Alexander Dombrovsky. Second after the President. PART 1

Oleksandr Dombrovsky is the country’s main Komsomol member and the famous scandalous ex-governor of Vinnytsia. He was the first deputy chairman of the committee on fuel and energy complex, nuclear policy and nuclear safety, and also the main ally of Petro Poroshenko. Tons of dirt are regularly “poured” on Dombrovsky, he is massively criticized at the national level, but he is unwavering in his status.

This is a story about how a man in power, in 5 years of gubernatorial service, amassed a fortune estimated at $180 million. How the governor robbed his own region, and now has moved on to all of Ukraine.

Skeleton.Info tells who Alexander Dombrovsky is and why he gets away with everything.

Alexander Dombrovsky. From scientist to businessman

Dombrovsky Alexander Georgievich was born on July 7, 1962 in the small town of Kalinovka in the Vinnytsia region. The future politician spent his childhood in a simple working-class family: his father was a construction engineer, his mother was a library worker. The Dombrovskys lived outside the city in a small house, harvested a vegetable garden and ran a household. The family was catastrophically short of money. According to the memoirs of Alexander Georgievich himself, after his mother’s death, he found her notebook, where each salary was listed down to the last kopeck.

In 1979, Sasha Dombrovsky graduated from Kalinovskaya Secondary School No. 3 and entered the Vinnitsa Polytechnic Institute. Since childhood, he dreamed of building spaceships, so he chose the promising faculty of automation and telemechanics. During his studies, the student earned extra money, doing scientific research for defense industry enterprises. He managed to earn about 50 rubles per month. By the way, in his second year, Alexander Georgievich got married. Having saved for several months, he bought his young wife gold earrings as a wedding present.

Alexander Dombrovsky graduated with honors from the specialty “Technical Cybernetics and Automated Systems”. It should be noted that he owes his successful studies to his mother, who raised his two children. The young father did not have to take academic leave to help his young wife. In memory of his mother, who suddenly died of stomach cancer, the loving son established a diploma for the best cultural worker. Every year, Vinnytsia librarians receive a certain amount from Dombrovsky’s personal funds.

After the Polytechnic, naturally, things didn’t work out with spaceships: where is space, and where is Vinnitsa. Komsomol work became a worthy alternative: since 1986, he has been the secretary of the Komsomol committee at VPI. Along the party line, he rose to the post of first secretary of the Vinnitsa city committee of the LKSMU. Alexander Georgievich got this chair from his predecessor, Anatoly Matvienko, the former secretary of the Vinnitsa city committee of the LKSMU.

Alexander Dombrovsky (center) and Anatoly Matvienko (right)

In this lucrative position, the party member met the recognized masters of the party, as well as of corruption in the future: Sergei Tatusyak, Igor Kaletnik, Grigory Zabolotny.

A. Dombrovsky, P. Poroshenko, G. Zabolotny

In 1990, Alexander Dombrovsky decided to connect his life with scientific activity. He completed his postgraduate studies and began working as a research fellow at his alma mater, the Vinnytsia Polytechnic. This work did not bring much income. Then Alexander Georgievich took the foreign economic research department of the Vinnytsia city center NTTM under his “wing”, becoming the director of the foreign trade company “Center”. By the way, NTTM was created with Komsomol money. “Center” was engaged in trading (at that time – speculative) operations. Under the control of its director, the structure exported metal, and raked in consumer goods for itself. At the same time, the goods were exchanged at a favorable “Komsomol” rate.

Even then, Dombrovsky was preparing to defend his dissertation, but times changed dramatically – the country had no time for science. At the dawn of the collapse of the USSR, Alexander Georgievich went into business.

In 1991, having mortgaged his apartment and added money to a good “start-up capital”, he created his first company – Vinnytsia Regional Business Center. It was engaged in the sale of computers, software development and soft. It was the first IT company in the history of independent Ukraine. Highly intellectual business gradually bore fruit. Dombrovsky expanded the scope of activities by opening a copy center, where office supplies were sold – pens and copy paper. By the way, at first the entrepreneur’s wife worked in the store. She personally photocopied documents for visitors. Four years later, Alexander Georgievich re-registered the Vinnytsia Regional Business Center as a joint-stock company, retaining the presidential chair for himself.

