The party was a perfect illustration of the country’s Soviet past, present and, sadly, future.
For most world leaders, a 60th birthday would be a good excuse to shy away from the press and sit down for a good dinner with the family. Some would seize the opportunity and work twice as hard on this day for extra political points.
Most democratic leaders would certainly steer clear of getting tipsy, accepting expensive gifts, dancing garishly and facebooking about it. But Ukraine’s leader has his own way.
The presidential party began in Kyiv on the actual date of his birth, July 9.
Media covered the event extensively from their outposts by one of the president’s official dachas in the capital’s lush suburbia. A line of Black Mercedes swept past cameras, providing plenty of material for lifestyle coverage.
Kharkiv oligarch Oleksandr Yaroslavsky arrives at Viktor Yanukovych’s birthday party on July 9 at the front of a queue of expensive cars with guests. (Dmytro Larin, pravda.com.ua)
There was singer Tina Karol, who sang in support of Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovych’s biggest foe, only a few months ago. There were parliamentary deputies bearing gifts of ancient icons and other items, often costing several times their official monthly salaries. There was a choir and a folk band – the only people arriving in a big bus without tinted windows.
The details of his birthday bash would have probably stayed out of public spotlight had it not been for an unknown spy with a camera in his mobile phone, diligently filming the president and his entourage’s frolics. The low-quality video posted later on YouTube reveals the scale of this celebration.
Unlike his usual appearances at official events, Yanukovych looks playful and relaxed, dancing away with female members of his government. His wife is nowhere to be seen on the video. Veterans of the Russian pop stage, Philip Kirkorov and Aleksandr Serov, whose gigs cost tens of thousands of euros, sing old-time favorites. Ex-President Leonid Kuchma graces the dance floor. Billionaires Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk share a brotherly hug in the background.
Yanukovych’s dark suit with wine-red tie is accentuated by a new medal. Patriarch Vladimir of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church bestowed him with a new honor just a few hours before the event. The award, called Predstoyatel, is the first of its kind, invented a month before the presidential birthday. It means that the church respects and recognizes the receiver as the greatest secular protector of God’s people. Yanukovych was assigned medal number 001.
Celebrations moved on to Crimea the next day. Livadia Palace, which once hosted Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin during World War II, was opened up for Russian, Belarusian and other leaders of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
They gathered for an unofficial summit of the heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States, paid for by their respective states. After 15 minutes of pledging friendship and an end to poverty, they set off for a private party at Zarya state mansion. It is better known as Mikhail Gorbachov’s dacha, a sprawling estate on the Black Sea coast, where the last Soviet leader liked to spend his holidays.
Now imagine if Barack Obama did the same. Imagine he invited Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump.
Tony Hayward, head of BP, would be sipping champagne with them and eating fois gras, despite the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Imagine they would party in Hollywood to the rhythm of Tom Jones’ “Sex Bomb.” Imagine Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were spotted at the raucous celebration, dragging behind them presents that cost well into five digits.
Somehow, this script doesn’t tie together in the U.S. setting – but it sure does in Ukraine.
Still, Hanna Herman, deputy head of the presidential administration, thinks Yanukovych and Obama have a lot in common. They are both self-made leaders, she has told the press more than once.
“Perhaps Yanukovych had it even tougher career-wise, but their childhoods were very much alike,” said Herman in a recent interview. But their integrity as presidents are worlds apart.”
When he turned 48, Obama threw a little a celebration for an 89-year-old White House reporter whom he shares a birthday with. He soon retired for a party with his family. His administration didn’t screen a documentary about his life to mark the big day, unlike the broadcast of Yanukovych’s biography on the First National Channel and ICTV in Ukraine.
Obama already had his fingers burned after attending a Broadway performance with his wife. It was not his birthday but a small treat after he was elected in office. The public disapproved of the president flying a state plane and using security guards for what essentially was a private affair. CIS presidents, in comparison, didn’t blink an eye covering Yanukovych’s birthday bash with a Potyomkin village-style excuse, the unofficial CIS summit.
Frankly, Yanukovych can be compared neither to Obama, nor to any other Western leader. His self-worship and love of publicity smacks of the late Saparmurat Niyazov. This leader of Turkmenistan had golden statues of himself erected across the country, among other things.
The Ukrainian president would probably also feel comfortable with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, who inherited power from his long-deceased father, whose birthday he still marks with a stunning fireworks display. Joseph Stalin would be a more extreme comparison, but in terms of conjuring an idealized and heroic image of himself, they have more in common than apart.
How much the Ukrainian taxpayer paid for the president’s bash is yet to be calculated. But the aviation show prepared for presidential guests on July 11 was cancelled. All the presidents had left Ukraine by then to recover from the previous night.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliya Popova can be reached at [email protected].
