As we already wrote, Mykola Yanovich Azarov was one of the key players in politics under Leonid Kuchma. He completed many delicate tasks for his boss – from “bending over” district-level leaders to correctly vote for Kuchma as president, to personally monitoring the transfer of money to Vladimir Putin (*criminal) for the election campaign. And, apparently, ready to do anything for the sake of his boss, he vegetated in the not very high position of head of the Tax Administration of Ukraine. He was not destined for any promotions, at least nothing indicated this until fate threw the then Governor of Donetsk, Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovych, onto the Olympus of power.
READ PART ONE: Mykola Azarov. Survivor. Part 1
Under Yanukovych as Prime Minister
There was a story in the Presidential Administration that Viktor Yanukovych owed his appointment to the carelessness of Viktor Medvedchuk, the then head of the presidential chancellery, who, while leafing through Viktor Fedorovich’s file, did not look at the “criminal record” column. Be that as it may, President Kuchma, who created various systems of checks and balances throughout his two terms of office, would, in any case, give the post of prime minister to the “Donetsk people.” They just gained such financial and political weight that allowed them to apply for the second position in the country. But, whatever one may say, they still remained a rather regional elite, and their bench was very short. And they didn’t even have a specialist who understood finance at the state level. This is where Nikolai Yanovich remembered his Donetsk origin. Theoretically, he belonged to the Donetsk team. He was the same for both Kuchma and the “Kyiv” clan, which was led by Medvedchuk. So everyone recommended him, from the Patriarchs of Donbass, such as Efim Zvyagilsky or Vladimir Rybak, to the President. In the end, he was nominated to the government by the pro-Kuchma majority in the Verkhovna Rada. Yanukovych, who in any case had the last word, although he was wary of his new subordinate, but, let’s say, he was forced not to object. So Nikolai Yanovich became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
However, Viktor Fedorovich strained in vain – his and Nikolai Yanovich’s goals in the government did not intersect. The first was preparing for the presidential elections, and the second was dealing with the country’s finances. Although there were still some frictions. Azarov, who had previously been strangling business with taxes for six years, suddenly began pushing for a new, rather liberal Tax Code. For example, the VAT rate in the new edition was reduced to 17%, and they said that this was not the limit. The released economy immediately showed growth of about 12% and Mykola Azarov recorded this as an asset. True, this growth did not in any way affect social policy, which irritated Yanukovych; he needed state employees and pensioners. The second pillar of economic development during the time of Nikolai Yanovich was his good relations with Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). He lobbied hard for joining the SES, and in response, loans and investments came from his northern neighbor. At some point, this caused outrage among the Cabinet’s “European integrators” Valery Khoroshkovsky and Inna Bogoslovskaya, and they resigned. They presented it loudly, with incriminating press conferences and other accompanying PR. This was the last straw that broke the Prime Minister’s patience. They say that he summoned Azarov and offered to voluntarily resign and lead the faction of the Regions of Ukraine in the next parliament. Azarov harshly rejected this proposal. Well, then he could afford it. He had a powerful political force – the Party of Regions. Even though Yanukovych was elected its chairman in 2003, Azarov remained the head of the political council and then had enormous influence on fellow party members.
By the way, one of the founders of the Party of Regions was the current President Petro Poroshenko:
He also had a personal faction in parliament, which, paradoxically, was called the European Choice. In the end, he had the support of the then all-powerful Leonid Danilovich. So we can say that he was, of course, not the first person in the Cabinet of Ministers then, but not the second either. And at least Prime Minister Yanukovych, who had not lost the touching touch of provincial spontaneity in those years, was not his decree. However, he also made concessions to Yanukovych – pensions and salaries for public sector employees were significantly increased on the eve of the 2004 presidential elections. This is the picture that emerged for the 2004 presidential elections. But it cannot be called complete without remembering one more character – it was during these years that Alexey Azarov first appeared in the business and political beau monde of Ukraine.
