Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Pinchuk, Surkis, Medvedchuk keeping low profile as opposition draws hundreds of thousands to ongoing protests

eing called the Ukrainian opposition’s “Orange Revolution.”

That’s no surprise, as opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko has been calling them “bandits” during rallies, and saying they belong in jail after robbing the Ukrainian nation of its riches and suppressing democracy.

Many believe that if the opposition takes control of the government, Ukraine’s so-called “oligarchs” – who backed the candidacy of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych - could be tried for stealing state property, election fraud, and other crimes. This group includes Presidential Administration head Viktor Medvedchuk, President Leonid Kuchma’s son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk, and Donetsk-based business mogul Rinat Akhmetov, supposedly the nation’s richest man.

Central Election Commission head Serhy Kivalov is another man who might have much to lose if the opposition wins.

Where these individuals are now is unclear, with the exception of Kivalov, who according to CEC press secretary Zoya Kazanzhi is scheduled to meet with OSCE officials on the evening on Nov. 26.

Some insiders expect them to flee the country, possibly to Russia, if Yushchenko takes the presidency.

Mykhailo Pohrebinsky, a Kyiv-based political analyst who advises Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Presidential Administration Chief Viktor Medvedchuk, said Medvedchuk was in Kyiv as of Nov 25.

“I talked with him yesterday, but I don’t know for sure where he is today,” Pohrebinsky said.

A secretary at the Kyiv offices of Pinchuk’s Interpipe Corporation said that Pinchuk is in Kyiv and busy with meetings, though “he has not recently been in the office,” which is located in the Horizon Towers office building in downtown Kyiv.

Akhmetov did not respond to the Post’s inquiries by the time this report went to press.