Alexander Klimenko. He flew away but really wants to come back

Almost two years have passed since Alexander Viktorovich Klimenko, the former purse of the Yanukovych “Family”, the former “young oligarch” and the former creator and first head of the fiscal monster called the Ministry of Revenue and Duties of Ukraine, fled from Ukraine. He spent only about three years in this extremely lucrative position, but apparently, the money he “earned” was enough not only for a comfortable life in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), but also for a huge PR campaign to clear his name, which he has launched recently. Let’s remember who this young man was, who quickly entered the Ukrainian establishment and just as quickly left it.

Let’s start from the end

Let’s start with his latest steps in the public and media space of Ukraine, and only then consider his work biography. Alexander Viktorovich burst into the media space about three months ago. It was then that he posted his first video on YouTube called “Match for Ukraine.” In it, Klymenko, who had grown a beard, tried to surprise all Ukrainians with a banality about stones from the book of Ecclesiastes and called for peace.

Next came a video called “Reconciliation.” In it, Alexander Klimenko showed his shameful flight from Ukraine. And then he drank tea and coffee with a Donetsk border guard, apparently the same one who tried to detain him. Here he said another banality: “who else if not us.” Well, apparently, in Aesopian language, he said that he forgives everyone in Ukraine. It turns out that he is such a “generous” guy.

Then there was the “Frank Conversation” video, where Klimenko treated an average family to food and honestly admitted that he had two tigers, that being a rich man is not a crime. And he never said why he fled from Ukraine, answering a question in the spirit of “What would you do in my place?”

Already on the fourth video, Alexander Viktorovich boasted that he knew how to use a pen. And he opaquely hinted that he would return to Ukraine in order to fight the oligarchs with the help of this pen. At the same time, with the help of a squad of soldiers and a box with a Ukrainian flag, he emphasized the power of himself and his pen.

But apparently it had no effect on anyone. And then Klimenko decided to threaten Ukraine with court. A special video was made for this. He didn’t scare anyone by going to court, but the former taxman’s “Achilles heel” became clear. Apparently, he is very upset that he is not allowed into the countries of the European Union, or into the civilized world in general. This is really quite unpleasant – you have a lot of money, but you can’t go anywhere.

And in addition, Alexander Klimenko held a number of press conferences and gave comments to the media, in which he condescendingly taught the authorities how to rule, and the Ukrainians how to live. He helped financially the residents of Donbass. He conducted surveys on social networks, the result of which was the alleged complete distrust of Ukrainians in the authorities and their lack of freedom and prosperity. And he even published a book called “The Path to Success,” which can be ordered for free on his website. Moscow polytechnologists made good money from this creativity of his. According to knowledgeable people, this is the Gleb Pavlovsky Foundation for Effective Politics; according to another version, this campaign is being led by Igor Bunin’s Center for Political Technologies. In any case, these are Moscow political strategists, since a complete lack of understanding of the Ukrainian political field is striking. Apparently, the Ukrainian resources that post these videos are also making good money from this. Among them are a number of fairly respected publications, namely: Korrespondent, 112, Glavkom, Podrobnosti, Bigmir, Ukrainian News, Apostrophe, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Vesti and others. These publications, if not in a complimentary, then at least in a neutral manner, talked about the videos and showed them. Almost the same text everywhere, the same photographs everywhere. What conclusions can be drawn from these videos, other than that Klimenko is a bad actor? There is only one conclusion – he really wants to come back! And this is quite possible. He has every chance of being elected as a people’s deputy in the possible upcoming elections. And since the new government did not fulfill its promise and did not lift parliamentary immunity, no security forces will be able to do anything to him. So maybe he doesn’t need to do anything? Maybe he really is a good guy who wants to return to his country and work for its good? In order to answer these questions, we need to make a short excursion into his biography.

