Mikhail Beilin. “Looking after” from AP

If you look at the results, the “Revolution of Dignity,” like the “Orange Revolution” that preceded it, again turns into a triumph of madness over common sense. As in 2005, in 2014, in fact, there was an intra-elite coup with completely predictable consequences.

“Dignity” was overcome in a revolutionary and violent way, while fully maintaining the structure of the political system and decision-making mechanisms, where the corruption component plays one of the main roles.

The fact is that the orientation of the elites, their internal dynamics and identity, formed during the period of initial accumulation of capital, that is, in the dashing 90s, are difficult to change. Only the form changes, while the internal content remains the same. Hence the characteristic style and methods of management, which differ little from the management of their “predecessors”.

In this context, the story of Mikhail Mikhailovich (Markovich) Beilin is quite indicative. When studying this character, the first thing that attracts attention is the rather small amount of information in open sources. In most media reports, Mikhail Beilin is positioned as a lawyer and restaurateur, freelance adviser to the head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine, Boris Lozhkin (Read more about Boris Lozhkin in the article – Boris Lozhkin. How to deceive the state for $160 million and become the head of the APU). Meanwhile, the scope of his interests is much wider, although it is mentioned much less often: head of the advertising company “Promotion Technologies”, vice-president of the All-Ukrainian Advertising Association, member of the Council of Entrepreneurs at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, member of the board of the International Association of Marketing Initiatives, head of the collection company “Ukrborg” ” There is also little information about Beilin’s political preferences. Here the information is limited to his participation in the 2014 parliamentary elections, in which he was number 83 on the list of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

Reviews of Mikhail Beilin’s work at Promotion Technologies

Of particular interest is Mikhail Beilin’s connection with the Asters Law Firm (until 2008 it was called Shevchenko, Didkovsky and Partners Law Firm), where our hero worked as a consultant on enterprise efficiency. Among the founders of the company is ex-Minister of Ecology Igor Shevchenko, who was repeatedly accused of corruption and dismissed from his post by the Verkhovna Rada at the urgent request of the “People’s Front” and the “Radical Party”, naturally pursuing their own interests.

Asters provided services to Sberbank of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) in connection with a $700 million loan to Metinvest of Rinat Akhmetov, Mriya agricultural holding, whose financial advisor was Rothschild representative Giovanni Salvetti, Mironovsky Hliboproduct, owned by Advisor to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko Yuri Kosyuk (Read more about Yuri Kosyuk in the article – Yuri Kosyuk – “Chicken God” and friend of all Presidents), the Slovak gas transmission system operator – Eustream, as – on legal issues related to reverse gas supplies to Ukraine from Slovakia and the subsequent preparation of transaction documents signed by the Slovak company with PJSC Ukrtransgaz and NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine.

It is noteworthy that the former co-owners of the Mriya agricultural holding are being investigated by the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on charges of fraud that caused damage to creditors (FUIB) in the amount of $1.3 billion. How it happened that a “reputable” legal company provided consulting services to scammers remains a mystery.

It is also necessary to remember that the partner of the Law Firm “Shevchenko, Didkovsky and Partners” was Irina Nazarova, who filed a lawsuit against the privatization of Krivorozhstal in 2005, having, according to various sources, one share in her hands. That is, it was used as a “crowbar” in the fight against Victor Pinchuk (Read more about him in the article Victor Pinchuk: the richest son-in-law in Ukraine). Subsequently, she became an assistant to the head of the State Property Fund Valentina Semenyuk, now deceased. Moreover, the deceased was clearly due to the events of that time, since the plant miraculously came into the possession of Lakshmi Mittal (Read more about Valentina Semenyuk-Samsonenko in the article – “Fatal” Turboatom: what secrets brought Semenyuk-Samsonenko to the grave).

According to media reports, Mikhail Beilin is “looking after” the Ministry of Infrastructure, headed by Andrei Pivovarsky (Read more about Andrey Pivovarsky in the article – Andrey Pivovarsky. Minister of Infrastructure Collapse). Such allegations are not groundless, given that before the late Igor Eremeev went to work for the Continuum group of companies in 2012, Andrei Pivovarsky was the head of the investment banking division of the investment company Dragon Capital. During his time at the company, Pivovarsky conducted several IPOs of Ukrainian assets. These include placement of shares in Davento (development division, Velyka Kyshenya), Furshet, KP Media and Clubhouse (operator of a hotel chain).

