A delegation of top-level Ukrainian officials registered under the non-profit NGO called the Ukrainian Guild of Activists (UGA) is scheduled for meetings in Washington, D.C. during the week of Sept. 21, according to documents obtained by the Kyiv Post.
The delegation will visit the American capital less than two months prior to the U.S. presidential election. It consists of top officials from Ukraine’s central bank, the state-owned Export-Import Bank of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office, according to the document.
Since 2019, relations between Kyiv and Washington have been highly sensitive after Ukraine found itself entangled in U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to dig up dirt on his political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, in the 2020 election.
The visit also comes amid Western criticism of Ukraine’s recent setbacks to the rule of law and its fight against corruption.
But the choice of the organization that is coordinating and funding the visit raised concerns.
Investigative journalist Olga Lautman wrote on Twitter:
“Something to monitor! There is a Ukrainian delegation headed to DC this week organized by a fraudulent looking NGO in Ukraine. It isn’t clear who is funding this NGO but the delegation consists of reps from National Bank of Ukraine, Ukreximbank, Prosecutor’s Generals office,” she wrote. “3 American lobbying companies are involved in organizing this trip. When reached for comment National Bank of Ukraine denied existence of trip yet 58,000 (U.S. dollars) was paid by NGO ‘Ukrainian Guild of Activists’ to arrange this trip. These ‘activists’ are coming to arrange high level meets.”
Prosecutor General’s Office, National Bank, Ukreximbank, as well as the NGO organizing the trip, didn’t respond to requests for comment before publication.
The UGA is a low-key organization that in the past has backed some local ecology-centered causes, including protests against developments in Kyiv. Its website lists 32 non-government organizations as its partners. It doesn’t have a public record of organizing any foreign visits or dealing with top-level government bodies.
The non-profit’s website appears to list the Reanimation Package of Reforms, a well-respected civic organization, as one of its partners. However, the listed organization has a slightly different name. According to the actual Reanimation Package of Reforms, it’s a clone created to discredit them.
However, in the registration statement by the DC International Advisory LLC filed under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Ukrainian Guild of Activists represents itself as a privately-funded non-profit independent of a government organization that brings together “professionals from all walks of life to discuss political issues that affect businesspeople, academics, teachers and students.”
“The organization’s primary focus is corruption and the toll this has taken on all Ukrainians. It provides a voice for members and funds such activities as the forthcoming delegation with the objective of implementing positive change. Guild is funding a visit to Washington, DC by representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine, the Export-Import Bank of Ukraine, and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The purpose of the visit is to build relations between these Ukrainian institutions and their counterparts in Washington, DC, as well as undertake a wider public affairs program.”
The Ukrainian Guild of Activists is spending $58,000 for the trip, yet it is not clear who is providing the funds.
According to Ukrainian official registries, the director of UGA is Oksana Konchakivska. The organization’s website lists her as a specialist in ecology, communications and ethics.
The official registry also lists the founders of UGA as three civic organizations: Control of the Court System of Ukraine, Animal Rescue Service and Civic Ecological Initiative.
The FARA statement indicates that DC International Advisory LLC, represented by the consulting company’s CEO, Stephen Yates, is meeting with a “foreign country.” Ukraine is represented by the “heads” of Ukraine’s National Bank, state-owned Ex-Im Bank and the Prosecutor General.
Yates was deputy national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney in 2001 and 2005, as well as the Idaho Republican chair in 2014-2017. Yates also recently ran for the national committeeman position at the Idaho Republican Party convention in summer 2020, but pulled his name out and shortly after registered as a foreign agent for Ukraine. Yates also served as senior Asia advisor for the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee.
Other representatives registered for the meetings are David Sowells, head of Tricuro LLC, and Jason Epstein, head of Southfive Strategies, LLC.
A month ago, former U. S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor warned the country not to get involved in American’s presidential election, as it could hurt bilateral relations, a vital asset for Ukraine’s foreign policy as it fights off Russia on its eastern border.
“There’s a presidential election going on here. Don’t get involved in that election. Don’t mess with our politics… Don’t do that,” the ambassador said.