Son
Alexey Nikolaevich Azarov is the only son of Nikolai Yanovich. And his father, apparently, loves him very much, since he gave the guy a “happy childhood.” Azarov Jr., while still a student at the Academy of Foreign Trade, went on a foreign “tour” for diplomatic work. He worked at the Ukrainian embassies in Finland and Sweden, at the UN mission and at the trade mission in Switzerland. In 2002, when his dad received an office on Grushevsky Street, he became an adviser to the prime minister on a voluntary basis, that is, he entered the nomenklatura of the executive branch. And besides, he went into business, which became the basis of the wealth of the Azarov family.
Alexey Azarov
Apparently, Nikolai Yanovich is tired of begging for bonuses from presidents and depending on someone. Fortunately, my son grew up and was able to start a business, or rather a series of businesses. And these businesses continue to operate to this day, as we have already written about (Azarov’s son wants to build a legendary stadium). Just in 2004, he privatized approximately one and a half thousand square meters on Shelkovichnaya Street 7-a. His companies were located there, which were engaged in a wide variety of businesses, including advertising and modeling agencies, real estate, and retail. In fact, the scheme that was carried out by the son of Nikolai Yanovich and his partner Viktor Ivchenko, the husband of Vera Ulyanchenko, is very simple (Read more about Vera Ulyanchenko in the article Ulyanchenko – “Baba Vera”: Komsomol member, thief and “mommy” of the President). With the help of my father’s administrative resources, a hit was carried out on some businessman. He went to the company of Azarov Jr. The issue of the attack was resolved, and for this the businessman transferred money to one of his companies, allegedly for advertising, consulting or other services. Then, through a number of other companies, this money was transferred offshore. This is how the initial capital was accumulated.
Using the money received from these very dubious transactions, Alexey Azarov invested in the construction companies Onyxbud and Kyiv Inkom, which were engaged in the construction of suburban real estate near Kiev. He later created something of a family business empire called Development Group. This structure was engaged in the construction of luxury real estate in Crimea and Kyiv, as well as its sale. He owned a company that traded in fuel and even the Air Onix airline (this company scammed several thousand passengers by taking money from them for a flight back in mid-2014, but not providing them with a flight from Zhulyany and Simferool airports. The total amount is which the passengers of Air Onix were scammed is about 1.5 million hryvnia. And everyone understands that the questions are for Alexey Azarov). There is also a piquant detail – most of Alexei Nikolaevich’s assets were managed by a certain spectacular blonde named Victoria Sovich, they said that she was his mistress. But her father, Anatoly Nikolaevich Sovich, was included among the founders. It should be noted that Alexey Azarov is married and has three children.
Towards the end of Mykola Azarov’s reign, his son settled in Vienna. I bought real estate there – several houses. Almost all of his valuable assets were transferred there, under Austrian jurisdiction. When Nikolai Yanovich fled Ukraine at the height of Euromaidan, these Viennese acquisitions were very useful to him. Apparently, there he was going to spend a comfortable old age. But it didn’t work out… However, we’ll talk about this later, but now let’s go back to 2004.