Klimenko brothers

Alexander Viktorovich’s registration is “correct” for the times of Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency: he was born in the city of Makeevka, Donetsk region. Until 2005, he did not even think about public service. He had several companies whose names included the word “Antalex”. It was formed from the initial letters of the names of his brother ANTON Klimenko and his name ALEXANDER Klimenko. The companies were engaged in various activities, for example, they sold products from the Zhidachevsky pulp and paper mill, as well as everything related to corrugated cardboard and packaging. Their companies did not stand out in any way at that time; they gradually evaded taxes, worked a little on kickbacks, nothing particularly criminal. However, the brothers were not satisfied with the modest path of businessmen; they actively got involved in politics. The eldest, Anton changed several political forces. He was an activist of the Party of Socialists of Alexander Moroz, created the Donetsk network of Mikhail Brodsky’s Yabloko. The younger one immediately moved into civil service. In 2005 he became deputy head of the specialized tax inspectorate of Donetsk. How did he get there, and even immediately into a leadership position? This is Donbass, where such positions were simply bought in those days.

Tandem

And here the brothers went wild, they turned out to be an excellent business tandem. Alexander, using his position, ensured winnings in tenders, and Anton spent this money. To do this, I had to open a number of more companies, but it was worth it. The brothers spent almost half a billion hryvnia on the repair of Trypillya Thermal Power Plant, and 855 million hryvnia were spent on contracts with Donbasenergo and Centrenergo. The business grew by leaps and bounds, but then the brothers almost made a political mistake. This was in the wake of the Orange Revolution. Viktor Yushchenko had already come to power, and the fate of his rival Viktor Yanukovych seemed predetermined. And the older brother defected to the orange camp, becoming the head of the Donetsk “branch” of Our Ukraine. For some time the brothers stood under orange flags, but quickly realized the futility of this political project. And they switched sides again, now to the Party of Regions. There are rumors that Anton Klimenko, having already defected, remained in the position of head of the regional NUNS. And by agreement with Boris Kolesnikov “leaked” the election campaign. Our Ukraine then, in November 2010, as the party in power, set an anti-record in the Donetsk region, receiving 1.5% of the vote in local elections. The award immediately found a hero, and already in December of the same year, Alexander Klimenko became chairman of the State Tax Administration of the Donetsk region. As for work in his specialty, Klimenko was more remembered for his matinees for children and open lessons in schools, which he attended himself or sent his deputies to tell children about the benefits of taxes.

For promotion to Kyiv

In 2010, Viktor Yanukovych became the president of Ukraine, and the Donetsk people followed him to Kyiv. At first, Viktor Fedorovich paid off positions with his associates. But over time, or rather since 2011, his son Alexander Yanukovych began to take over the power. Back then, the new appointees associated with him and personally responsible to him were called “The Family.” However, it was still small at that time; there was a catastrophic shortage of personnel. And the positions had to be “filled”, since other, “old” Donetsk people, that is, people from the teams of Rinat Akhmetov and Dmitry Firtash, were applying for them. Naturally, Yanukovych Jr. was familiar with Klimenko. The backbone of his company “Mako” was located in the Donetsk region, so “Sasha the Dentist” had a fairly close friendship with the main tax officer of the Donetsk region. He brought Alexander Viktorovich to the then head of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine Vitaly Zakharchenko and Klimenko became his deputy, this was in February 2011. And already in November of the same year, Zakharchenko headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Alexander Klimenko took his position, heading the State Tax Administration. Simultaneously with his move to Kyiv, his business was also moved there. Only the name “Antalex” was changed to “Unison”; the head of the business remained his brother, Anton Klimenko, already mentioned above. And, of course, the new position provided new opportunities. For example, Unison Bank won fat clients such as the Lviv Railway and the Odessa Railway. The insurance company Unison-Garant received Victor Pinchuk as a client of Interpipe (Read more about him in the article Victor Pinchuk: the richest son-in-law in Ukraine), “Nadra of Ukraine”, concern “Avek” and Yasinovsky Kosokhim. In general, business was booming.

Personal life and craving for luxury

At the same time, Alexander Viktorovich’s personal life was literally “seething.” He has a wife, Elena, who, by the way, is a co-owner of several of his companies, and three children. But he also has a “common-law wife” – this is his press secretary, whose name is Olga Semchenko. In his love relationships, everything is very complicated, despite the presence of a younger and more beautiful mistress, he took his family to Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). And he left his mistress in Ukraine and promoted him to the position of head of the Vesti media holding. She still works in this position. By the way, judging by her Facebook page, she has a son, whose name is Sasha.

