Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, architect of Zelensky’s political rise, is in the crosshairs of justice

This case is surprising given the role the billionaire played in the political rise of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. What is the charge against Ihor Kolomoisky?

Regis Genty *: Ukrainian security services suspect that he withdrew abroad, between 2013 and 2020, more than half a billion hryvnia, or 12 million euros. The judge ordered Mr. Kolomoisky detained in the courtroom. The oligarch plans to appeal, according to his lawyer. The aforementioned facts are not surprising, since Mr. Kolomoisky, in the recent past, was often accused of creating corruption schemes that were very profitable for him, especially in sectors such as oil products or metals.

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Does this mean that this court decision will be more political?

It’s hard to say, but we tend to believe it. When we look, for example, at the inspection he underwent last February, for possible embezzlement of 40 billion hryvnia (billion euros), the country’s political observers told themselves that the matter was above all a matter for the Ukrainian authorities. To give evidence of seriousness, in the fight against corruption in particular, at a time when Kiev was demanding weapons, and tanks in the first place, from its Western partners. The Americans and Europeans who were unable to make their decision, due to the reservations expressed by their public opinion.

Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky was one of Ukraine’s three richest people, and the sulfurous owner of Channel 1+1, the private television in which Zelensky became a small-screen star. He supported and funded the former comedian’s presidential bid.

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If today we look more closely at what this court decision means, it is above all because Mr. Kolomoisky played a key role in the political rise of Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019, which was, let us remember; the actor. Mr. Zelensky has somehow thrust himself into the political arena via his television channel with a series called “ Servant of the people », where he played the role of a young high school teacher who suddenly became president of the republic. The first two years of Zelensky’s presidency, before Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, were marked, among other things, by what appeared to be a desire on the part of the president to protect Mr. Kolomoisky.

In his daily report on Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky also appeared to indirectly refer to the issue in these terms. ” Undoubtedly, there will be no more decades of the status quo for those who have plundered Ukraine and placed themselves above the law and all rules (…) The law must work. “, he declared.

* Regis Genty is our Eastern Europe regional correspondent. Volodymyr Zelensky, in the hero’s headco-written with Stefan Siohan, and published in 2022 by Robert Laffont.