Orange Revolution
So, in 2003, Nikolai Yanovich transferred the formal leadership of the Party of Regions, which at that time had 560 thousand members, 27 regional and 680 local party organizations, to Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovych. These were his starting positions for the presidential election. In July 2004, at the congress, he was nominated as a candidate for President. Azarov himself remained the head of the Political Council of the party, so he essentially did not lose actual control over it. If he took part in the falsification of elections at the end of 2004 – beginning of 2005, it was indirectly; at least no one accused him directly. Naturally, while serving as Minister of Finance, he generously distributed official bribes in the form of pensions and salaries to public sector employees, but he was not noticed in organizing the then popular “carousels” or other illegal actions. Moreover, in December 2004, when Maidan was in full swing, he even went out to the protesters, although he quickly retreated. On December 3, 2004, the Supreme Court of Ukraine announced the third round of presidential elections. And a few days later, on December 7, Leonid Kuchma sent Prime Minister Yanukovych on vacation. Azarov became acting prime minister. Then it was already clear that Viktor Fedorovich’s card was broken, but he had the Cabinet of Ministers in his hands with all the relevant resources. Apparently, Kuchma, who had already written off Yanukovych, decided that it was not worth giving him such a powerful resource and installed someone he trusted, that is, Nikolai Yanovich. And only on December 29, when the Central Election Commission officially announced the victory of Viktor Yushchenko, Yanukovych “returned from vacation” in order to resign on December 31. Azarov, meanwhile, sharply changed his color and even appeared on the Maidan stage on New Year’s Day among the “orange”, and in the front row next to Viktor Yushchenko, Yulia Tymoshenko and Alexander Moroz.
Why wasn’t Azarov killed?
After the Orange Revolution, some leaders of the old regime apparently took slogans heard from the Maidan stage, such as “Prison for bandits,” too seriously. How else can we explain the fact that they began to “clean up” after themselves? Georgy Kirpa and Yuri Kravchenko, two pillars of the outgoing Kuchma regime, fell under this purge. But the other two whales are Vladimir Litvin (Read more about him in the article Vladimir Litvin: does Ukraine need a professional Judas?) and Mykola Azarov, oddly enough, did not make it. How were they able to convince those who made the decision to liquidate of their loyalty and eternal silence? This still remains a mystery. There is a version that Nikolai Yanovich came to an agreement with everyone, both Yushchenko’s people, in the person of Poroshenko, and the Donetsk people, as a result of which they became mutual guarantors of his life. There is a second version that he was simply lucky – after the suspicious death of Yuri Kravchenko, the deaths of other high-ranking officials would have looked very bad, and at the international level. And he knows a lot of secrets. He is aware of all the accounting of all large Ukrainian enterprises. He knows all the ins and outs of Ukrainian privatization. He knows everything about finance and the related frauds and crimes of at least two former presidents – Kuchma and Yanukovych. After all, he knows a lot about Vladimir Putin (*criminal)’s rise to power and the role of the Ukrainian leadership in this – from financing elections to creating a positive image for the latter. This includes the refusal to cooperate with NATO, the slowdown in joining the WTO, and support for Putin (*criminal)’s first geopolitical project – the creation of the Common Economic Space. In light of recent events, if this knowledge of his is somehow made public, many people living in the country and feeling well may not be well. However, they don’t float up. Perhaps Nikolai Yanovich is keeping his promise, or perhaps the right moment has not yet arrived. But let’s return to the events of 2005.
Under Yushchenko
After Nikolai Yanovich appeared on the Maidan stage, the people were so frightened that the newly elected President Yushchenko was forced to publicly promise that none of the old team, including Azarov, would appear in his government and administration. Nikolai Yanovich, after the resignation of Yanukovych for the second time in such a short period of time, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers handed it over to the newly appointed Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, telling a parting joke about the Vietnamese cosmonauts, to whom the Soviet designer told that everything works, the main thing is not to touch it with your hands. At least this is the story that circulated among officials about Grushevsky. And he went into the shadows for almost six months. He did not leave the country, but until the fall of 2005 he did not give interviews or comments to journalists. And then he criticized the government of Yulia Tymoshenko, accusing it of populism and unprofessionalism. And somehow he did it at the right time, just before her resignation. That is, at that time, Yushchenko, who had not yet completely lost his rating, could at least explain to the electorate of Western Ukraine why he was removing his comrade-in-arms, who stood with him on the Maidan. And this was explained to the residents of Eastern Ukraine through the mouth of Mykola Azarov. The latter, in this case, killed two birds with one stone – he helped the president and started the election campaign.
