2014-06-0917: 48: 23 Source: Caixin. Author: Liang Fang.

From Caixin.com | Tags: Everyone

On the one hand, he shouted the slogan of joining the European Union, on the other hand, he increased the investment of his business empire in Russia. Conveniently, this can make all parties feel acceptable. No wonder both the west and Russia began to talk to him.

On May 25th, 20 14 local time, poroshenko announced his victory in a televised speech. Oriental IC related reports

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The road to transformation in post-Soviet countries is generally bumpy. After the rise of the oligarchy born from this, the question of whether he can be president has become more and more unavoidable. These oligarchs are rich and successful in their official careers, but the original accumulation of their wealth is an unavoidable stain, which is extremely conspicuous.

Different countries have made different answers.

Two years ago, when mikhail prokhorov emerged in the presidential election, Putin's power system had defeated several oligarchs, but he still insisted on his oligarchy. In Georgia, Binazi Ivanis Willy has risen to the core of the power system, although he is not the president yet. But this time in Ukraine, the people elected an oligarch poroshenko as president. Judging from the leading edge over Tymoshenko, the people have no hesitation about the oligarch becoming president.

After Putin overthrew several prominent oligarchs in Russia, this group was labeled as "unclean". However, just as Putin secretly fostered oligarchs in his own system, it is the only way for power to rely on big capital to realize political monopoly again after political monopoly no longer has a legal basis. The status of the oligarch will not be lost as a whole, and it will reach the sky one day, just like the drama being staged on poroshenko, and it is not an unimaginable myth.

Peter Poroshenko, 1965 was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and grew up in the Moldovan town of Bundra. At this time, his last name is Waltzman. Yes, his father Alexei is Jewish. Later, he and his wife took the Ukrainian surname poroshenko, and Peter changed his surname. But in Ukrainian politics, everyone knows that poroshenko is half Jewish. This is a very sensitive issue because Ukrainian political circles have always been wary of Jewish politicians. Tymoshenko, an out-and-out Ukrainian, even asked his men to compile a book listing all Jewish Ukrainian politicians, causing trouble for his political opponents. A few years ago, Forbes made a list of the world's richest Jews, and poroshenko was on the list, which made him very angry.

Vasily Berier, the personal driver when his father was the factory director, recalled Peter, who was 14 and 15 years old, to the reporter of * * Youth Pravda, saying that he had never boasted to others that his father was the factory director. What impressed his middle school classmates most was Peter's excellent memory, which made him study effortlessly and his grades were always among the best.

1982, despite the advice of his father and other relatives and friends, he insisted on applying for the major of international law and international relations at Kiev University. This is not only a popular major, but also a privileged major. Whether in Moscow University or Kiev University, this professional quota is often occupied by the "official second generation" of high-level bureaucrats. It is precisely because of difficulties that his father Alexei got a copy of Peter's diploma from the school while helping his son get a letter of recommendation from the party branch, and used it to apply for Odessa Naval Academy for his son. This is to prepare for his son's possible failure in Kiev University, and he chose this military school because his father saw that his son wanted to work abroad.

As a result, Peter was admitted to both schools. He went to Kiev to attend his favorite university, but his father Alexei was caught in corruption and abuse of power.

The plunder of public property has always existed before and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, but it has different manifestations in different periods. If "insider trading" is reflected in the privatization process after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, it is reflected in the small-scale embezzlement of enterprise materials and profits before the disintegration. Poroshenko and his son are only typical of two eras. The difference is that his father went to prison and his son became a powerful oligarch.

Alexei began to lead the "Bondra Experimental Maintenance Factory" from 1977, during which he used his authority to lie about the workload and defraud the bonus. This made him accumulate a lot of personal wealth, but he never showed it. People in the factory have never seen the director richer than others. After his son went to college, he was transferred to Moldova agricultural assembly factory as the director. He stole the cable from there and used the cheap wine he bought to sell bootleg wine. He was arrested at the border of Sufen in 1985 when he was smuggling alcohol to Finland.

Combined punishment for several crimes, he was sentenced to five years in a reform-through-labour camp. The charges include "lying about the completion of the work plan", "anti-state behavior that damages the economy of the Soviet Union" and "stealing state property by taking advantage of his position, amounting to more than 2,000 rubles".

His father's past has become the focus of many media people, because everyone is curious about why Peter Poroshenko, who has almost no background, can enter Kiev University to study international law and international relations, which is almost the territory of the privileged class. Many people speculate that it is because his father Alexei used the money from corruption to "pave the way" for his children to enter school. Of course, this is just a guess.

