Help Ukraine against Kolomoyskyi
Who is Mr. Kolomoyskyi and why is he a threat to Ukraine?
Well… as with all great evil stories it starts way in the past….
In 1991, the vast Soviet Union split into 15 countries. First business groups quickly rose to power within these countries.
In Ukraine, Privat Group was one of them. Built by two partners - Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Gennadiy Bogolyubov. The “crown jewel” of their business empire was PrivatBank, which quickly became the largest Bank in Ukraine. Through this bank, Kolomoyskyi and Bogolyubov would essentially fund their own business empire.
Kolomoyskyi is a true criminal mastermind - he seized control of the main oil refineries in Ukraine. That essentially meant that if you wanted to get petrol - you have to buy it from Kolomoyskyi. He has built the TV channel in Ukraine, called 1+1, which he used to bash his political opponents (like previous president Petro Poroshenko) AND at the same time promote his own crownies. Current Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenkyi not only was a long time employee at 1+1, but also used 1+1 (and other oligarh-controlled media) to advance his presidential campaign. And it worked! Zelensyi won the presidential elections by a landslide.
In essence, he became so rich and powerful that he could swing elections the way that benefited him most.
But, he got too greedy and made a mistake.
With the changes that followed the Euromaidan revolution (in 2014), National Bank of Ukraine discovered that 97% of its corporate loans of PrivatBank had gone to companies linked to its shareholders. In 2016, to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian financial system the bank was nationalized, which cost Ukrainian taxpayers $5.5 billion USD - roughly 5% of its GDP.
To this day PrivatBank’s new management is struggling to reclaim some of the money stolen by Kolomoyskyi from the Ukrainian people. A significant portion of it has been invested into various holdings in the US. As recently as 2019, Kolomoyskyi was the single largest commercial real estate owner in Cleveland, Ohio, as mentioned by congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) on congressional record H7910. A list with many more of his holdings can be found here.
According to the Atlantic Council’s Anders Aslund, the aforementioned case is “probably the most detailed study of large-scale money laundering into the United States.”
After the Privatbank’s nationalisation in 2016, Mr. Kolomoyskyi fled Ukraine fearing prosecution. As we’ve mentioned above, during the 2019 Presidential elections, candidate backed by Mr. Kolomoyskyi - won and thus, Kolomoyskyi has returned to Ukraine from Switzerland and is once again tightening his grip over Ukraine’s economy. He is pushing for Ukraine to give up on the West and turn back towards Russia (source), default on its loans (source), and is furthermore trying to seize back his bank (source).
Right now, Ukraine and American justice have a common problem. That is why we chose this case to show you the general influence mechanism on political processes in the US and Ukraine. And we will only be happy if you use this instruction in other related cases as well. We feel that Ukraine might need your help a few times more in the future.
Let’s say, you are a Ukrainian living in the United States and you are concerned about what is going on in your homeland. That means that you might want to help Ukraine somehow. If we are talking about helping the Ukrainian army, everything is clear: you simply choose a volunteer organization you trust and transfer them funds. And how can you help Ukraine with its internal problems? For instance, problems with oligarchy?
Good news, everyone: we have an instruction for you.
Right now, Ukraine and American justice have a common problem. We are talking about Ihor Kolomoisky. From one side, he’s got unprecedented influence on Ukrainian politics, he’s encroached on the independence of the National Bank and has directly offered an alliance with Russia. From the other side, he attracted the attention of American justice with financial misconduct. That is why we chose this case to show you the general influence mechanism on political processes in the US and Ukraine. We feel that Ukraine might need your help a few times more in the future.
Examples of letters to congresspeople
Рreview Letter 1
Preview Letter 2
Preview Letter 3
How can you help us defeat Mr. Kolomoyskyi?
We want to ask you to write an email/letter to your congressperson. It is not difficult, it does not require money and does not take much time. And it CAN help. We have already prepared 3 email templates for you, so all you need to do is to pick a template that you like, insert the email address of a relevant official and press “send email” :)
Each state has two senators. You can easily find their names and contacts via the link.
So all you have to do is find either a Senator or a Congressperson that is affiliated with your state/district and send him a letter by using one of our templates.
Our goal is to get a REPLY.
A letter that states that a Senator or a Congressperson have read your letter and is aware of Kolomoyskyi wrongdoings and that he/she will do everything in their power to punish Mr. Kolomoyskyi for his crimes. That’s the end goal.
Congresspeople contacts
Delaware
Texas
Florida
If you are interested in helping us even more - you can do the following:
- You can physically call senator/congressperson’s office and remind them that you’ve sent them a letter and you are waiting for the reply.
- You can arrange a meeting with a senator/congressperson that you’ve written a letter to.
An average meeting lasts 15-45 minutes. The conversation should focus on how the issue raised affects the state and the county. After the meeting, make sure to send a thank-you note for the meeting.
Hello everyone, my name is Krystyna Morozova and I am a project manager for this initiative.
If you have any questions regarding the letters or any other topic, please feel free to contact me through the following channels
