Konstantin Kagalovsky

The founder of the TVi channel, Konstantin Kagalovsky, asks the country’s leadership to investigate the raider takeover

To the President of Ukraine Poroshenko P.A.

To the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yatsenyuk A.P.
Dear Petr Alekseevich,
Dear Arseny Petrovich!
I follow with great interest the development of political life in Ukraine. I congratulate you on the successfully held parliamentary elections. I sincerely hope for the creation of an effective parliamentary coalition capable of ensuring the rapid implementation of much-needed reforms in your country and creating the basis for the long-term democratic and economically successful development of the country.
Slightly taking advantage of our close acquaintance, which at certain stages, as it seemed to me, even turned into personal friendship, I would like to address you both with this letter. We are talking about the well-known story of the raider takeover of my TVi channel, the use of funds from the state company Energoatom for this purpose and the subsequent laundering of money criminally seized from the state outside Ukraine. The organized criminal group included, as you well know, high-ranking officials of the Yanukovych regime, now hiding in Moscow, as well as former and current members of Parliament, still in Kyiv.
The London office of “Bryan Cave” has already addressed you, Arseniy Petrovich, as the Prime Minister of Ukraine with a letter on this matter on April 17 of this year. Without waiting for an answer, they turned to you, Pyotr Alekseevich, as the newly elected President of Ukraine. The last letter was sent through the Ukrainian Embassy in London on June 24. /Copies of letters are attached./
These letters contain a request to investigate criminal offenses committed on the territory of Ukraine by an organized group of individuals, including Zhvania, Knyazhitsky and others. They also contained questions about the role of the state company Energoatom in this story. Their accomplice, Altman, was smart enough to pay in the UK for the services of the companies to which the stolen property was re-registered, using money received from Energoatom. However, Altman’s intellectual and organizational contribution, even without considering the entire case on its merits, was already assessed by the English court as one and a half years in prison. When it comes to crimes related to money laundering and criminal actions are carried out in a coordinated manner, as a rule, on the territory of several states, EU member states and the United States are accustomed to the fact that other civilized countries, for example, Switzerland, cooperate with them. Therefore, such an appeal to the new leadership of Ukraine is unlikely to surprise you. The former President of Ukraine, now a worker in Moscow and the Moscow region, was not approached with such requests.
The poor fellows never received an answer to either their first letter, dated April 17, or their second, dated June 24.
Nevertheless, in the second letter dated June 24 addressed to the President of Ukraine, “Brian Cave”, with the politeness characteristic of the British, expressed “hope and confidence” /I quote literally/,
that the investigation of crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine is in full swing.
Since this concerns the TV channel, I did not want to raise this issue before the parliamentary elections. I didn’t want anyone to think that at this very time I wanted to return the TV channel stolen from me in order to use it during the election campaign in the interests of one or another political force.
Now that the elections are over, it’s time to return to this issue. I, too, as a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the politeness characteristic of us, the British, express the hope and confidence that the mentioned letters did not reach either you, Pyotr Alekseevich, or you, Arseniy Petrovich, due to insufficiently effective work at the time of your device. I remember how, after Yanukovych fled, everything had to be created literally from scratch.
That is why I took the liberty to write to you directly. And since you are “advanced” people, that is, modern and intelligent, contacting via Facebook seems to me the most convenient way of communication. Although not completely bureaucratic.
To amuse you a little, regarding various types of communications, I will give an example from the modern history of Ukraine. The twice-unconvicted professor did not read Facebook, but he did not always receive letters by mail on time. I remember that he was once planning a visit to America, and a group of journalists decided to send him a letter. In order not to wait until he returned home, and until they reported to him, they found a simpler solution. This letter was published in the Washington Post. And the American staff at the hotel is good-natured and attentive. It is unlikely that they understood what was written there. Most likely they only understood that it was something about Ukraine. And this newspaper with a letter was placed free of charge in front of the door to the room of each member of the Ukrainian delegation. Even to the professor himself personally.
I have a simple question for both of you! How will we continue to live?
You both know this story too well, all its ins and outs, sometimes even down to the smallest details. And you know the people involved very well. And those who fled to Moscow, and those who are sitting in Kyiv. This topic, unlike pregnancy, which, they say, sometimes resolves in the ninth month, will not resolve on its own.
What do I expect from you, as from the leaders of the Ukrainian state? Just meet our English friends from “Bryan Cave” and give strict instructions to the relevant law enforcement agencies to conduct and complete a criminal investigation into the facts of raider seizure and theft of my TV channel, related facts of fraud and forgery of documents, bribery and
corruption in the state company Energatom and subsequent laundering of criminally obtained money outside Ukraine.
I would ask you, Pyotr Alekseevich, as the President of Ukraine, to take the investigation under personal control.
I am confident that law enforcement agencies are able to conduct this investigation quickly and effectively. Especially if they feel that their bosses really want it. I know many people in Kyiv who are very happy to share information with them on this matter. I know many who will be forced to share, although perhaps without much pleasure.
This whole story is an open secret. Even “Bryan Cave” refers to email correspondence between criminals, including those who wore a deputy badge at the time. As the old proverb goes today: “There is nothing secret that will not become obvious over time, especially if it was sent by email.”
As for Energoatom, it looks very surprising, and especially from abroad, that while in other major state-owned companies – Naftogaz and Ukrzaliznytsia – facts of embezzlement and corruption amounting to billions of dollars were revealed, in the state energy company “honey and chocolate.” Perhaps this is due to the fact that those “overseeing” Energoatom, appointed by the former president and his henchmen, were engaged in developing production there and increasing labor productivity?
