Viktor Medvedchuk’s office is tucked away in an alley off Lva Tolstoho Square and behind doors protected by numerous security guards. Known by critics as Ukraine’s “prince of darkness,” Medvedchuk remains a powerful figure on Ukraine’s political scene.
Medvedchuk, 59, most recently led a successful national campaign through Ukrainian Choice, a non-profit group he founded, to torpedo an association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union last fall. Many think he did so at the behest of the Kremlin. His friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the godfather of his daughter, enhances his image as a powerbroker. And, in the most recent government shake-up, his name has been touted as a possible prime minister or chief of staff to President Viktor Yanukovych.
If either of those jobs do come Medvedchuk’s way, he would assume yet another prestigious role in a life that has seen many of them – multimillionaire businessman, media mogul, lawyer, member of parliament and chief of staff to ex-President Leonid Kuchma. The Kuchma position earned him the nickname of “grey cardinal” for his alleged role in the 2004 rigged presidential election and as the alleged architect of “temnyki,” essential censorship instructions to be followed by news media. He has routinely denied both charges over the years.
Medvedchuk recently made news for his anger at a group of activists who showed up at his home outside Kyiv and spray painted and reportedly damaged his security gate. “I also know how (to fight),” he warned on Ukrainian Choice’s website. “We have common strength and capabilities to stand up for our views and convictions. And we shall do this.”
The protests-on-wheels, known as AutoMaidan, irritated not only Medvedchuk with their car convoys to the luxury homes in-country and abroad of officials and wealthy elite.
Bad things happened to AutoMaidan participants after the protests. Unknown have men attacked several members. The leader of the group, Dmytro Bulatov, went missing on Jan. 22 and turned up on Jan. 30 after he stumbled into a village home in Boryspil, a suburb of Kyiv. He had been badly beaten, tortured and crucified, and had his ear cut off by his captors before being released and dumped in sub-zero temperatures on the side of a country road, new website TSN reported.
Asked about his rage and the troubles that later befell AutoMaidan participants, Medvedchuk laughed off any connection.
“What representatives of AutoMaidan did is unlawful. When AutoMaidan came to my house they engaged in hooliganism and damaged my property, which happened several times,” he told the Kyiv Post in an interview on Jan. 29. “The investigation is under way and I believe that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”
Medvedchuk’s public campaign – Ukrainsky Vybor, or Ukrainian Choice – played a role in successfully scuttling the political and free trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine last November. The Yanukovych government’s announcement on Nov. 21 that he would abandon the EU deal triggered the mass protests known as EuroMaidan that continue today.
He has no apologies for the nongovernmental organization, financed with his own money, that stirred up anti-European sentiment ahead of the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 28-29.
Some of the Ukrainsky Vybor billboards used in the campaign depicted stick figure images of same-sex couples holding hands, with the words “Association with the EU means same-sex marriages,” a bit of misleading propaganda on a social hot-button issue. Then, in taking a victory lap after Yanukovych backed out of the deal, another billboard featured a checked box (in other words, mission accomplished) next to the words “Stopping the association with the EU.”
Medvedchuk doesn’t like to get pinned down on the exact size of his wealth (Focus magazine puts it at $260 million) or his friendship with Putin.
“I have a relationship of friendship with Vladimir Putin,” he said. “If he was just my friend, we could discuss that, but as long as he’s the president of another state, I don’t think it’s appropriate to share the topics of our discussions.”
As for his money, he said, he has more than enough to comfortably provide for his family, but also to finance social projects such as Ukrainsky Vybor.
As for what he wants in Ukraine’s future, Medvedchuk says the nation should become a parliamentary republic where the president’s powers are reduced and where referendums can decide issues. He says EuroMaidan happened because of rampant corruption, a monopolistic economy and a subordinate judiciary.
Medvedchuk was born in Siberia to a father who was deported there after suffering political repression for participating in national movements in Ukraine. His father was exonerated posthumously.
When asked about persistent rumors that he was ever part of the Soviet KGB or the Russian secret services, he responded: “I have never worked and have had no relationship with bodies such as the Committee for State Security and Security Service of Ukraine, or with the Communist Party.”
Those allegations surfaced on the Mykola Melnychenko tapes, the hundreds of hours of recordings that Kuchma’s bodyguard made in the presidential office. Medvedchuk doubts the authenticity of the tapes, but two crimes in Ukraine’s independent history from the 2000s still bother him – the 2000 murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze and the 2004 dioxin poisoning of ex-President Viktor Yushchenko.
“I believe that in Ukraine (these) two cases should be investigated to the end,” Medvedchuk said. “They play an historical role in the development of independent Ukraine, its reputation. I have always been for justice and law. I was a founder of the Independent Lawyers Association during the Soviet Union.”
As for the future of the nation, Medvedchuk is not exactly the biggest fan of Yanukovych, saying each successive government in Ukraine has been worse than the previous one. He does, however, think that ex-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov will be hard to replace because of his high level of professionalism.
Medvedchuk said he’s not interested in holding a position in government. He believes he can be more effective in leading social movements. “Bringing people together, promoting and educating on many economic, political and social issues, the process of attracting supporters to the social movement – these are more important things that can change lives in the country for the better.”
Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller can be reached at [email protected]. Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