The Party of Regions won the 2006 elections, and with a very good result. Yes, American political strategists played a role in this, and the oligarchs, who poured huge amounts of money into that campaign and provided their media, also played a significant role. And, yes, the “orange”, with their squabbles and failure to fulfill any of the promises voiced on the Maidan, also did everything possible for the victory of the regionals. But all this would not make sense without the regional party structure nurtured by Nikolai Yanovich. Judge for yourself – all local party organizations in the East and South, most in the Center and some in the West of Ukraine were supported in one form or another by local leaders. And most of the organizations were headed by these same local leaders. In short, the Party of Regions then received 32.4% of the votes, which was enough to form a coalition. Nikolai Yanovich himself very actively participated in its creation. This coalition was then called an “unnatural union”, since in addition to the regionalists it included not only communists, but also socialists who fought against Yanukovych, officially it was called the “Anticrisis Coalition”, and over time it was renamed the “Coalition of National Unity. Azarov was predicted to be the speaker, but he had to give it to Alexander Moroz. Yanukovych was nominated for prime minister and Yushchenko was forced to agree with this. In general, de facto “Our Ukraine” also entered this coalition and received 8 seats in the government. Yanukovych became prime minister, and Nikolai Yanovich briefly, but returned to his old positions as deputy prime minister and minister of finance.
But then the regionals started to get carried away. They began to form their own “pocket” coalition. Deputies from BYuT and NUNS were simply bought out. The word “carcasses” has entered the political dictionary of Ukraine. Yushchenko did not like this situation, and in April 2007, by his Decree, he announced early elections. As a result, the Party of Regions received even more votes – 34.7%, but lost the Cabinet of Ministers. The new coalition was formed by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine. They also formed a new Cabinet of Ministers under the leadership of Yulia Vladimirovna. Nikolai Yanovich returned to the Verkhovna Rada and became Minister of Finance in the shadow government. In principle, he lived well during these years; no one bothered him or his son’s business. Why? To answer this question, you need to understand who they are, Azarov’s friends.
Love Azarov’s friends
Oddly enough, Azarov, who had been associated with Donetsk and the so-called “Donetsk people” all his life, had practically no friends among this group. Unless, of course, you count the “old Donetsk” ones, such as Efim Zvyagilsky or Valentin Landyk mentioned above. Apparently this is due to the fact that in those years and in these circles influence was measured in money, factories, media resources and even football teams. From this point of view, Nikolai Yanovich was, of course, not a very influential figure. And his main friends, and even to some extent his students, were in the so-called national-patriotic camp, that is, essentially in the camp of enemies. Some of them, for example, the same Yushchenko, with whom Azarov had very good relations when he was in power then. And some are still in power. For example, Petro Poroshenko. They say that it was he who brought Nikolai Azarov onto the stage of the orange Maidan on December 31, 2004. He did not remain in debt, and when he found himself in power, he promoted Pyotr Alekseevich to high positions, which we will talk about later. The current Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk generally called Nikolai Yanovich his moral authority and admired him in every possible way. In a word, we can say for sure that even after the Euromaidan, one of the demands of which was the trial of Azarov, our country is governed by people more than loyal to him. Perhaps that is why he is not put on the international wanted list and easily wins in court in Ukraine.
Under Yanukovych as president
At the end of February 2010, Viktor Fedorovich won the presidential elections, and already in March of the same year, Mykola Azarov became prime minister. He made his first visit to Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), where he met with his old friend Vladimir Putin (*criminal), who was still prime minister at that time. The conversation between them was about creating a gas transport consortium, that is, in fact, about handing over the Ukrainian gas transportation system to the Russians. He then criticized Yulia Tymoshenko, saying that her actions caused the country damage of 100 billion hryvnia. This would later form the basis of a criminal case against her. He did not forget about his friends. Through his efforts, Petro Poroshenko ended up in the chair of Minister of Economy. The reason was trivial – at that time his enterprises were not refunding VAT, and he hoped, having received the post of minister, to somehow influence this. He failed, and Pyotr Alekseevich returned to the Verkhovna Rada. In general, Azarov’s work in those years can be called good – the dollar held, prices did not rise. Well, of course, he fulfilled every whim of his boss. But that’s how the political system basically worked back then. By the way, he was moving further and further away from his boss. Then Yanukovych alienated from himself all those who helped him during difficult years. Taras Chornovil, Anna German, Nestor Shufrych and others left his entourage one after another. Most likely, if Viktor Fedorovich remained in his post until the end of his term, and even more so if he came out for a second presidential term, Nikolai Yanovich would also have to leave.