The institution of “watchers”, since they were usually not officials, at most they were deputies, does not fall under the lustration law. But it seems to me that this is not a tragedy. After all, they are subject to criminal law. And no one has yet adopted the law on amnesty for criminal offenses committed during the “old regime”.
Moreover, it seems to me that it would not be harmful to remind some of your possible comrades and coalition partners that if they are going to continue to maintain the institution of “watchers” in Ukraine, then Western economic assistance to your country will be out of sight. Times have changed. 20-30 years ago they still said in Washington: “Son of a bitch, but this is our son of a bitch! He will have to help.” Now everything is different. Providing economic aid to corrupt regimes is considered not only economically senseless, but also immoral. In Ukraine, few people adequately understand the role of the moral factor in modern international life. Now she’s finally lucky. Both the President and the Prime Minister, at certain stages of their careers, and this was not so long ago, headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So you understand well what I mean.
The only problem that remained for international financial institutions was how to measure corruption. How specifically, on the basis of what indicators, should the country formulate the task of combating corruption and how to then evaluate its implementation.
A practical solution to this problem has now matured. In countries where corruption has macroeconomic proportions, it is easy to calculate its impact on the expenditure and revenue sides of the budget. I think both the presidential administration and the government apparatus will prepare such a certificate for you within a day.
Well, we, I mean the world community, will make every effort so that even such an inert organization as the International Monetary Fund, at the next meeting with Ukrainian colleagues, sets specific goals to reduce budget expenses and increase revenues due to that very “corruption component” as a “prior action” to receive the next tranche.
Looking at the new composition of the parliament, despite all its shortcomings, I note with satisfaction that young and new people are coming. I hope that they will form the basis of those who will drive all this corrupt scum out of Ukrainian politics with a filthy broom. They are now laughing at Musfafa Nayem, who frankly said that it is difficult to live in Kyiv on a deputy’s salary if you do not have illegal income. In my opinion, they are laughing in vain. Mustafa is a very, very intelligent person. I don’t have enough political experience yet, that’s true. But he, like many other young politicians, will quickly master this science. Tea is not a Newton binomial. And tomorrow Mustafa will start saying that it’s not about the salary, although, of course, it needs to be increased a little. But that’s not the main thing. The main thing is to abolish parliamentary immunity so that the thieves and corrupt officials who infiltrated parliament cannot steal and hide behind parliamentary immunity. If these two issues are correctly linked, it is not difficult to obtain active support of public opinion for the abolition of immunity and condescending approval for increasing deputy salaries.
If we don’t start eliminating the macroeconomic corruption component now, then tomorrow another young politician will address people in his program with simple theses: “I will increase social spending by so much, including pensions by so much, medicine by so much, and I will also increase the salaries of our valiant police, etc. etc.” The reaction of the electorate / in terms of the politically deceased Yanukovych – biomass, and in human language – ordinary people / is understandable: “You’re lying, dog! We’ve heard it before. There are many of you who promise!” But when they hear in response: “No, I’m not lying. Look! This is how much is stolen from us under this budget item, then attached is a breakdown of expenses within the item in accordance with the budget classification, as well as a list of “watchers” and other crooks who feed from this item. So much for this article, so much for this one… But so much is “stolen of our honor” to finance the current activities and upcoming elections of such and such a party. By the way, so much reaches the party, but along the way so much ends up in such and such a place. But we can get so much additional income if we stop theft at customs / broken down by customs, product groups, actors, etc. / So, taking into account my proposed reduction in expenses and increase in income, I receive additional resources in the amount of half today’s budget of the country!” Then, purely hypothetically, an interesting electoral turnaround is possible. But, as they said in the famous Soviet film “The Diamond Arm”, when the issue of methods for removing plaster was discussed, I hope that it will not come to this.
It will not come to pass, since the need to receive foreign economic assistance will not allow any Ukrainian government to ignore the point of view of the world community and international financial organizations. If you don’t do it today, someone else will do it tomorrow. Taking into account my personal sympathy for you, Pyotr Alekseevich, and for you, Arseny Petrovich, “I would like it to be you who did this.” /The chained phrase is taken from another classic Soviet film – Prisoner of the Caucasus./ Then you and your coalition will forever remain in the history of Ukraine.
Returning to Energoatom and my TV channel. Zhvania, watching on “Energoatom” from Yanukovych, as I heard, let his colleagues down in the elections and even flew over his constituency like plywood over the French capital. I heard that he let his colleagues down by making various promises to them during the election campaign and did not fulfill them. I have a strong suspicion that he did not coordinate these promises with the leadership of his political force. And no one except him is responsible for unfulfilled promises.
Although someone told me that this kind of political material does not sink, I am somehow uneasy about it. If they ask him to pay for unfulfilled promises, he may leave a wet spot.
In the TVi case and, possibly, other Energoatom cases, Zhvania is not only a criminal. He is a valuable witness. It is impossible to lose such a valuable witness. I would suggest that law enforcement agencies investigate him and begin without delay.
By the way, I recently found out. This turns out to be the swindler who stole money from the late Berezovsky back in 2004. Boris told me about this then, but I didn’t remember his last name. There are so many crooks, can you even remember all of them, the “goats”!
If I can help you with anything or just want to see you, my mobile phone number has not changed. I will be glad to fly to Kyiv or meet at my place in London or at my dacha on the Cote d’Azur. If it’s with me, then I guarantee a delicious dinner with good wine, and if it’s in Kyiv, then I won’t refuse your invitation.
I wish you success!
Konstantin Kagalovsky.
November 7, 2014.
Stanley House, 550 King’s Road,
SW10 0UA London, UK