In 1995, Dombrovsky was invited to head the Western division of Branch No. 2 of the legendary Makarov Southern Machine-Building Plant. Alexander Dombrovsky eagerly took up the task. And immediately joined the ranks of the newly created People’s Democratic Party, whose chairman was the aforementioned Anatoly Matvienko. Everyone was surprised that former Komsomol members had taken to national patriotism, but such activity played into their hands. People started talking about a successful businessman who was restoring a dying city enterprise and supporting a young party. In addition, Dombrovsky created an excellent position for himself in local society and entered the elite “Vinnytsia” crowd. The next stage was big politics.

In the quiet Vinnitsa pool

At the top of the government, Dombrovsky was already awaited by a reliable patron – Anatoliy Matviyenko, acting head of the Vinnytsia regional state administration. Matviyenko had just returned from Kyiv. He was appointed to the position by Leonid Kuchma himself, so that he would deal with the mafia in Vinnytsia and “drive” voters to the upcoming presidential elections. Matviyenko could not cope on his own; he needed a person who would become his right hand and work for the benefit of President Kuchma. The choice fell on Oleksandr Grigorievich. Thanks to his patronage, Dombrovsky was elected as a deputy of the Vinnytsia city council in 1998. There he headed the standing commission on industry, construction, transport and communications. Oleksandr Grigorievich regularly does his job: drives Vinnytsia residents into the NDP party. Thanks to his activity, the NDP “gave out” 12.6% in the 1998 elections, while the party received only 5.01% in Ukraine.

At that time, Matviyenko, on Leonid Kuchma’s orders, supervised the alcohol mafia. Now the Vinnytsia region is famous for its sugar factories and a well-known confectionery factory, but few remember that in the 90s it was a Mecca for the production and illegal sale of alcohol. Matviyenko communicated with both the alcohol producers themselves and with their buyers. Kickbacks from the deals were put into a common fund for the upcoming presidential elections. After his appointment, Dombrovsky received a piece of work in this direction.

After a short time, Alexander Grigorievich became “one of their own” in the Vinnytsia elite. The mayor of Vinnytsia Dmitry Dvorkis came out in opposition to him. He wanted to pull the blanket of the alcohol mafia onto himself.

Dmitry Dvorkis

Dombrovsky and his influential friends conspired against Dvorkis, who, by the way, was supported by Kyiv in the person of the corrupt Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko. Oleksandr Grigorievich, in order to demonstrate his importance, headed the conspiracy. The confrontation reached its climax in 1999: Lazarenko was arrested, and unknown persons attempted to assassinate Dvorkis. He miraculously survived (he was saved by the Star of David, which he wore around his neck), but his driver was killed. According to Skeleton.Infothe shooter was a man from Vova Morda’s gang (Vladimir Didukh, a Lviv crime boss, sponsor of both Revolutions). But no evidence was ever found.

During this conflict, one name surfaced – Poroshenko. Young businessman Petro Poroshenko, who had already managed to acquire a mandate and join Leonid Kuchma’s retinue, was in a strained relationship with Dmytro Dvorkis. A coincidence? Hardly… In a few years, Didukh would become an assistant to deputy Poroshenko. Moreover, Dvorkis defected to the SDPU (o) faction to Petro Oleksiyovych’s sworn enemy – Viktor Medvedchuk.

And since we have already mentioned the President, it is worth telling what caused the interest of the Poroshenko family in Vinnytsia in those years. The fact is that Vinnytsia alcohol was produced not only from sugar, but also from such raw materials as sugar molasses (a by-product of sugar production – secondary raw materials). Its use significantly reduced the cost of “fire water”. By controlling sugar factories, one could make a fortune. Therefore, Oleksiy Poroshenko, the father of the Garant, asked his son to help the Vinnytsia elite, which was squeezing out the alcohol business. Dvorkis retired, the mafia submitted to new leaders, and a clan suddenly appeared in Vinnytsia. His father was Oleksandr Dombrovsky.

This coup gave a start to rapid success: in 2002, Dombrovskyi became the city mayor without much effort. In the elections, he beat his main opponent, Dmitry Dvorkis, who by that time had already worked as governor for 3 months, thanks to Medvedchuk’s easy help. More than 100 thousand Vinnytsia residents voted for Oleksandr Georgievich.

Alexander Dombrovsky. Land, construction and mafia

The mayor’s chair gave a colossal boost to Oleksandr Georgievich’s career as a manager and administrator, and it also opened up new brilliant horizons. In turn, Petro Poroshenko received the opportunity to control the Vinnytsia City Council.