When his father went to the labor camp, Peter Poroshenko felt miserable. But he had a good time in Kiev. In his sophomore year, he married the daughter of the Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine. He practiced judo very well and had a "glorious story" when he was in military service in college. In the fight caused by the veterans bullying the recruits, a partner named Connonenko accompanied him all the way. This college student who came from Autoroad University in Kiev for military service has become a business partner that poroshenko will rely on in the future. In the future business road of poroshenko, their former comrades-in-arms and classmates have become their farmland teams.

In the fifth year of college, he and his partners began to use the knowledge of international trade they learned at school to help Soviet enterprises conclude import and export contracts and help them apply for bank letters of credit. Through this business, he earned the first one million rubles and bought himself a Volga car. After graduating from college, he began to use the barter trade prevailing in the Soviet Union at that time to resell goods in short supply, and it was the cocoa beans he imported that made him start a business. At that time, the whole Soviet Union could not eat domestic chocolate, because no enterprise imported cocoa beans from abroad. He made his first million dollars through these businesses. This experience is exactly the same as that of other oligarchs in the same period, whether in Ukraine or Russia.

Members of poroshenko's business team praised his leadership in future interviews. Cononenco said that poroshenko occupied a controlling position in every business, but his leadership was never questioned. He is also very proud of the atmosphere of mutual trust within the team. He said that they were the only merchant group that did not disintegrate at that time.

1992, a "flag war" broke out in Moldova, and poroshenko rushed to Bondra, taking his father and mother who had completed labor reform to Ukraine to escape the war. 1 year later, he and his partners established the "Ukrainian Industrial Investment Group". From then until the end of 1990s, poroshenko merged a series of enterprises and companies and incorporated them into the lineup of "Ukrainian Industrial Investment Group". These industries cover food industry, shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing, agriculture, banking, fitness centers and other fields. Among them, Luoshen Group is the largest candy manufacturer in Ukraine, and its products are exported to the whole CIS. Bogda Group produces Volga, Hyundai and Kia brands of cars and Circles buses. Lenin Furnace Company is a well-known enterprise that produces various types of ships, including warships.

By the end of 1990s, poroshenko had basically established his own business empire, and he had become one of the richest people in Ukraine.

Like other oligarchs, poroshenko also achieved the rapid expansion of its business empire in 1990s. Of course, this is inseparable from the privatization policy pursued by then President Kuchma. Under this policy, Poroshenko acquired a series of state-owned candy production enterprises in Ukraine at a very low price, and established "Roshen" on the basis of them. His automobile and shipbuilding industries are also inseparable from this privatization policy. Like Yeltsin's privatization, the essence of Ukrainian privatization is also a series of "enfeoffment" within the power group. Here, we only follow the closeness of power relations and have nothing to do with any commercial competition. This political and business logic has been monopolized in the CIS countries until now, which has just become a major reason for the weak economic development in these countries.

Of course, this contrast with his father Alexei is even more striking. The son's practice is even more brutal plunder, but it has been recognized by the ruler. My father spent five years in a reform-through-labour camp, when he brought thousands of rubles to the country.

By poroshenko's own admission, it would be difficult for anyone to succeed in the 1990s without a strong network of contacts. And this so-called network, of course, is a close relationship with those in power. In 200 1 year, poroshenko, who had just entered the political arena, became one of the founders of President Kuchma's first political party, the Regional Party. This position is no small matter. If it corresponds to Russian politics, his position is very similar to that of 1999, when berezovsky, the "Bishop in Grey", formed the "unification party" for Yeltsin and Putin. Of course, this position was not achieved in one day, which explains why poroshenko's business empire has expanded rapidly in the past few years.

During his ten years as president, Kuchma deliberately pursued a series of privatization policies, because he has regarded big capital as his power pillar. This is exactly the same as Yeltsin's choice. Among many oligarchs, poroshenko is one who appreciates it very much. Poroshenko once revealed to a reporter that as early as 1999, Kuchma suggested that he be the governor of Vinnitsa, but he refused.

He is only 34 years old.

Taking stock of poroshenko's political road, we can see his excellent betting ability and ability to balance various forces. Just as he occupied a prominent position in Kuchma's power system, he began to approach Yushchenko, then prime minister. In 200 1 year, the relationship between Kuchma and Yushchenko broke down, and the latter was dismissed as prime minister. Poroshenko openly opposed the decision, which made Kuchma extremely angry. The President once asked poroshenko face to face whether he really opposed the removal of Yushchenko, and he gave a positive answer without hesitation. In the parliamentary election in 2002, poroshenko simply went to the opposite side of the president, led Yushchenko's political party "Our Ukraine" to participate in the election, and won in one fell swoop.

Kuchma began to put pressure on poroshenko's business, but in 2003, he extended an olive branch to poroshenko and offered him the position of deputy prime minister, as long as he left Yushchenko and returned to his side. However, poroshenko refused again.