Alexander Klimenko’s second passion is a passion for luxury. As soon as he appeared as the head of the State Tax Administration, he “showed off” a watch for 12 thousand euros; a year later he “showed up” a watch for 41 thousand euros. Arriving at the Tax Office, he began to equip the “general’s” floor, where there was a sauna, a gym, luxurious relaxation rooms and even a small boxing ring. Here a room was built from soundproofing steel with a transparent table, this can also be called luxury, but it can also be called paranoia. In the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky district of the Kyiv region, Klimenko didn’t even have a dacha, it could be called more of an estate – several houses, his own concert hall with expensive equipment, enclosures with tigers and bears. Well, everything is decorated, naturally, in the style of Mezhyhirya, that is, “richly.”

Fiscal monster

In December 2012, on the initiative of Alexander Klimenko and with the massive support of Alexander Yanukovych, the Ministry of Revenue and Duties was created, which combined tax and customs. Alexander Viktorovich became the man in whose hands all the country’s fiscal flows were concentrated. This is where the aforementioned room with a transparent table came in handy. According to the most conservative estimates, Klimenko stole 11 billion dollars in this position! The sum is truly fantastic. The “scam of the century” involved about 100-120 shell companies that diverted money from government accounts and from the accounts of companies that participated in tax “schemes” to offshore companies. Alexander Viktorovich lists among his achievements the creation of a specialized office for working with large taxpayers. Were the clients of this office gathering for the already mentioned clear salt? In addition, Alexander Klimenko, while still in the position of minister, periodically reported on record VAT refunds to entrepreneurs. True, they did not compensate everyone, but only their own people or those who “brought in.” For example, the companies of current President Petro Poroshenko were reimbursed for VAT only after he became Minister of Economy in the government of Mykola Azarov. And Yuri Kosyuk http://skelet.info/yurij-kosyuk-kurinyj-bog-i-drug-vsex-prezidentov/ was reimbursed only after Euromaidan. And in general, strangulation in the arms of the tax service and the squeeze-out of businesses with its help has become, if not a normal phenomenon, then at least a harsh reality in Ukraine. And this, by the way, was one of the reasons for Euromaidan and its support by businessmen.

Sins before Euromaidan

Yes, Alexander Klimenko did not personally give orders for the beating of students and the execution of the Heavenly Hundred. Nevertheless, he has “sins” before the people of Ukraine, and not small ones. During Euromaidan, the tax service was actively used as a repressive instrument. Suffice it to recall the tax raids on Espresso TV and Hromadske Radio. Fiscal authorities also tried to put pressure on businessmen who gave money and food for the Maidan. And in addition, Alexander Viktorovich had his own media holding “Multimedia-Invest”, which included the Vesti newspaper, Vesti radio, UBR TV channel and Reporter magazine. All these media resources cruelly lied about Euromaidan and its participants, engaged in black PR and manipulation. They also played a role during the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbass. Being aimed at the Russian-speaking consumer of information, they created the necessary information background for the Russian invasion. Which is indirectly proven by the fact that Alexander Klimenko personally financed separatists in the East of Ukraine. And the SBU stated several times that the riots in Odessa were financed by Klimenko and Arbuzov, so the blood of those killed in the House of Trade Unions is on their hands. By the way, today his media continue to manipulate public opinion and, apparently, are still controlled by Alexander Klimenko. Although, according to some reports, he “leased” them to people from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

Why does he need Ukraine?

Why is Alexander Klimenko so eager to return to Ukraine? This is easy to understand by comparing some facts. At the end of April 2015, his already mentioned brother, Anton Klimenko, died. According to one version, he drowned, according to another, he unsuccessfully jumped into the pool. He was not under investigation and could quite easily be in Ukraine and “steer” the business. Immediately after his death, the younger brother began to become active and try his best to return to the country. Apparently, there is no one to manage the business, and there is a threat that after a while government officials will take it away. Aleksandr Viktorovich understands this very well. And the assets are considerable. In addition to the already mentioned media holding, according to some sources, he still owns: Mikhailovsky Bank, Unison Bank and Unison Insurance, which are alive and well. According to Sergei Leshchenko, he also owns a share in the Gulliver shopping and entertainment center. And that’s just what’s visible. So he has something to lose in Ukraine.

Denis Ivanov, for SKELET-info