Most top Ukrainian officials are “jokes” for eschewing brotherhood with Russia, Viktor Medvedchuk said in an Aug. 25 interview with 112 news channel.
Medvedchuk — a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and leader of Ukrainian political organization Ukrainian Choice — was the first guest on 112’s brand new program “Big Interview with a Big Politician.” It’s the first new program launched on the channel under its new owners, who are reportedly linked to Medvedchuk himself.
During the 90-minute program, Medvedchuk spoke of his relationship with Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, presidential candidate and Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko, and the effect of U.S. sanctions on Russia and Medvedchuk himself.
Medvedchuk, a multi-millionaire known for his support for integration with Russia, actively opposed Ukraine’s integration with the European Union before and during the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution. He is closely linked to the Russian president, who is a godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.
Medvedchuk, also an associate of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, is widely seen as a representative of Putin’s interests in Ukrainian politics. On top of that, he’s Ukraine’s special representative for humanitarian affairs in the Trilateral Contact Group formed to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the war in the Donbas.
Railway connection with Moscow
As a representative of Ukraine to Russia, Medvedchuk is the only person in Ukraine who can legally still directly fly to Russia, while commercial flights were canceled in 2015, something he is against. He also opposes ending railway links with Moscow, as proposed by Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan on Aug. 6.
“Omelyan has accidentally got into the chair [of a minister], just like 80 percent of the members of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers,” Medvedchuk said. “They are just pretending that they… are solving the problems of Ukrainians.”
“Only if they decide to ignore the interests of people — this actually has become a principle and a rule for Ukraine’s government — then, of course, they would close [railway links],” he said.
“I believe that these jokes [the ministers] will soon become a thing of the past, and normal people instead of them will rebuild our relationships with brotherly nations,” Medvedchuk added.
US sanctions against Russia & Medvedchuk
Medvedchuk, being a frequent visitor to Russia, where he “represents the interests of Ukraine,” thinks Russia feels “no fear” about sanctions imposed on it by the United States and other countries.
“Yes, all sanctions have consequences, that’s a fact. And there have been other artificial problems. But has Russia overcome them? Judging by their economy today, it certainly has. Do (the sanctions) make it difficult for Russia? Yes.”
In fact, Medvedchuk said, Russia’s business isn’t what should interest Ukrainians, who seem to be trying to judge Putin and overlook their own course of affairs.
“We think that if it’s worse for Russia, then it will be better for Ukraine. But that’s not how it works,” he said.
Medvedchuk has been under U.S. sanctions himself since 2014. His party Ukrainian Choice stands for the federalization of Ukraine, which has been considered a threat to the sovereignty of Ukraine. The sanctions “limit particular activities” of Medvedchuk — European banks scrutinize transactions made under his name.
But his business prospers anyway — it’s registered to his wife, Oksana Marchenko.
“I run the business, while the assets belong to (my wife),” he said. Medvedchuk refused to say what exactly his business consists of, but added that he’s “actively engaged in it” and that it is “successful.” He claims he paid Hr 20 million ($721,000) in taxes in 2017.
Relationship with Kolomoisky
Medvedchuk denied any political rapprochement with oligarch Kolomoisky.
“There’s neither political nor any other rapprochement (with him), unfortunately,” he said.
Medvedchuk claims that he talked to him only once — when Kolomoisky became governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in 2014.
“After that, I hadn’t been in touch with him,” he said. “Moreover, we didn’t and won’t have anything in politics together. Why? That’s our personal issue.”
He also said that he does not know about Kolomoisky’s relationship with presidential candidate and Batkivschyna Party leader Tymoshenko. In an interview with Radio Liberty in spring, Kolomoisky noted that he would support Tymoshenko during the presidential elections in 2019.
“I don’t have a rapport with Tymoshenko,” Medvedchuk said, adding that he read that interview and has no idea why Kolomoisky said that. “Maybe he has his reasons for this.”
At the end of July, Medvedchuk said he is going to join the For Life party spearheaded by 2019 presidential candidate Vadym Rabynovych, in which he’d fight to “restore peace” with Russia.