Exasperated, Kuchma began the process of destroying poroshenko's business empire. Poroshenko's natural gas exploitation business was cancelled, Bogdahn Group, which produces automobiles, was removed from the list of state-supported enterprises, and Lenin Furnace, which built shipbuilding, failed to merge the privatized state-owned Hellson Shipyard as planned. His bank was almost deprived, and the whole "Ukrainian industrial investment group" was subjected to government tax investigation. All this will remind people of Putin's suppression of Khodorkovsky.

Poroshenko once recalled that this was a devastating blow.

But he still did not give in, and persisted until the victory of the "Orange Revolution" in 2004. Kuchma and his successor Yanukovych stepped down, and Yushchenko and his ally Tymoshenko came to power. poroshenko was one of the most important funders of this revolution, just as he helped to form a "regional party".

Many people admire poroshenko's political foresight and leave the system to join the opposition. At that time, there were not many oligarchs or rich people who did this.

As a great hero of the revolution, Poroshenko had hoped to be the prime minister in the new government, but Tymoshenko took the position. This opened a chapter in his struggle with Tymoshenko. He was appointed by Yushchenko as the secretary of the National Security and Defense Committee of Ukraine. This gives it real power in powerful departments. He was accused of using this power to build the committee into a new KGB. Poroshenko did use this position to expand his political and commercial sphere of influence. One of the most influential accusations comes from Verkhovna Rada Congressman Kolesnikov. He revealed that in 2005, poroshenko told the former privately that someone was going to assassinate him and the leader of the oligarchy in eastern Ukraine, Ahmed Dov. But as long as Ah Majdov hands over several of his own industries and "transfers" 15-20 members of the Verkhovna Rada's "A Majdov family" to poroshenko's troops, the two can avoid the bloody catastrophe.

After the scandal broke out, the whole country was in uproar.

In 2008 and 20 10, Kuchma's successor Yanukovych made a comeback with the "regional party" and returned to the ruling position. It stands to reason that poroshenko, a "traitor", should be liquidated. But unexpectedly, he was appointed as the foreign minister of Ukraine by Yanukovych. This reminds people of Kuchma, who was betrayed by poroshenko, and suggested that he be the deputy prime minister.

Poroshenko's "balancing technique" is amazing, because he is in the Ukrainian political arena where political strangulation and liquidation are extremely harsh.

In the Yanukovych system, he once again became a figure in the system. However, when the 20 14 revolution resumed, he once again became the patron of the revolution, pointing his finger at Yanukovych. This time, he succeeded in gambling again.

This success is different from the past. He became president himself.

Why can poroshenko be president as an oligarch? He has a stain that oligarchs must have: the brutal misappropriation of property in privatization. As a politician in the post-Soviet countries, he also has a common stain: the bottomless struggle between politicians. But some advantages are enough for oligarchs to overcome these stains and be accepted by voters: successful business operation ability, good governance concept, and the image of convincing people of this concept. The former has obvious performance on Khodorkovsky and prokhorov, and both of them can be supported. So is poroshenko. It is no accident that his "Rochen" group ranks among the top 20 candy producers in the world. The latter point is not available to Poroshenko. Voters know his past like the back of their hands. However, the current special situation in Ukraine determines that it is also acceptable to the people. Today, Ukraine lacks a person who can balance the forces of all parties, which is exactly what Poroshenko is good at.

During the Kuchma era, the relations between the eastern and western parts of Ukraine and between Ukraine and Russia and Europe were very stable. That's because the president is very clear about the way to balance: he advocates joining Europe, but he has increased his ties with Russia and shouted pro-Russian slogans to the people in the east, but he did not forget to add several officials from the West who urged him to join the European Union. But when the "orange revolution" happened, this balance was broken, Ukraine began to be either east or west, and the country became more and more turbulent until it was in danger of cracking the soil.

To restore this balance, poroshenko is indeed a good candidate. It's true. On the one hand, he shouted the slogan of joining the European Union, on the other hand, he increased the investment of his business empire in Russia. Conveniently, this can make all parties feel acceptable. No wonder both the west and Russia began to talk to him.

But at the same time, an oligarch representative succeeded in becoming the head of state, which is a very symbolic event. I'm afraid that oligarchs who already have considerable influence in post-Soviet countries will eventually gain corresponding political status, and the election of poroshenko may be an important node. ■

Liang Fang is a researcher on Russian political issues. The original title of this article, "The Story of poroshenko-The Story of Ukrainian Political Elite II", was authorized by Tencent Renren and edited by Dai Jinfeng. Unauthorized reproduction is not allowed.