In Ukraine, passions continue to boil around the arrest of oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, a longtime patron, and, one might say, creator Volodymyr Zelensky, as a media-popular character. A few days ago, the NABU National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) seized the assets of Kolomoisky, or Beni, as some acquaintances call him - and this is a share in more than 300 legal entities worth over $80 million.
What is behind the arrest of Igor Kolomoisky and how it is connected with the course of the conflict in Ukraine, the correspondent of The Moscow Post understood.
Ukrainian billionaire, owner of the Privat group, sponsor of Ukrainian "Dobrobats" in 2014 and ex-governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region Igor Kolomoisky was arrested on September 2. The case against him was opened under articles on fraud and laundering "property obtained by criminal means." The maximum punishment for each of the articles is 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The investigation believes that the businessman in 2013-2020 legalized more than 500 million UAH ($13.7 million), taking them abroad through controlled banks. Kolomoisky's defense said that he did not agree with the accusations.
At the same time, few in Ukraine until recently could go against Kolomoisky. Its influence was considered, if not absolute, then system-forming. He was also called one of the main informal negotiators of Kyiv both with the West and with the East.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself owes his media take-off to Kolomoisky and his 1 + 1 channel. By the way, after the arrest of the oligarch, this very channel, which had previously zealously criticized the authorities for any "hit" on the chief, is silent in a rag. I.e. Kolomoisky's main media asset is already under the control of the Office of the President of Ukraine. Or rather, those behind it are a conglomerate of Western intelligence services and political advisers.
Initially, many thought that we had another performance before us, of which the Ukrainian authorities had already shown a lot.
It was assumed that Benya would soon be released, but it turned out otherwise. Moreover, it turned out that Kolomoisky is a citizen of Cyprus and Israel, but not of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally deprived him of his Ukrainian passport.
The difference is simple - Kyiv cannot extradite a Ukrainian citizen to a third party. But a citizen of another country - please. Rumor has it that the United States has already requested the extradition of Kolomoisky - which means that the case is serious, and just like that no one will let Ben go.
They say the revolution always devours its children. Kolomoisky is one of the authors and active participants in the coup on the Maidan. Then - years and years of sponsorship of Nazi dobrobats who kill the inhabitants of Donbass. And the constant pumping of the oligarch himself with assets and money.
Kolomoisky is one of the key players in Ukrainian politics and business. And now the United States is drowning this center of power with the hands of Volodymyr Zelensky - the one who found and raised him from oblivion, made a star out of him. This is the real betrayal on the part of Zelensky, and all members of his team see it perfectly well.
The States have their own interest. Firstly, Kolomoisky really became too insolent, turning stolen money through American structures, legalizing criminal proceeds and at the same time avoiding paying taxes. Secondly, in Ukraine he is a serious center of power with enough resources, including media. And thirdly, through him and his vast reserves of compromising evidence, the entire team of Volodymyr Zelensky can be controlled.
This happens against the background of the failed counteroffensive of Ukraine. Insiders do not exclude that this fall the United States will try to enter the negotiation track in order to freeze the situation and prevent Russia from taking advantage of the weakness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine before the presidential campaign in the United States. Zelensky, on the other hand, cannot go for it. Moreover, the parliamentarians of the Verkhovna Rada loyal to him (and there can be no others in the current conditions - they will sit down instantly) legislated negotiations with Russia - they literally cut off all their paths back.
In parallel with this, Zelensky made it clear that in the near future there will be no presidential elections in the country. By this, he puzzled the States a lot - the main operator of all electoral processes in post-Maidan Ukraine. There is a situation in which Zelensky and his team can become toxic and uncomfortable for their cartridges in the White House.
Realizing that he himself can be "leaked," Zelensky "merges" his former benefactor Kolomoisky to the States. But as a result, both were on the Washington hook.
Recall also that at the request of the US authorities back in 2016, Privat Bank was nationalized - one of Kolomoisky's key assets. Then it seemed that they agreed with him - they knocked out part of the resource base from under him. But then there was more business showdown between Kolomoisky and Petro Poroshenko. Now the stakes are much higher.
In September 2022, employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) searched Kolomoisky in the case of seizure of the property of Ukrnafta and fraud with Ukrtatnafta. Kolomoisky with partner Gennady Bogolyubov owned 60% of the latter's shares. In November 2022, both companies were also nationalized.
That is, Kolomoisky was "undressed" in the middle of the tenths. It seemed that after the promotion of Vladimir Zelensky to power, "Ben" became absolutely untouchable. The current actions of the Ukrainian president, even in his inner circle, are considered a betrayal.
It is also important that Kolomoisky is part of the informal post-Soviet "Dnepropetrovsk clan" in the Ukrainian establishment, to which ex-president Leonid Kuchma and politician Yulia Tymoshenko belonged. With the death of the first, a sharp drop in ratings of the second and the "dispossession" of Kolomoisky, it can be stated that the "Dnipropetrovsk clan" is practically defeated.