Ukrainian parliamentarians, members of the ad hoc commission investigating the allegedly illegal contribution made by Boris Berezovsky to President Yushchenko’s election campaign have reported on their meeting with the notorious Russian businessman, who lives in exile in London. They have publicized the minutes of their discussion with Berezovsky and payment orders confirming that he donated six million US dollars to support democratic institutions in Ukraine. “The total amount of his funding for certain processes in Ukraine is $21 million (the earlier figure was $15 million — Ed.),” says commission member Yurii Solomatin of the Communist Party.
Ihor Shurma, a member of the SDPU(o) who was also at the meeting with Berezovsky, offered the following interpretation of the Russian businessman’s explanation of his cooperation with Yushchenko’s team: “Boris Berezovsky said from the outset that he knows Ukrainian legislation perfectly, and that he could not fund the election campaign because it would violate the law. But he funded democracy (in Ukraine). He did not fund this democracy on his own initiative. He started the funding only after he was approached by Zhvaniya and Bezsmertny, and after he received a personal phone call from Yushchenko, who requested his financial support for these institutions. The funding for democracy started at this very moment and lasted until December 2004.” Shurma added, “We have established the fact that Berezovsky provided $21 million in funding, but we have yet to discover the purpose of this funding...It would be premature to disband the commission before it learns how this $21 million was spent.”
The minutes publicized at the news conference contain Berezovsky’s answers to the commission’s questions. Asked whether he funded Ukrainian democratic institutions as though they were a private individual, he responded in the affirmative. “The idea to support democratic institutions in Ukraine was not mine, it was proposed by Mr. Zhvaniya (Davyd Zhvaniya, former Minister for Emergency Management — Ed.), who was recommended to me by my business partner Badri Patarkatsyshvili. Shortly afterwards Zhvaniya visited me in London together with Mr. Bezsmertny (Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine — Ed.). I never met either of them before. They simply asked me to provide funding for the creation of democratic institutions in Ukraine as well as independent mass media,” Berezovsky said, according to the minutes. He also stated that he does not know how his funds were used in Ukraine, adding that it is up to the investigative commission to find the answers to these questions. “I am looking for answers to these very questions. Did I fund Mr. Yushchenko’s campaign? I did not, because the law does not allow me to finance an election campaign from abroad. Payments were made by companies that I control, but I don’t know how the money was spent. I did not control the receiving companies. Nobody reported to me on how the money was spent. I am still trying to understand how it was spent. It is important especially now, when you are looking for evidence of illegal funding for the election campaign,” Berezovsky said in the minutes.
The commission did not get a clear-cut answer to the question of whether Berezovsky financed Yushchenko’s election campaign. However, it follows from the minutes that during his discussion with the Ukrainian parliamentarians the Russian businessman sent some explicit signals to President Yushchenko and those members of his team who contacted him and requested funding “for democracy.” The “Russian Soros” is apparently hinting at some promises that were made in return for the funding — promises that were most probably broken, judging by the fact that information about the funding was leaked to the Ukrainian media. Perhaps this scandal is meant as a wake-up call to the Ukrainian president’s team. Unless it is heeded, Berezovsky might “present them with a bill,” i.e., demand a report on how his funds were spent. “I have a question: Will Mr. Yushchenko make good on his promises made in Independence Square, or does he plan to repeat the things that were done by the previous corrupt leadership? I am ready to provide additional information about payment orders. But I will do so only when I am certain that this information will serve the interests of the Ukrainian people and will not be turned into classified data in the interests of those in power,” Berezovsky said at the end of his meeting with the parliamentarians.