The first thing Dombrovsky did in his new post was to return Dvorkis’ former deputy Andrey Reva to the city executive committee, who began to serve the Vinnytsia clan diligently and faithfully, and brought Vladimir Kistion from the provinces, placing him at the head of Vinnytsia Vodokanal.

Timofey Girenko, CEO of Concern Podolye

The newly-minted mayor tried his hand at construction. More precisely, at land grabbing, at the height of the real estate boom. Dombrovsky built up and sold off the land of a huge park at the city psychiatric hospital named after Yushchenko (fortunately, not the president, but the professor). His allies in such a sensitive matter were: the scandalous Vinnytsia “builder”, the general director of the Concern “Podolie” Timofey Girenko, and the president of the holding company Kyivmiskbud Volodymyr Polyachenko.

Dombrovsky and Girenko, according to the project, were building the residential microdistrict “Podillya”. The official initiator of the construction was Timofey Girenko, who had previously secured financial support from “Kievgorstroy” and the bank “Arkata”. Of course, such a project required land within the city. They received part of the land (32 hectares) from the “city”. Alexander Georgievich was able to facilitate this matter: everything went without an auction or competition. Then the businessmen leased (or, more precisely, took away) another 13 hectares of the park near the mental hospital.

President of the Kyivmiskbud holding Vladimir Polyachenko

After the construction of the first multi-storey buildings began on the territory, the land was privatized according to the well-trodden scheme. According to the law, the owner of the construction sites receives the right to privatize the plot. Of course, for a pittance. The Podolye concern freely appropriated 45 hectares. The city and the hospital lost huge chunks of land. Polyachenko paid for the entire scam.

Local media showed Vinnytsia residents a pretty picture. Girenko beat his chest and claimed that by implementing the residential area project, the city would receive more than 50 million hryvnias in investments in the form of schools, kindergartens, utilities, and roads. Moreover, by selling land at auction, some amount would still go to the budget, and with such a development of the situation, everything would go to a personal account. Moreover, Girenko’s benefactor, under the patronage of Oleksandr Dombrovsky, provided for the social sphere by selling apartments to people. And, indeed, the Podillya concern annually transferred 2% of the total area of ​​the constructed apartments to the city’s balance. Another question is who got these square meters. It is unlikely that it went to pensioners and the disabled.

The cost price of multi-storey buildings was $400 per square meter, while the builders sold apartments at $1,500 per square meter. It is clear that taxes did not play a role and did not spoil the beauty of the final figures. An interesting nuance is related to the prices of apartments in Podillya. According to the developer, the cost of housing includes the cost of building all utilities and roads. Therefore, the price was overstated by 20%. In fact, it turned out that apartment owners must install utilities themselves.

The mayor retained a 30% share in the project, Girenko also retained a 30% share, but Polyachenko wanted 40%.

Skeleton.Info calculated that 1 hectare of land in 2002 cost 6,000 dollars per hundred square meters. The stolen land could have brought 28 million dollars to Vinnytsia. And that was 1,000 apartments for city residents at the prices of that time. But Alexander Dombrovsky appropriated the land for his business project.

In this situation, Timofey Girenko was lucky: the project turned him from the owner of the old construction trust into the main developer of Vinnytsia. Now Alexander Georgievich did not need to show his name, Girenko did everything for him. Dombrovsky simply reaped the fruits. Sometimes he took apartments, sometimes shares in residential complexes and shopping centers. Quite quickly he turned into one of the richest people in Vinnytsia.

Alexander Dombrovsky. Second after the President. PART 1

The profitable construction business seriously captivated the newly-minted mayor. Dombrovsky unexpectedly decided to build a house for Vinnytsia military personnel. It would seem to be a good idea. To implement the project, he brought in his loyal friend and partner Timofey Girenko. With a 50/50 share, the businessmen launched the new building. Of course, nothing was officially registered to Alexander Georgievich. Only they built not a residential building there, but a shopping center called “Anastasia”. Girenko gave the complex the name in honor of his granddaughter Nastya. Moreover, this “inconsistency” never attracted the attention of the local authorities. The documentation was hidden under seven locks. And anyway, everyone in Vinnytsia knew who owned the shopping center.

The site of the Anastasia shopping center was supposed to be occupied by a military building

The Anastasia Center is 5 floors, 5 thousand square meters of retail space and 1.5 thousand square meters of entertainment space. Let’s calculate the rental cost at that time: 15 dollars per 1 square meter for stores and 10 dollars per 1 square meter of entertainment area = 100 thousand dollars per month.