By the way, it is not very clear why the vindictive Yanukovych did not remember Azarov’s arrogant attitude towards himself when he first became prime minister, and essentially the betrayal when Nikolai Yanovich defected to the orange camp in 2005. Most likely, several factors were at work. Firstly, Azarov did not have a big business, that is, unlike, for example, Boris Kolesnikov And Andrey Klyuev he was not an independent and self-sufficient figure and was completely dependent on the President. Secondly, he was a really good manager and Viktor Fedorovich was convinced of this during the previous parliamentary elections. And the third version was once voiced in a conversation by an “old Donetsk man.” He claimed that Viktor Yanukovych was not at all friendly with numbers. And in general, a person who confuses Akhmatova with Akhmetov can hardly be considered a great erudite. And the president, on duty, works constantly with these very figures, as well as with government schemes and facts. And when he didn’t know something, Azarov, who despite his rather advanced age had a good memory, suggested these numbers to him and explained the diagrams. That is, in essence, he was Yanukovych’s personal Google. And their fate was similar – both were functionaries all their lives, both, by Donetsk standards of that time, were considered not very rich people, and certainly not oligarchs. And both did everything so that their children would become these very oligarchs. Although, of course, Alexander Yanukovych Jr. was allowed much more than Alexey Azarov Jr. Be that as it may, the officials who worked in those years for Bankova and Grushevsky and who called Nikolai Yanovich by the affectionate nickname “Grandfather” argued that he was the only one to whom “Papa”, as Yanukovych was called, was not afraid to turn his back. Well, throughout the years of Viktor Fedorovich’s reign, Azarov was absolutely loyal to him and daily proved his loyalty. He even took it upon himself to voice the stupidest of the president’s decisions – a sharp turn from association with the European Union to friendship with Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), which became fatal for both of them. However, here we got ahead of ourselves.
For the rest of the country, Azarov became an object of hatred and ridicule. He was publicly booed at a concert by the Vienna Strauss Orchestra and at a concert by opera diva Anna Netrebko. Almost all journalists mocked him, including pro-government ones. His speeches turned into collections of aphorisms and Internet memes. “Bleeding”, “doughy”, “there was a bimba in the vagina”, and much more. All of Ukraine laughed at its tongue-tied prime minister. He was constantly trolled, and Oleg Lyashko tried to speak the “Azir” language.
