the azores, eastone & pinchuk (part i)
kuchma's case: 200,000 euros to a con artist
melnychenko's companion 'hauled to the woods'
the final stage of the operation to enlist volodymyr savchenko as a witness in the defense of former ukrainian president leonid kuchma took place in kyiv's premier palace hotel. tsvil called melnychenko's ex-collaborator insisting he meet with pinchuk's men. standing near the foyer of the hotel, tsvil offered savchenko some last minute advice: “don't fuck around. they're being courteous with you for now. they could just as easily stake out your apartment and haul you off to the woods.”
it's no secret that viktor pinchuk has deployed all means at his disposal to secure an innocent verdict for his father-in-law in the tapegate case. much has been written about public campaign, but only a few people are aware of what's actually been happening behind the scenes.
no blatant criminal acts have been committed against witnesses in the case by the interested party. agreements have been reached without physical intimidation and don't relate to providing outright false testimony in the case. however, pinchuk's men have been treading a fine line in the kuchma case.
a brief introduction of the main actors from the latest episode.
as it turned out, savchenko did the exact opposite, returning to kyiv at the end of 2002 after he received a personal guarantee from sbu chief volodymyr radchenko that he would not be arrested. associates of exiled russian tycoon boris berezovsky later tried to find savchenko in portugal to purchase “important evidence involving the murder of journalist georgy gongadze” for $1 million.
tsvil was much more effective in the spring of 2011, locating savchenko's whereabouts in kyiv after ukrainian prosecutors opened a criminal case against kuchma. upon learning savchenko suffered from health problems and was strapped for cash, he offered assistance.
the men discussed getting savchenko checked out by doctors and treating him in a german clinic. tsvil also warned savchenko that the criminal case against kuchma would bring new and unpleasant developments for everyone involved in the “cassette scandal.”
meanwhile, the 50-year old entrepreneur staked out the parus business center in kyiv, where he accosted viktor pinchuk in parking lot to offer his personal services to get the oligarch's father-in-law off the hook. savchenko was the package his was selling.
testimony of melnychenko's companion in court about tampering the recordings would wreak the state's case against the former president. this is the reason pinchuk took tsvil's offer of assistance. that tsvil's wife, ivanka, was close friend of pinchuk's wife cinched the deal.
volodymyr ivanovych tsvil – a wheeler-dealer, whose family resides in germany. tsvil likes to play in casinos, play golf, smoke cigars and is a fan of strong alcoholic drinks. at the behest of oleksandr moroz, tsvil played a key role in the so-called “cassette scandal” at the end of 2000 evacuating mykola melnychenko from ukraine. he later became an intermediary between the ex-major, ukrainian state security service and leonid kuchma's entourage. meetings with kuchma, former sbu head volodymyr radchenko, presidential administration deputy serhiy lyovochkin and other officials to facilitate attempts to secure the “melnychenko's recordings” earned tsvil a reputation as a master wheeler-dealer. and they haven't prevented him from weaving new intrigues using his high-level contacts and knowledge.
most recently, tsvil starred in a cloak and dagger escapade involving ukraine's prosecutor general's office and former finance minister bohdan danylyshyn, promising pgo chief rinat kuzmin that the latter would provide damaging evidence of criminal acts against ex-deputy prime minister oleksandr turchynov and ex-prime minister yulia tymoshenko. simultaneously, tsvil billed tymoshenko's bloc for legal services and a health check up at a german clinic. the ruse ended with danylyshyn's arrest in prague, the decision to grant him political asylum and a major diplomatic flap between ukraine and the czech republic.
the operation was planned by konstantinovskiy, mokhortov and tsvil in the salyut hotel restaurant. according to tsvil, the men agreed on a 200,000 euro budget, with payment to be made in installments as results of the cooperation became apparent. the men agreed to use an intermediary to contact savchenko, who resided on kyiv's left bank troeshchina neighborhood. mokhortov showed up in person to inspect the goods, first meeting savchenko in a local eatery, the lost son [blyudniy syn], where tsvil introduced mokhortov. savchenko didn't even know who he was at the time of the meeting.
tsvil next delayed the deal, moving 'the goods' away from 'the customers.' he invited savchenko to his summer home in the carpathian mountains, where he told him about his acquaintanceship with melnychenko, hinting at the possibility selling the information for a lot of money. “getting to the truth about who ordered gongadze's murder” was, of course, the proclaimed objective.
leaving savchenko in the mountains with his trusted assistant, a former sbu officer, tsvil returned to kyiv for further negotiations with pinchuk's men, who were formally introduced in the dubki hotel complex outside of kyiv. the high-powered eastone executives showed up at the meeting with their bodyguards to demonstrate the seriousness nature of their mission.
the men proposed to savchenko that he find time to sit down behind his computer and “work on” the recordings together with a computer expert from eastone. the men talked over the proposal through the night, but savchenko refused. tsvil was upset at the failure. nevertheless, pinchuk's men didn't give up.
the final stage of the operation to involve volodymyr savchenko in kuchma's defense took place in the premier palace hotel. not long after the meeting in dubki, tsvil urgently invited him to another meeting with pinchuk's people. outside the hotel, tsvil did not mince words: “don't fuck around. they're being courteous with you for now. they could just as easily stake out your apartment and haul you off to the woods.”
[click here to read part ii ... for more on the melnychenko recordings, click here or here.]
yakov naumovych konstantinovskiy and viktor borisovych mokhortov, both former police officers with close ties to viktor pinchuk, headed the operation to secure savchenko's cooperation. konstantinovskiy is a trusted pinchuk lieutenant who oversaw security for interpipe who currently runs eastone's dnipropetrovsk office. mokhortov is currently the director of information and analysis for the same company. the two men put off other pressing business affairs to concentrate on the task of “working over” melnychenko's companion. the order came from their boss: “prove that the recordings of kuchma mentioning gongadze were tampered with.”
volodymyr semenovych savchenko – a longtime companion of mykola melnychenko – is directly implicated in the operation to wiretap kuchma's office. namely he is the person who processed [listened to and trabscribed] the “melnychenko recordings” when they were made during 2000. according to tsvil, savchenko regularly met with oleksandr moroz to discuss the recorded chit chats. not long before the start of the “cassette scandal” in november 2000, savchenko fled to portugal. during his debriefing by cia agents in ostrava in april 2001, melnychenko named savchenko as his co-conspirator and asked his interlocutors to grant him political asylum in the us, if necessary.
an excerpt from a letter from melnychenko to savchenko (written by melnychenko's wife lilia) to vladimir savchenko in april 2001: “i will probably ask a western government for political asylum. if you are in any danger, apply for same, as we discussed. they already know who you are. i told them you helped me at my request and stored the information i collected, that you are a witness. but don't divulge any details before agreeing with me first ...”