The fate of the Ukrainian oligarchs begins to change

In the room of former President Viktor Yanukovych in his residence on the outskirts of Kiev, there is no trace of the

or

that hung on its walls.

Yes, there are the gigantic empty dressing rooms in which the president's girlfriend had a corner with capacity for a thousand rings.

Or decorations like a Lladró horse and many, many televisions.

In the 2,500 square meters in which the couple lived more than comfortably, there were up to 18 Samsung devices, sometimes several in the same room.

Books, on the other hand, were practically non-existent.

But the most valuable objects - works of art, furniture, jewelry - are no longer here.

The former president took them in his hasty flight to Russia, during the 2014 Maidan uprising that would change the country's history.

Anyone who is curious can see on YouTube how Yanukovych's aides loaded trucks for three days to get the loot from so many years of looting out of the country.

citizens

entered the mansion to discover the shameless ostentation in which their leader lived.

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The house where Yanukovych spent his relaxing days is much more than a house.

Not only because in the 150 hectares of the Mezhyhirya Residence there was space for a zoo —with its friendly ostriches that are still there today, undaunted by the shocks that Ukraine is experiencing—, a museum with the luxury cars that the former president collected, a heliport, a tennis court, two huge golf courses, a spa with several saunas and 40 sports equipment, a shooting range, endless fountains and lakes, and even an artificial mountain with its waterfall.

All this, just for the man who ruled Ukraine and his girlfriend.

If his children visited him, they slept in another house.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also had another residence in the complex in case he went to kyiv.

And at banquets with many guests, a dining boat welcomed the guests.

“During construction, it was estimated that each day of work cost two million dollars.

It would be impossible to calculate the value of all this”, certifies the guide Genadii Nikolaenko.

Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov (centre), with businessman Vadim Novinsky (right, foreground) strolling through Mariupol on February 16. HANDOUT (AFP)

Since his flight to Russia, Yanukovych has been an outcast in the Ukraine.

But Rinat Akhmetov, the oligarch who sponsored him in his political career, catapulting him to the top, is still today the first fortune of his country, with assets that

estimated last year at about 7.6 billion dollars.

Akhmetov is the most prominent name in the list of Ukrainian oligarchs who, with their network of companies and relationships, control the country.

But luck seems to be changing for this select group.

a dangerous cocktail

Several factors threaten the position of the men who until now have defined the map of power, who also managed to create parties that obeyed their personal interests.

On the one hand, the war launched by Russia hits some vital nerves in its finances.

And on the other, the simultaneous political pressure from kyiv and Brussels threatens to do them even more damage, a dangerous cocktail for those who filled their pockets with the privatizations of the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“To understand the role of the oligarchs, it is enough to think of medieval Europe, with kings who competed for power with feudal lords,” explains Volodímir Yermolenko, director of the Ukraine World website, from a placid terrace in kyiv.

This journalist admits that the excessive power of this small number of people is a burden for the country, but he also believes that, to a certain extent, the competition between the powerful supposes a kind of balance game that prevents the authoritarian drift of the country that would imply a single leader, as in Russia, where all the oligarchs are subject to the will of the Kremlin.

A hall of the mansion in which former President Viktor Yanukovych resided on the outskirts of kyiv, on June 21. Luis Doncel

Akhmetov is the owner, among many other things, of Azovstal, the steel mill that became world famous for becoming the last focus of resistance against the Russians in Mariupol, in southern Ukraine.

This gigantic complex, one of the bases of Akhmetov's fortune, generated tens of thousands of jobs, produced 40% of the country's steel and had its own port on the Sea of ​​Azov.

In May, the tycoon who previously boasted privileged ties to Moscow — and who sponsored Yanukovych — announced a $17-20 billion lawsuit against Russia for the destruction of the plant and other assets in the Donbass area.

Some analysts estimate that since the war began, Akhmetov has lost two-thirds of his fortune.

But the problems for many businessmen are not from now, but began in 2014, with the seizure of Crimea and the start of the war in Donbas.

"The key to seeing if they recover their former power will be how they are executed and who is responsible for the reconstruction tasks," says a European source.

Another fallen from grace is Víktor Medvedchuk, the Ukrainian billionaire closest to Putin, who was arrested in April accused by the kyiv authorities of “high treason”.

Zelensky's Crusade

The oligarchs are not only haunted by financial problems.

Perhaps more dangerous for their interests is the political crusade against them.

In November of last year, before the Russian troops entered with blood and fire, President Volodímir Zelenski had already promoted a law to reduce the weight of the oligarchs, a group that included some 40 people with some monopoly, media communication and a fortune of more than 90 million dollars and who participate in political activities.

Some critical voices pointed out that, with this initiative, Zelensky was not seeking to balance the map of power, but rather to undermine the influence of former president Petro Poroshenko.

Zelensky himself also has a group of oligarchs around him.

In addition to leading the opposition, Poroshenko is one of the richest men in the country thanks to an empire of sweets, cars, media and so much more.

The tycoon faces up to 15 years in prison for high treason for the purchase of coal from the pro-Russian separatists of Donetsk and other charges of corruption, processes that he considers politically motivated.

A room in the house where former President Viktor Yanukovych lived on the outskirts of kyiv, on June 21. Luis Doncel

In an interview with EL PAÍS, Poroshenko defended last week demanding responsibility from those "who ruin the country by stealing billions of euros."

Reminding him that he too is an oligarch, he angrily protested.

“Please don't use that word!” he exclaimed.

“Now we are in a war.

And who has stayed here to defend the country from him and who has fled?

Who is spending their money to support the army and who is stealing?

Who pays their taxes and who doesn't?” he continued.

His spokespersons assure that he has invested more than 10 million euros out of his pocket to help the defense of Ukraine.

The pressure also comes from Brussels, which wants to get their hands on the Ukrainian super-millionaires.

When approving the country's candidacy to enter the EU, the European Commission demanded seven chapters of reforms, and one of them is to advance the anti-oligarch law.

But this must be done, according to Brussels, avoiding arbitrariness.

The document also recalled the "disproportionate" influence of these businessmen in the media, especially on television.

Before the war, the gardens that witnessed Yanukovych's excesses were full of families having picnics.

This place, which the guide considers as “the navel of Ukraine”, due to a history that dates back to the 12th century, when a monastery was founded there, is now a public museum and served as a refuge when Russian troops approached kyiv. .

But it also symbolizes the rise and fall of the man who wanted to control the entire country.

Yanukovych, in the words of the journalist Yermolenko, tried to be king and feudal lord at the same time.

The question is whether the oligarchs who accompanied him in his career will know how to adapt to the new times of an increasingly European Ukraine or will they fall by the wayside.

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