However, Nikolai Yanovich himself was not amused. The new Donetsk people, the team of Yanukovych Jr., were literally stepping on his heels. There were intense rumors that Azarov would soon be replaced by Sergei Arbuzov. The latter was even appointed Deputy Prime Minister and this was perceived as a transfer of the Cabinet of Ministers from one team to another. The only thing that slowed down the young oligarchs was that, to begin with, they decided to deal with Sergei Levochkin and seize the presidential chancellery, placing the then Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Zakharchenko in it (Read more about Sergei Levochkin in the article – Levochkin. “Grey Cardinal” and his sister). Levochkin resisted with all his might and this gave Azarov some time. He used it well. In the company of his son, money flowed from the state treasury. In 2011, he was caught transferring 150 million hryvnia, in 2012, providing financial assistance in the amount of 3.3 million hryvnia, and this is only what became public knowledge. In 2012, he brought Alexei Azarov to the Verkhovna Rada. Apparently to ensure his immunity. Pro-Russian rhetoric returns in Nikolai Yanovich’s speech. He became the main apologist for the Customs Union in Ukraine. Apparently, this is how he tried to gain the support of the Kremlin and Putin (*criminal) personally. In those years he had no obvious competitors in this direction. Yanukovych rushed to the Association Agreement with the tenacity of a heavy tank. The young oligarchs agreed with him, and the old oligarchs, apparently, hoped that they would once again weave between Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) and Europe. However, by 2013, he was forced to moderate his rhetoric, and then even pretend that he was also a supporter of European integration. He even edited the text of the Agreement with his own hand and gave extensive interviews about how this is the only possible path for Ukraine. And so, on November 21, 2013, he makes a fateful statement that Ukraine is postponing the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union. It is clear that Yanukovych made the decision after a conversation with Putin (*criminal). But Nikolai Yanovich voiced it and, most likely, it will go down in history.
During Euromaidan
The resignation of Mykola Azarov, hated by everyone, from the post of prime minister was one of the first demands of the Maidan. And, in principle, this could play the role of draining popular anger. But Yanukovych did not agree to this. After all the events, Nikolai Yanovich said that he gave his boss some pretty smart advice. For example, he persuaded Yanukovych not to fly to China when such a mess was going on in the country. He didn’t listen to him. On January 22, Azarov called the people on the Maidan terrorists. And on January 23, Viktor Yanukovych told him that he intended to give the post of prime minister to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and he said this in the presence of almost the entire regional faction. On January 28, the president summoned the prime minister and accepted his resignation. Azarov wrote a petition and gave Yanukovych the last practical advice – to exchange his resignation for unblocking the Maidan. Viktor Fedorovich once again did not listen to him. However, they did not see each other again – Nikolai Yanovich flew to Austria. After that, in mid-February he flew to Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), and from there to a closed meeting with deputies of the Party of Regions from different regions, which took place in Kharkov on February 21-22. Just before the shameful flight of Viktor Yanukovych. This was the last day Azarov spent in Ukraine.
After Euromaidan
Until March 2014, Nikolai Yanovich and his family lived in Austria. But then they came under EU sanctions and, just in case, they left, or rather fled, to Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). At first, the Russians did not use him as a speaker; they obviously understood that there was too much negativity on him. Yanukovych from Rostov was used as a speaker, alone or in the company of Vitaly Zakharchenko and Viktor Pshonka (read more about him in the article Viktor Pshonka: the rise and fall of prosecutor Caesar). But then they apparently realized that the former prime minister and the former president were somewhere in balance in their negative perceptions in Ukraine. In this regard, Azarov was allowed to promote himself. Here, too, Nikolai Yanovich did not come up with anything particularly creative. He presented his book “Ukraine at the Crossroads,” although the country had not been there for a long time by that time. And then he created an organization called the “Committee for the Rescue of Ukraine.” In addition to him and Vladimir Oleynik, who is called a “political prostitute” because he changed a bunch of parties from the Communist Party of Ukraine to the Council and from BYuT to the Party of Regions, there were fugitive TV star Yuri Kot and Igor Markov, nicknamed “Maradona”, who once the regionals themselves deprived him of his deputy mandate. They say that Oleg Tsarev was also supposed to appear there, but apparently something didn’t work out.
At the head of this marginal group, Azarov is not very scary for our country, but still we should not write him off. He has experience and understanding of the work of the state machine, which, despite everything, has practically not changed. He has dirt on many and now not the least people in the country. He has a network of local functionaries of the collapsed Party of Regions and nothing prevents him from reviving this structure under a different name. The top two people in the country, Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk, are quite loyal to him, as we wrote about above. In a word, this seemingly safe old man, if skillfully used by the Kremlin, can turn into a powerful weapon directed against Ukraine.
Denis Ivanov, for SKELET-info