The team of presidential frontrunner comedian-turned-politician Volodymyr Zelenskiy is linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, interior affairs minister Arsen Avakov and runaway lawmaker Ihor Kaletnik, an investigation by Nashi Groshi media project published on April 19 revealed.
The investigation was predominantly based on leaks from the conversations between Oleksandr Korniyenko, a coordinator of Zelenskiy’s team offices and the volunteer community, and Serhiy Trofimov, producer of Zelenskiy’s Kvartal 95 show. It revealed the four different teams of influence in Zelensky’s inner circle, which often clash against one another.
The journalists admitted that the leak was partially done to smear the reputation of Zelenskiy before the presidential election vote on April 21. But the public value of the revealed data, which they confirmed by other sources, urged them to publish the story.
Zelenskiy’s team refused to comment on the investigation.
Zelenskiy constantly claims that his links to Kolomoisky are no more than a business partnership related to Kolomoisky’s 1+1 TV channel, which broadcasts several of Zelenskiy’s TV shows. Kolomoisky said the same.
But the leaked conversations show that Andriy Bohdan, a lawyer who advises Zelenskiy’s team and also works for Kolomoisky, has, in fact, more influence on Zelenskiy than the presidential candidate has publicly stated.
Korniyenko and Trofimov discuss Bohdan as a representative of a group of influence called “Dyadya” (or uncle), a nickname for Kolomoisky.
“Finally I understood what Bohdan does. This is that ‘media office’ with a separate budget, management, and responsibilities,” Korniyenko messaged to Trofimov, according to the leaks.
He added that the ideas of Bohdan’s media office don’t always correspond to Zelenskiy’s own plans.
Another team is called “Nizhniye” after the last name of lawyer Serhiy Nizhny, who told journalists of Nashi Groshi that he just coordinates the legal work. But the investigative journalists revealed that Nizhny has more influence than he says, according to conversations where Korniyenko tells Trofimov in a chat about the clashes between Nizhny and Bohdan.
Nyzhny lives in an elite house in downtown Kyiv in a flat next to lawmaker Anton Herashchenko, who is also an advisor of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. In 2016, Nizhny also cooperated with Herashchenko’s aid who represented him in court, journalists said.
Herashchenko, known for his blogging activity, has recently started writing very favorable posts about Zelenskiy.
The third team is informally called “Regions” because its leader Ilya Pavluyk is responsible for the activity and financial support of Zelenskiy’s team in Ukrainian regions.
The journalists received the leaks of Pavluk’s chat conversations with different people in the regions where they discussed the campaign and money being sent for it, bypassing the official budget.
Pavluk used to be an aid of Ihor Kaletnik, a former deputy head of Ukraine’s customs and a lawmaker from the now inexistent Communist Party. With the conflict in eastern Ukraine started in 2014, Kaletnik reportedly left to Russia.
Poroshenko’s supporters told the Kyiv Post in Vinnytsia that Zelenskiy’s team in the city are represented by Kaletnik’s father though they did not provide proof.
Zelenskiy’s team denied earlier that Pavlyuk was their member.
The fourth group of influence is represented by two brothers, Serhiy and Borys Shefir, Zelenskiy’s partners in the Kvartal 95 show project.
The leaks reveal that Serhiy Shefir is in charge of the campaign’s finances, including payments for bots on social media. The money is being paid in cash in office bypassing the official campaign budget, which is against Ukrainian law.
Korniyenko and Trofimov also discussed that the rivalry between the four teams leads to a mess in Zelenskiy’s office. As a result, Korniyenko suggested Trofimov to step up and offer himself to head the Presidential Administration in case Zelenskiy wins the presidential campaign.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oleg Sukhov contributed to the story
