For the younger generation in Ukraine, Victor Pinchuk is likely a powerful and positive figure. He is the focus of the second part of the Kyiv Post’s Oligarch Watch series in today’s edition.
Pinchuk is known for his arts center. He’s known for helping students study abroad. He’s pledged to give away most of his billion-dollar fortune (although the pledge does not apply to relatives to whom he could transfer his wealth). He’s known for bringing music legends Elton John and Paul McCartney to Ukraine.
He’s known for splurging by putting on Ukraine’s best conference every year (outside of the Kyiv Post Tiger Conference).
But the question for those with extensive knowledge of Pinchuk has always been: Has he really changed, and put Ukraine’s interests first, or are his efforts merely part of his sustained campaign to improve his reputation, protect his father-in-law, ex-President Leonid Kuchma and overcome his guilt for past sins?
There’s some evidence for both arguments – and perhaps the truth lies in between.
Pinchuk’s philanthropy is reaping rewards. Members of parliament Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska, Alex Ryabchyn and Alyona Skhrum were scholarship recipients of Pinchuk’s WorldWideStudies program – as 80 others were. They are positive forces, as are former Pinchuk employees, lawmaker Olga Bielkova and deputy prime minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.
But there is no getting around the fact that much of Pinchuk’s fortune was made during the kleptocratic rule of Kuchma from 1994-2005. Ukraine under Kuchma was a living hell for millions of needlessly impoverished and repressed citizens. Kuchma did nothing to strengthen the state or put it on a democratic course. If not for popular revulsion, he would have tried to stay in office for a third term.
Kuchma remains the top suspect in ordering the 2000 murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze. Pinchuk used his media holdings to defend his father-in-law and attack Kuchma’s enemies. The best that can be said about his shameless use of his media assets is that Pinchuk is loyal to a fault.
As much as Pinchuk tries to convince the world he’s changed, past misdeeds drag him back. To show his true colors, he should stop trying to be friends with everyone in power and start acting on principle. He should break ranks with fellow oligarchs, come clean with the past, sell his TV stations and courageously put forth his vision for a democratic, rule-of-law, European future. The time for timidity is over. He will find the human capacity for forgiveness and support is enormous, but only for people who truly repent and change their ways.
