Once in Vilnius: Shuster's Birthday, Akhmetov and His Intentions

According to the journalist, modern politics did not interest him much in those days.

On November 22, TV presenter Savik Shuster celebrated his birthday in Vilnius with well-known figures and politicians. Businessman Rinat Akhmetov was also in Vilnius at that moment. We tell you about the UP investigation, Shuster's reaction and Akhmetov's intentions. 

UP Investigation

On November 22, former interior minister Arsen Avakov posted on social media a photo in which he, former prime minister Volodymyr Groysman, TV presenter Savik Shuster, Dmytro Gordon and Dr. Yevgeny Komarovsky are standing in armor on the shore of a lake in Vilnius. 

According to UP, on November 21 oligarch Rinat Akhmetov arrived at Boryspil airport. Avakov, Groysman, Gordon, Komarovsky, as well as co-owner of Savik Shuster Studio Pavel Yelizarov, also arrived there. 

The brother of Kyiv mayor and boxer Vladimir Klitschko also flew to Vilnius. Vitali Klitschko could not attend due to his daughter's birthday. Rinat Akhmetov was not seen among the guests. 

According to a UP source in political circles, in Vilnius Akhmetov discussed possible candidates for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. 

On November 23, Akhmetov's plane flew from Vilnius to Kyiv, and three hours later the plane carrying Shuster and his guests landed in Kyiv as well. 

At the time of publication of the investigation, Shuster had not commented to the publication, Akhmetov refused to answer questions, and Vitali Klitschko said that Vladimir Klitschko is outside politics and is not authorized to negotiate on his behalf. 

Recall that on November 26, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press marathon that Savik Shuster is one of the destabilizers of the situation in the country, and also that a coup d'état had been planned for December 1, into which they wanted to draw Rinat Akhmetov. 

Akhmetov's Intentions

Leader of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia said that oligarch Rinat Akhmetov is financing the creation of a new political force that would oppose Servant of the People. He told journalists in the parliamentary corridors, commenting on Mikhail Tkach's investigation on UP. 

David Arakhamia
leader of the Servant of the People faction

A great investigation. We need to see where it will air. Mr. Tkach's previous investigation (about the vacation of Volodymyr Zelensky and Andriy Yermak at Sinegorye — ed.) was broadcast around the clock on Ukraine 24. Today I will turn it on and watch how many times Mr. Tkach's investigation about Vilnius is repeated on Ukraine 24.

According to him, this video can prove that Tkach "does not work for oligarchs, but films about everyone." 

Asked whether a new political force could be in the works, Arakhamia said that Oleksandr Kornienko "announced the RAY bloc (Razumkov, Avakov, Yatsenyuk — ed.) long before Vilnius." 

When it was noted that Razumkov was not in Vilnius, Arakhamia replied that Razumkov was the "general sponsor of the get-together." 

"Open financing and destabilization are underway. Do you think Mr. Sokha, who left (Servant of the People), is an ideological "turncoat"? I think he took between half a million and a million dollars from one of the heroes of Mr. Tkach's investigation," the faction leader noted. 

Note that former Verkhovna Rada speaker Dmytro Razumkov created the interfactional deputy association "Reasonable Politics" and planned to form a political party. Former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk denied rumors of creating a party with former speaker Dmytro Razumkov. 

Shuster's Reaction

Journalist Savik Shuster did not disclose the list of guests at his birthday celebration in Vilnius and did not comment on the fact that oligarch Rinat Akhmetov was in the Lithuanian capital on the same day. 

Shuster said he "did not manage to respond" to Tkach's request on the eve of the story about Shuster's birthday in Vilnius. He noted that "besides conspiracy theories, there is also reality: work, personal life with its problems and nuances." 

Savik Shuster
TV presenter

On November 22 I turned 69. The date is not a round one, but it is symbolic for me: on November 22, 1971, I celebrated my 19th birthday with friends in my native Vilnius, and on November 23 I left the USSR forever. That was exactly 50 years ago. That is the round date for me and the meaning of this trip. That is why I decided to be with friends in my homeland on November 22, 2021. I showed them my Lithuania, told them about the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which stretched almost as far as Moscow, and my guests learned why Vilnius was called the Northern Jerusalem before the Soviet and then Nazi occupation, and what symbol the Neringa cafe was for many dissidents.

According to the journalist, modern politics did not interest him much in those days. He discussed it on November 19 while taking part in the Future of Democracy forum in Vilnius. 

"Back then, in 1971, the guest list of my birthday most likely ended up with the KGB; the security agents closely monitored those leaving. Now, I hope, the times are different, and I will keep the guest list of my birthday to myself," Shuster said. 

He made no comment on the information in the story about Akhmetov's trip to Vilnius at the same time as the guests, or on the oligarch's possible negotiations about candidates for the parliamentary and presidential elections. Instead, he shared his poem: 

"Sixty-nine. For some, eroticism,

For others, filth. 

Emigration. For some, freedom,

For others, scum. 

Homeland. For some, betrayal,

For others, a dream. 

Truth is air for me,

For others, water."