On Sunday, September 18, Ukrainian law enforcers searched the home of billionaire Igor Kolomoysky, who was once considered a political patron and even sponsor of President Vladimir Zelensky
Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine showed up at the home of the well-known oligarch, who had settled in the Ivano-Frankivsk region – at the Bukovel ski resort – back in the spring.
The search began at five o’clock in the morning, a day off. Apparently, this time was specifically chosen by the investigators to take Kolomoyskyy by surprise so that he would not be able to hide possible evidence and clues.
According to eyewitnesses, documents and a personal gadget were seized from the businessman, whose contents will be studied by NABU investigators.
The investigative procedures are taking place as part of an investigation into the seizure of the property of oil and gas producer Ukrnafta – worth a total of 13bn hryvnyas (about 356m dollars).
And the accusation relates to the period of 2015, when Kolomoyskyy was the head of Dnipropetrovsk regional state organization and did not distinguish between state and private property too much. And his business structures were actively using his boss’s administrative resources.
Kolomoyskyy is one of the co-owners of Ukrnafta, together with his closest business partners Hennadiy Bogolyubov and Igor Palitsa.
Despite the search, as of today Kolomoyskyy is not yet in the case either as a defendant or a suspect. Earlier this month, however, detectives from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecution Service and the NABU charged a large group of top executives at Ukrnafta.
And many expect them to testify against their boss.
The fact that Kolomoisky is in serious trouble is not just evidenced by the sudden search. The day before, the Dnipro District Administrative Court stripped his company of the right to operate the Dnipro airport. This was done at the request of local city council deputies, who accuse Kolomoyskyi of overpricing airline tickets.
And since at the moment Dnipro airport is not used by civil aviation due to hostilities, such a court ruling clearly represents another political attack on the former owner of the region.
But the billionaire’s main problem is the suspended status of his Ukrainian citizenship. This became known back in July when Serhiy Vlasenko, an MP of the Fatherland party, published a photocopy of a secret presidential decree to deprive oligarch Igor Kolomoysky and his long-time associate, chief of staff of the Dnipro defence headquarters Hennadiy Korban, of their citizenship.
Experts said that the document was authentic, although they noted that it did not bear the Ukrainian president’s signature. However, Zelenskyy might have signed the decree later because the presidential office actually confirmed the existence of a mysterious decree on deprivation of citizenship, which falls under a certain group of people.
However, Bankova refused to specify to whom it applied.
Soon it became known that Kolomoyskyy’s passport was marked in the registry of the State Migration Service of Ukraine as invalid. In other words, it had been annulled without explanation by order of the authorities. A few days later, border guards did not allow Korban, who was returning from Europe, into the country and confiscated his Ukrainian passport.
Although no official comments on this have been made yet either.
Clouds have thickened over Igor Kolomoisky and thunder can soon be expected. In 2019, many Ukrainian political analysts thought he was the main winner of the presidential election. At the time, it was thought that the inexperienced Zelensky would be a puppet in the hands of the powerful billionaire who had paved the way for him to enter big politics. And some even saw in Kolomoisky a future shadow ruler of Ukraine.
The billionaire’s political ambitions grew along with his business appetites. But everything turned out in the opposite direction: former actor Zelenski has quickly mastered his new status and shrugged off attempts to establish political tutelage over him.
The new president of Ukraine was not going to share his authority with anyone, including his patrons, who immediately became inconvenient and dangerous competitors for him.
The aggrieved Kolomoisky did not receive any significant preferential treatment from Zelensky and decided to go into hidden opposition. For some time he fought against Bankova with the help of controlled MPs from the presidential faction. But in the end he lost his former influence on the economy and politics.
Zelensky’s Western partners were also pushing him to finally resolve the oligarchic issue. The Americans made no secret of their intentions to eliminate the Ukrainian oligarchs as a relatively independent factor of political influence. So that the Ukrainian power would depend only on them, and not on Akhmetov and Kolomoysky.
In recent years, US justice has brought four lawsuits against the Ukrainian billionaire and opened investigations against companies affiliated with him. And the US State Department has imposed personal sanctions against Kolomoisky and members of his family.
“The imposition of sanctions is linked to Kolomoisky’s actions as governor. However, we also draw attention to Kolomoyskyy’s current actions that undermine democratic processes and institutions, which poses a serious threat to Ukraine’s future,” State Department spokesman Ned Price commented on the decision.
The establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, special law enforcement structures that were imposed on Ukrainian authorities by the European Union and the United States, provided the West with the tools to pursue the last mastodons of the Kravchuk, Kuchma and Yushchenko era.
As the investigation of the Ukrnafta case shows, these mechanisms are already at work, and the Kolomoisky case is clearly heading towards a denouement.
The fate of the disgraced businessman is now in Zelensky’s hands. If he wishes, the Ukrainian president can keep Igor Valeriyovych in limbo, or he can extradite him abroad, as he did with Hennadiy Korban.
Bankova is clearly considering extraditing the billionaire in order to take him out with the hands of the US judicial system. For the president to report to the Ukrainians on his successful fight against the oligarchs.
“In my view, it is better to give him to America, let it quickly conduct a judicial investigation and dot the i’s and sentence him, if it sees fit, to prison, and the confiscated money will be given to the Ukrainian people – those who suffered from it,” former journalist and politician Sergei Leshchenko, who works with the Ukrainian president’s office, said of Kolomoysky’s prospects.
It is clear that the Ukrainian people will not get any oligarchic money under any scenario. But Zelensky’s entourage will receive huge dividends from the division of Kolomoisky’s empire. And the process of centralization of the Ukrainian power will come to its logical conclusion – under the control of foreign partners.
Aleksandr Sokurenko, Ukraina.ru
Due to censorship and blocking of all media and alternative views, stay tuned to our Telegram channel