You're reading: Poroshenko: Will not run in 2015 race

Ukraine’s chocolate king, politician, ex-minister of foreign affairs and supervisory board chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine has an impressive array of assets.

Petro Poroshenko arrives in a golden Mercedes with a driver and guards. His schedule is tight, but the Kyiv Post nonetheless gets 35 minutes of energetic conversation.

He is co-owner of Ukrprominvest, which includes the Bogdan auto company, the Roshen confectionery, Channel 5 and – in a recent acquisition – KP Media, the publisher of Korrespondent magazine and the korrespondent.net news site.

According to the Ukrainian version of Forbes, the 45-year-old Poroshenko is the 13th richest Ukrainian with wealth estimated at $866 million.

In this interview, while fiddling with beads in his hands, he talked about his new acquisitions, whether he wants to become president of Ukraine, corruption, free speech and why he doesn’t eat chocolate, even his own.

KP: Do you like chocolate?

PP: I love chocolate. But I don’t eat it. In 1998, after quite tense parliamentarian elections, I fell sick with diabetes. But sometimes, when nobody is looking, I … (smiles).

KP: Do you produce chocolate for people with diabetes?

PP: No. It’s easier to eat a little bit of a natural product, for example, Roshen chocolate, than to eat a substitute of it for people with diabetes.

KP: You recently bought Korrespondent magazine, Bigmir.net internet portal and Korrespondent.net news website. Why? Are you looking for mouthpieces for your political carrier?

PP: I have a partner, Boris Lozhkin, a media manager. It is comfortable to work with him. These acquisitions were made after detailed analysis. Unfortunately, these are not the best times for media in Ukraine. Profitability is declining due to many factors, including political ones. Investors are leaving Ukraine.

When I learned that negotiations were under way with respect to selling and buying Korrespondent, I met with [former KP Media owner, American] Jed [Sunden]. In my view, the value of KP Media is in the high professionalism of its team.

Why is Korrespondent the leader? Because it blows up unchecked sensations? No. The key [to its success] is a high level of trust with its readers and Internet users. My priority is to preserve this.

A key condition for investment into Korrespondent was preserving such editorial policy. Thus, we signed a contract with Jed, according to which he is personally responsible for providing this editorial policy, along with editors.

KP: Nevertheless, media does not bring profits as big as other businesses.


PP:
If it is well-structured, it brings profits … transparent profits, from advertising and sales.

KP: Do your other businesses suffer because you own mass media? Do you receive some calls from someone?

PP: I can get calls and I do get them.

KP: Does it affect you?

PP: Me? Theoretically it can. So far it hasn’t, but theoretically, it can. It can’t affect Korrespondent. Because, you know, my mission is to serve as that shield, that lightning rod, if you wish, when calls get to me but go no further.

My position is very simple: if someone wants to discuss the content, one can easily contact Jed and do it with him, because these functions are his, according to the contract. As far as I know nobody has called him so far.

KP: Will you run for president?

PP: It’s a long time until the presidential elections [scheduled for 2015.] So far, I don’t see any possibilities or necessity to do anything. There are enough candidates for presidency without me that today are trying to offer something to people.

KP: Do you fully exclude running for president?

PP:
I am 45 years old. People have become president in Ukraine after reaching 60 or so. I can reassure you that in 2015, I exclude any possibility of taking part in the elections.

KP: What will be your next political move?

PP: I don’t know. It will largely depend on the political situation. I am a versatile and self-sufficient person that that can afford not being in politics while remaining a public figure and expressing my opinion no matter what political winds are blowing.

KP: But as a businessman and politician, don’t you feel an increase in corruption and tax pressure?

PP:
Yes. I feel it everywhere. It has become much more difficult to conduct business in Ukraine. I would put this way: corruption has become the order of the day. This means it has become inevitable. Today we have clear tariffs and clear prices.

Only breathing is free of charge today. Drinking water without paying taxes is no longer possible. Pretty soon breathing will also become an issue.

Kyiv Post staff writer Irina Sandul can be reached at [email protected]