When multimillionaire Vyachelsav Konstantinovsky posted on Facebook that he wanted to sell his Rolls-Royce to buy equipment needed by the Ukrainian army he struck a chord with Ukrainians. The post received nearly 4,000 likes and nearly 1,400 shares.
After selling the car, Konstantinovsky decided not to donate the money to the Ukrainian armed forces, but to use it instead to fund and equip his own unit under the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and go to the front in Ukraine’s east
Now he is back in Kyiv and running for a parliamentary seat in election district 220. “Sold his Rolls-Royce and went to the front” has become the rallying cry of his campaign.
In his initial post on Facebook, Konstantinovsky said of the Rolls-Royce “in another life it was a symbol of success! Now priorities have changed! I am ready to sell or trade for the things OUR ARMY needs.”
For many Ukrainians the message captured the shift in Ukraine, a poor country with plentiful designer shops and luxury car dealerships, during a time of war.
Konstantinovsky, sitting in his military fatigues in his office, says he didn’t expect the post to elicit such a large reaction. After initial hesitancy, his team convinced him to use the car in his election campaign. “The only thing people knew about me was that they had seen on TV that I sold my Rolls-Rocye,” he said.
In a campaign with many new candidates and new parties and election materials often even using the same campaign poster layouts and fonts Konstantinovsky’s posters and slogan stood out. The image has been particularly important for his party. the People’s Front, which was formed in March.
The party only become a viable political force when current Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yartsenyuk and Verkhovna Rada speaker Oleksandr Turchynov broke ranks with Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party and joined it in September.
According to a poll released on Oct. 22 by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation the People’s Front is now expected to make it into parliament with 10.8 percent of the vote.
When it comes to Yatsenyuk, Konstantinovsky is cautiously approving.
“We don’t have better candidates, he is young, pragmatic, pro-European and he has experience,” he said, adding “international financial organizations trust him and under him gave the material Ukraine needs.”
At least some of the media storm surrounding the Rolls-Royce seems to be overblown. Konstantinovsky says the car was bought by a foreign friend who wanted to support him and the car is still sitting in Kyiv waiting to be moved, but the sale of the car was never the actual focus.
Konstantinovsky says he received Hr 2.5 million for the car. After having previously donated Hr 2 million to the Ukrainian armed forces, he became concerned about corruption. “We didn’t understand where the money went,” he said adding “why should you help people who are stealing?”
Instead Konstantinovsky bought transport vehicles, machine guns, flak jackets and equipment for snipers and showed the Kyiv Post pictures of what he purchased on his phone. After purchasing the equipment, Konstantinovsky says he and his unit went to Luhansk Oblast, where they policed areas retaken by the Ukrainian government, occasionally engaging in firefights
Because of a lack of exact details about where and when he served, some experts have concerns about authenticity of his image as a war veteran.
“I suspect it is a trick. He was there at the front, but where and when and how much he fought I just don’t know. My concern isn’t just for Konstantinovsky, but for a whole group of businessmen who have gone to the ATO (anti-terrorist operation) to get the status of a fighter and use it in the elections,” said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, head of Penta political think tank.
Vyachelsav and his twin brother Oleksandr have a combined worth of $355 million, according to the Ukrainians Magazine Focus that ranked them both as the 44th richest men in Ukraine in 2013. They made their fortunes in the construction and restaurants sectors and still own the the restaurant chain Carte Blanche according to the magazine.
Konstantinovsky emphasizes his own humble background, growing up in the district where he is now running. He says he is still in touch with people’ s needs because he knows the circumstances his parents would be in without his help.
Still he is aware that his business background raises questions in a country where being corrupt is often seen as prerequisite for being successful. “Many people think if you earned money you aren’t honest.”