Andrey Pivovarsky

At the same time, the law firm Asters not only actively collaborated with Dragon Capital, but also provided advice to the State Agency of Highways of Ukraine in connection with the private placement of domestic bonds in the amount of 14 billion hryvnia (approximately 1.75 billion US dollars), and according to the law, Ukravtodor is subordinate to the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Among politicians representing pro-presidential forces, it is commonplace to make statements regarding the inadmissibility of appointing “our own” people to the management of state-owned enterprises, regardless of political affiliation, since this contradicts the “general” course of the guarantor to fight corruption. However, the sincerity of such statements, like the entire “line of struggle,” is at least questionable.

At least the facts suggest otherwise. Thus, in February 2015, Evgeniy Khoroshchak, who had previously worked as an advisor at Dragon Capital, was appointed acting head of the State Enterprise Ukrzalinychpostach. This state-owned enterprise is part of the management sphere of Ukrzaliznytsia, which, in turn, is a structural division of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, headed by Pivovarsky, a native of Dragon Capital. As Khoroshchak himself stated, Mikhail Beilin recommended him for this position, setting the task of radically reforming the enterprise.

The “reform” ended in December 2015, after a series of high-profile revelations and accusations of corruption. For example, violations were identified during tenders for the purchase of fastenings for rails, where the overpayment amounted to 7 million hryvnia. Some time later, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Valery Voshchevsky (Read more about Valery Voshchevsky in the article – Voshchevsky. Non-radical radical) accused Khoroshchak of violating fuel purchases, which nearly paralyzed traffic on all six railways.

Alexander Zavgorodniy, who decided to develop the “family” business at the expense of the state and for this reason was repeatedly exposed in corruption scandals, also told reporters about Beilin’s participation in his appointment to the position of acting Ukrzaliznytsia.

Another reason for Beilin’s suspicions of shadow management and lobbying was the story of voting for the draft law “On the restructuring of obligations on loans in foreign currency.”

Let us remind you that according to the bill, loan debt is converted at the official rate of the National Bank of Ukraine at the time of concluding the loan agreement, and the exchange rate difference is written off by banks. In this case, all consumer loans received for the purchase of any property are subject to restructuring, without limiting the amount of debt. The bill was adopted in the third reading on July 2, 2015, with 229 votes in favor.

According to experts, collectors who bought problem loans at a huge discount in 2009-2013 are primarily interested in the adoption of this law. If the principal amount of the loan and the interest on it are recalculated at the old rate, then borrowers will rush to repay the debt not to banks, but to collection companies. One of the largest such companies is Ukrborg, where Mikhail Beilin worked, and the main beneficiary of which is none other than the managing partner of the same Asters Law Firm, Alexey Didkovsky.

Alexey Didkovsky

Reviews about the work of the company “Ukrborg”

The voting of members of the BPP for this bill caused the indignation of the former head of the SBU Valentin Nalyvaichenko (Read more about Valentin Nalyvaichenko in the article – Valentin Nalyvaichenko. Spy, diplomat and corrupt official). “There is a resumption of cynical and brazen corruption in parliament. I have a question for Lutsenko (Read more about Yuriy Lutsenko in the article – Yuriy Lutsenko. “Terminator” of Ukrainian politics). How did he get a “supervisor” in his faction? This “supervisor” intimidates deputies and puts pressure on them when voting on any issues!” Nalyvaichenko said, clearly hinting at Beilin.

Meanwhile, the “looker” knows how not only to “pressure” and “intimidate,” but also, using Nalyvaichenko’s jargon, who needs to be “warmed up.” The amount of “warmth” is determined by the position held, as evidenced by the “black accounting” that has become public knowledge, which lists additional payments to officials and even the minister in US dollars.

From the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. Judging by the reviews of the companies headed by Mikhail Beilin, his effectiveness as a leader raises questions. At the same time, his ambition, liveliness of character and ability to make connections allowed him to achieve patronage in the highest echelons of the Ukrainian government.

2. Of greatest interest is Beilin’s positioning as a lawyer for Asters. The company’s areas of interest and consulting services provided by its employees to ministries and departments, large businesses, including business partners of Petro Poroshenko, international financial institutions, give reason to speak about the high degree of awareness of Mikhail Beilin and access to information of an exclusive nature, which explains the interest in him from the APU.

3. A set of certain qualities and a high level of awareness make it possible to use Mikhail Beilin both as a communicator with representatives of financial industrial groups and to carry out secret supervision over the work of certain ministries and departments. As for dialogue with representatives of big business and political forces, the “legend” of a successful restaurateur creates a favorable atmosphere for informal contacts.

Kasym Jumasov, for SKELET-info