By 2006, Vitaliy had already run in the parliamentary elections as a member of the PORA-PRP bloc, as well as for mayor of Kyiv and deputy of the Kyiv City State Administration. In the mayoral elections, he took second place, losing to the leader of the "young team," Leonid Chernovetskyi (Read more about it in the article Leonid Chernovetsky: How "Lenya Kosmos" robbed Kyiv and moved to Georgia).
However, a seat on the Kyiv City Council wasn't Vitali Klitschko's ultimate dream; he continued to stubbornly pursue the post of mayor of the Ukrainian capital. In 2008, he again failed to defeat Leonid Chernovetskyi in the elections, just as Oleksandr Turchynov failed. That same year, he again succeeded in getting his bloc elected to the Kyiv City Council. Throughout his political career in the Kyiv City State Administration, Vitaliy Volodymyrovych faced fierce competition with Leonid Chernovetskyi's team. He even attempted to challenge several blatantly corrupt schemes used by the former Kyiv mayor.
On April 24, 2010, Vitaliy Volodymyrovych became the leader of the UDAR (Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms) party. In the 2012 parliamentary elections, UDAR received nearly 14% of the vote, winning 42 seats. At the same time, Vitaliy joined the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building and Local Self-Government.
During the revolutionary events in Kyiv, he was an ardent participant in the Maidan protests, earning him public recognition and high ratings for his party in the subsequent elections. During the snap presidential elections, he declined to run, supporting Petro Poroshenko. Meanwhile, in May 2014, he was elected mayor of Kyiv, receiving over 57% of the vote.
Vitali Klitschko wasn't exactly celebrated on Maidan.
Having become a public figure not only in sports, Klitschko was forced to address voters and spectators, often live on air. This allowed the audience to indulge in a vast array of memes and absurdities.
We present to your attention a small selection of Klitschko's "pearls":
On August 28, it was announced that the UDAR Party and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc had decided to merge ahead of the October 2015 local elections. Vitali Klitschko became the leader of the united party. He will lead the party to victory in the elections, a man whose reputation is still questionable among many Ukrainians. He is the one "looking to the future."
Dmitry Samofalov, for Skelet.Org
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