Then Alexander Dombrovsky took on the reconstruction of the Vishenka municipal market. His partner, according to old tradition, was Timofey Girenko. However, this time he received a share of only 10%. Alexander Georgievich allocated money for the renovation of the retail space and pulled off a brilliant scheme. It should be noted that the funds were allocated incognito, from a “sponsor”. This “uncle” became the sole owner of the project. The city government turned a blind eye. After the reconstruction, it was possible to rent a kiosk at the Vishenka market at one single address – Pushkin, 10. It is noteworthy that Dombrovsky’s election headquarters, his office and a carp breeding club (the mayor’s favorite hobby) were located at this address.

Let’s calculate the mayor’s income again: the Vishenka market is 4.2 thousand meters of retail space; in 2003, rent per square meter cost 10 dollars; total – 42 thousand dollars per month.

At this time, Dombrovsky did not forget about his own education. In 2003, Oleksandr Georgievich graduated from the Institute of International Relations of the Kyiv National University, specializing in International Currency and Credit Relations. A year later, he defended his dissertation at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and received a PhD in Economics.

Glory did not take long to come. A year later, Alexander Dombrovsky became the winner of the “Person of the Year” competition in the “Mayor of the Year” nomination.

Know how to spin

In 2004, the presidential elections broke out. And here we must give credit to Oleksandr Georgievich for his ability to adapt. At the time of the elections, he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party and supported Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in the first round. There were rumors that he was going to head Yanukovych’s election headquarters, but his position did not allow it. The mayor of Vinnytsia openly said that only Viktor Fedorovych would bring stability to the country. At the same time, he maintained fairly friendly relations with “Our Ukraine”, or more precisely with “Solidarity” (a team of Vinnytsia businessmen led by Petro Poroshenko). When it became clear that the opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko was leading the race, Dombrovskyi radically changed his views. In the second round, he openly spoke out against the current government and supported Viktor Andreevich. And he even joined the Committee of National Salvation (at the all-Ukrainian level). It should be noted that there was another person in the city who stood up for “any friend”, this was the young politician Volodymyr Groysman. As a result, Vinnytsia was one of the first to recognize the legitimacy of President Yushchenko.

Such “diversified” views played to Oleksandr Georgievich’s advantage: on February 4, 2005, President Yushchenko appointed him governor of Vinnytsia Oblast. It should be noted that the head of the local headquarters of “Our Ukraine” Volodymyr Skomarovsky was a contender for this position.

Vladimir Skomarovsky

But Viktor Andreevich “believed” Dombrovsky, and gave Skomarovsky the position of head of the customs service.

However, few will remember that at the time when Viktor Andreyevich was handing out positions, a land scandal was brewing in Vinnytsia. The main person was the “faithful friend” of the Orange Revolution, Dombrovsky. The fact is that at that time a land auction was held in the city. The city authorities were selling land plots under the hammer left and right. They flew off the shelves like hot cakes, despite the fact that their price was frankly inflated. When the excitement and initial joy passed, the owners of the acquired land realized that they had been given a “pig in a poke”. They accused officials of deliberately concealing restrictions on the use of the plots.

To be more precise, the incident occurred with two plots of land – 6 and 5 acres, which were sold for 2 million hryvnia (approximately 200 thousand hryvnia per 1 are). It turned out that the first plot was already occupied by a market and a cafe, and the second one had construction restrictions that the buyers were not warned about during the auction. As a result, one of the owners refused to pay for the land, and the second one began negotiations with officials to evict the spontaneous traders.

The Vinnytsia public was upset by the price at which the land was sold. And the scheme looked simple: the city executive committee allocated plots of land to business entities for long-term lease, the lessee began construction, and then, within the framework of the law, privatized the land. It was also strange that tens of hectares of land were sold at the land auction, but the city received pennies for it. Where did the money go? The answer is obvious: thanks to corruption schemes – into the pockets of officials. All transactions and permits passed through them.

The city council even collected signatures for the mayor’s resignation, but Oleksandr Dombrovskyi skillfully jumped off. The governor’s seat was already waiting for him. The vacant mayor’s seat was given to 27-year-old Groysman, making him acting mayor.

From that moment on, the victorious five-year march of the official Dombrovsky began, who, using all his resources, robbed his fiefdom of 180 million dollars.

Arina Dmitrieva, for Skelet.Info

CONTINUATION: Dombrovsky Alexander. Second after the President. PART 2

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