The more scrutiny that is applied to presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the worse he is holding up.
There are the increasingly obvious and troubling connections to billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, including at a Zelenskiy campaign headquarters in Kyiv, in which such Kolomoisky associates as lawyer Andriy Bohdan are regular fixtures. It, however, is not a secret location as the investigation implied. The address, 7 Novoselitska St., in the Pechersk District in Kyiv is where Kyiv Post and other journalists are sent to meet with the candidate and his representatives. There’s also an office on the second floor of the Olympisky Trade Center.
There is his dubious choice of Eurolab to test whether he has alcohol or drug addictions. It is owned by Andriy Palchevsky, a Ukrainian businessman, broadcaster and political figure with ties to Russia. He owns this lab through offshore companies and a Russian national partner, in a complicated structure that seems designed to avoid taxes, as a great investigation by Kyiv Post staff writer Jack Laurenson shows. At the least, the objectivity of the tests by Eurolab is in question with a pro-Zelenskiy supporter as owner.
And then there is the candidate’s increasingly questionable behavior himself.
While he surrounds himself with a group of reformers — ex-Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk, ex-Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius and lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko — how much influence they have over the candidate is questionable. They are helping Zelenskiy pump out coherent policy papers spelling out sound anti-corruption principles and a strategy for ending Russia’s war. But their presence looks more and more like window-dressing.
Kolomoisky, who cost taxpayers $5.6 billion through alleged bank fraud before the state took over PrivatBank in 2016, does indeed appear to have more than just a business relationship with Zelenskiy, whose comedy programs appear on Kolomoisky’s popular 1+1 channel.
Zelenskiy needs to show convincingly and quickly that he is independent of Kolomoisky if he wants to get elected president on April 21. He is currently failing on that score.
Moreover, it is troubling that the Kremlin is salivating over the prospects of Zelenskiy as president. Endorsements from the odious anti-Ukrainian Russian lawmaker Volodymyr Zhirinovsky and Kremlin chief propagandist Dmytriy Kiselev may be enough to send people voting to Poroshenko.
Finally, Zelenskiy doesn’t seem to want to be president — certainly not with the vigor that Poroshenko is holding onto the job. He is treating the prospect too lightly.
This is why Ukraine needs to see Zelenskiy and Poroshenko debate, hopefully, more than once, but definitely on April 19, two days before the election.
Zelenskiy desperately needs to answer questions about his personal finances, the financing of his campaign and the role that Kolomoisky advisers will play in any administration.
In the meantime, Poroshenko is hitting the airwaves daily, making a strong case that he is the only one of the two candidates who will stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is difficult to imagine Zelenskiy being as tough on Putin, or talking with Ukraine’s Western allies to keep sanctions intact against Russia and financial assistance strong to Ukraine.
On national security issues alone, Poroshenko is the safest choice.
The hope of Zelenskiy supporters is that Putin will moderate his aggression and strike a deal to end the war if he gets the hated Poroshenko out of office.
It could go entirely the other way, however: Putin, sensing weakness, could move to slice off another piece of Ukraine, beyond the parts of the Donbas and the Crimean peninsula that he already controls.
The election may not be decided on foreign policy, however.
Poroshenko’s biggest weaknesses remain corruption and the slow growth of the economy.
Ukrainians don’t think he’s done enough to combat and won’t do enough in a second term. They also see that oligarchic privileges and immunity are still in place.
It is far from certain, however, that Zelenskiy will do any better on the economy or in the corruption fight.
So that’s where things stand 12 days before the big April 21 election: big question marks about the front-runner, and more revelations yet to come. And Ukrainians are going into the vote with many unanswered questions about the person that, judging from the March 31 vote, they are about to elect to the most powerful office in the nation.
