Kolomoisky Interview with Russian Media: Key Points

The businessman, who has returned to Ukraine, spoke with the Russian press for the first time since the start of the war in Donbas.

On how much money was needed to win the presidential election in Ukraine:

“From $10 million to $20 million. And the second round, I think, didn't cost anything at all, everything had already been decided.

How much did I invest? That wasn't necessary. He had a contract with the 1+1 channel, and that's how I helped. Advice? You can't make a case out of advice.”

On Poroshenko's rule:

“Well, he accomplished his main task — he saved the country from you. He came in when Crimea was already gone, and Donbas was already captured de facto. He stopped the aggression. I can criticize him as much as I want, but not in front of you. We'll sort it out among ourselves.

It seemed to me he was too much under the influence of our Western advisers. They kept pressing him to decide something about Privatbank. The IMF and financial organizations kept putting pressure on him.

[In 2005] he was on one oligarch's side, and we were on others'. We got past it, because everything that happened in 2005 didn't surface at all in 2015. From 2014 through 2019 there were no relapses. There was a misunderstanding, differences in worldview. There was no quarrel at all. He was interested in the support of 1+1 somewhere. He was being told that he would take Privatbank and 1+1 would fall into his hands as a prize.”

On the case against gas tycoon Dmitry Firtash:

“I don't want to comment on this, because I don't want to harm him. I don't want to bring extra trouble on myself from the great and terrible ones. As for Firtash himself, I think that since 2014 he has had no influence on anything. He did before, but after this whole story [no], especially since he himself said the case is politically motivated.”

On the Privatbank lawsuits:

“We have many lawsuits. There's a case in London. The hearing there isn't soon. There are also a lot of lawsuits in Ukraine. They're proceeding in their own course.

They (now the state-owned Privatbank — ed.) lost the case and filed an appeal on jurisdiction and some other issues — asking for permission to file a lawsuit once again. If they are allowed to, it will be a new start to the legal process. So everything that happened before December 2017 is just a consideration of whether the London court can consider this issue at all.

A court is a court, a competition. This isn't your Basmanny court, where everything is decided in advance. Nothing here is decided in advance.”

On doing business in Russia and with Russians:

“In Russia — no business whatsoever. It's a matter of principle. If Crimea isn't returned before the end of my life, then Russia is 100% closed to me. I would like it to be returned, but there's little hope.

Which Russian businessmen do I maintain relations with? That's dangerous for businessmen, so I won't say. Why cause people trouble. But I haven't quarreled with anyone“

On Putin's harsh remarks (the Russian president had earlier called Kolomoisky a “unique scoundrel” and a “rogue”):

“It was a response to my words. I spoke about him at my first press conference, which I gave as head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration. The situation was tense. It wasn't prepared, but in principle that was the atmosphere… In form, as a governor, maybe I didn't have the right to speak that way, but in substance it's all true… To plunge our peoples into such a confrontation…

There was an audience, people who had carried out a revolution — and then some uncle came from Geneva, everything is fine with him, and he decided to become governor. They had to be won over to our side, shown that we have an external enemy. The story around the verbal conflict with Putin made them understand that I too had burned bridges and we were in the same boat. I wasn't thinking at that moment about how many loans I have in Russia and what property would be taken from me. But the very next day the deposit guarantee fund was at the Russian [branch] of Privatbank. So the reaction was instant. But then it was bought back, not confiscated.”

On why the Minsk agreements are not working:

“Because there's a clause about amending the Constitution of Ukraine. That won't happen. Poroshenko didn't push it hard, and even if he had, it wouldn't have worked, and he understood that. And Zelensky won't manage it either.

Ukraine is a single, indivisible unitary state. If federalization begins, tomorrow a parade of sovereignties will start. There's a law on special status, it was agreed under the Minsk agreements, and it's extended every year.

The Minsk agreements are the only document worth moving forward on. But four and a half years have already passed, and an update is needed. The conflict has gone on for five years. Naturally, there are elements of blockade and restrictions, and people suffer… Everyone is tired of it. But on both sides there are those who have gotten used to it, moreover, there's business too. And coal from Donbas goes first to Russia, and then to us in Ukraine. And comrade Kurchenko smelts half a million tons of steel a month there and sells it under your certificates.”

On Boyko, Medvedchuk and Russian gas:

“I'm not interested at all in what Boyko and Medvedchuk say. I consider them collaborators and traitors. It's just that their treason hasn't yet taken the form of an article of the Criminal Code. As for Russian gas — we don't give a damn about your gas. That's my personal opinion. You've already caused us so much harm and damage that another 3 billion in harm — we have to clench our teeth and endure it. I believe the pipeline could have been shut down altogether and forgotten. You've deprived us of half of our GDP through military action, you've closed off investment from civilized countries for us, because investors don't want to put money where there might be war. Russian gas was never needed by Ukraine. It's a fetish invented by people like Firtash, Levochkin, Boyko and Medvedchuk to rob Ukraine and sometimes Russia. How is gas different from any other energy product? It isn't. If you can't get it from Russia, buy from Europe.”

On Crimea:

“When Russia gets tired of suffering from sanctions… Frankly, I don't believe in a change of power in your country… At least not in the foreseeable future. Everyone says it's impossible during the life of the current president, and I think it's even less possible during the life of the next one. There has to be a situation like 1991, when the USSR fell apart. Nobody expected it, but it fell apart. You shouldn't take things if you haven't first figured out how to give them back. Crimea was for Russia like a poisoned pawn in chess.”

Full RBC interview