Kolomoisky says he won’t make requests of Zelenskiy

Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, the biggest sponsor of the
Volodymyr Zelenskiy campaign, said in an interview broadcast on May 2 that he
won’t make any requests of the president-elect. “I’m not even going to turn to
him,” he told the bihus.info news site. “I don’t need anything from him.
Kolomoisky is a self-reliant person. He doesn’t need anything from anyone. He
never turned to anyone with any requests.” As evidence that he doesn’t control
Zelenskiy, Kolomoisky criticized his May 2 proposal for a national forum of
representatives of large, medium and small entrepreneurs. “If you want to
communicate with someone, communicate one on one,” he said. “You can’t
communicate with big business like a kolhosp (collective farm). This isn’t a
kolhosp gathering. For everyone, money loves silence, and no one is going to
reveal their secrets and bare their soul.”

At the same time, Kolomoisky acknowledged in an
interview broadcast on Apr. 27 that he offered advice to Zelenskiy during his
presidential campaign. “During six months, maybe one or two times,” he told
Russia’s NTV television network. “I am ready to help him with advice. Sometimes
I help, but this isn’t a mass occurrence.” When asked how he sees his
cooperation with Zelenskiy, Kolomoisky said, “Consulting him about something,
at maximum.” Recall, Zelenskiy traveled to meet with Kolomoisky at least a
dozen times in the last two years, according to investigative news reports.
Kolomoisky has been residing in Israel since September after establishing a
residence in Switzerland for more than a decade.

Andriy Bohdan, Kolomoisky’s longtime lawyer who
accompanied Zelenskiy in many of these trips, acknowledged in an interview that
he helped convince the comedian to run for president. “Yes, that’s the absolute
truth. I am one of those who convinced him. You need to understand that we got
to know each other a long time ago. More than five years,” he said in an
interview published on Apr. 25 on the pravda.com.ua news site. As early as
2014, Bohdan suggested that Zelenskiy run for parliament to represent a
single-mandate district, which would serve as a platform to launch a
presidential campaign. But he said Zelenskiy opposed the idea since he would
become identified by the public as a typical politician by the time of the
presidential elections. Instead, they launched “The Servant of the People”
television series on Kolomoisky’s 1+1 television network. “We absolutely
clearly understood that if a person – not having said a single word and
everyone is talking about it – this becomes interesting, everyone is expecting
this, then from the moment of his declaration as a candidate for president, of
course, his ratings will multiply,” he said.

Zenon Zawada: That
Zelenskiy owes his presidency to Kolomoisky is beyond doubt. Besides their frequent meetings, Kolomoisky
lent Zelenskiy the backing of his television network, lawyers, vehicles and
other resources. Indeed Kolomoisky will earn immense respect from the public if
he allows Zelenskiy to work to establish rule of law in Ukraine with a fair and
effective judiciary. However, we share the widely held view that Kolomoisky has
little self-interest in having Zelenskiy establish rule of law in Ukraine,
which will be especially difficult if Kolomoisky won’t play a role in reaching
a consensus among Ukraine’s constantly battling oligarchs.

Instead, Kolomoisky will more likely be using
Zelenskiy’s presidency to allow him to protect his interests in the courts at minimum,
if not advocating for them behind the scenes. The best hope for Ukraine’s
investment community is that Zelenskiy will be allowed to improve the overall
condition of rule of law in Ukraine, to some degree or another, while he allows
Kolomoisky to defend his interests in the courts without anyone applying any
pressure or bribes on the judges. Especially anyone tied to the
president-elect.