haaretz | But none of this is surprising, considering the fashion in which Kolomoisky built his business empire. He now has to fight both to maintain it and for an opportunity to expand in the future, and he seems to be relishing the challenge. What has astonished even those who know him well is how the oligarch – who previously preferred to operate far from the public eye – has taken to his new, exposed role. In the first week of his governorship in April, he held a press conference in which he made no bones about blaming Putin for Ukraine’s crisis.
In his colorful, often expletive-laden monologues, he said the Russian president was a “psychopath,” a “schizophrenic of short stature” who is “completely inadequate, totally insane. His messianic drive to recreate the Russian empire of 1913 or the U.S.S.R. of 1991 could plunge the world into catastrophe.” It became a personal feud between the outspoken businessman and the former KGB officer. Putin responded a day later, at a press conference in Moscow, calling Kolomoisky a “unique crook” and questioning the motives of the Kiev government to appoint “such a scoundrel. Now this crook is appointed governor of Dnepropetrovsk. No wonder the people are dissatisfied.”
To add spice, Putin told reporters how Kolomoisky had allegedly swindled “our oligarch,” Roman Abramovich (the London-based, Jewish owner of Chelsea Football Club), in a multimillion dollar business deal.
Playing oligarchs off each other is a sport in which Putin is a recognized grandmaster. But in Kolomoisky he is up against a formidable foe, one who is, for now, outside his reach. And when the Kremlin made him a target of their propaganda, they only added to his popularity in Ukraine.
Kipperman is not worried by the feud with Moscow. “Putin is paying the separatists, who are terrorists and criminals – this will bring about his downfall, while we have stabilized the situation in Ukraine.”
After years of remaining in the shadows, Kolomoisky seems to be enjoying his newfound notoriety. Unlike other oligarchs who, once they made their fortunes, tried to construct suave new personas for themselves – learning English and acquiring a wardrobe of tailored suits – Kolomoisky is still happy to conduct his business in a T-shirt and sweatpants, and is not a habituĂ© of fancy restaurants. He also disdains gadgets, proudly owning an old Nokia cellphone on which he makes his calls.
It is fascinating to compare Kolomoisky with another Ukrainian-Jewish billionaire, Victor Pinchuk, who a month ago held the annual Yalta European Strategy conference of his private foundation. Statesmen such as Tony Blair, academic superstars and journalists rubbed shoulders in an ornate arts palace and heard lectures on the future of Europe, while Kolomoisky was cloistered with his inner circle in smoke-filled rooms drinking vodka. Pinchuk is the cosmopolitan, suave oligarch who hangs out with international celebrities such as the Clintons and Elton John, and is proud of having featured on Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people list. Kolomoisky, on the other hand, prefers to stick with his reputation as a street fighter.
‘Don’t go anywhere’
Neither has his new position made him give up his colorful and blunt way of talking. Anonymous sources leaked a phone conversation between him and Oleg Tsarov, a pro-Russia parliamentarian who had fled to Moscow. In it, Kolomoisky, swearing and cursing throughout, told Tsarov that following the death of a member of Dnipropetrovsk’s Jewish community – a militia member killed in the fighting in the eastern city of Mariupol – a $1 million reward had been put on Tsarov’s head. “They will be looking for you everywhere,” he says in the tape. “Don’t go anywhere.” Kolomoisky had no problem confirming that the tape, most likely recorded by Russian intelligence, was authentic, though he claimed he wasn’t threatening Tsarov.
Though not religiously observant, Kolomoisky has been proud of his Jewish identity. Together with fellow oligarch Gennadiy Bogolyubov, he has built the largest Jewish community center in the world in central Dnipropetrovsk – a massive complex that includes a synagogue, library, conference halls, three hotels, kosher restaurants and a supermarket. He served as the president of the one of the organizations competing to represent Ukraine Jewry – the United Jewish Community of Ukraine – and as president of the European Council of Jewish Communities. The center’s seven connected menorah towers stick out on Dnipropetrovsk’s skyline like a middle finger to the Communists and Nazis who tried to exterminate the local Jewish community, today prospering in a country that knew so many centuries of persecution and pogroms.
He has been mentioned as a possible buyer of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club and was an investor in the short-lived JN1 cable news station, which offered news on Israel and the Jewish world. Some of the journalists who were employed there are now working for a new news channel launched by Kolomoisky – Ukraine Today, which has been set up specifically to counter the Kremlin-directed Russia Today network, which is extremely hostile to Ukraine.
Despite repeated warnings of anti-Semitic attacks in Ukraine following the revolution, many Jewish leaders have come out in support of the new Kiev government. Dozens of prominent Jewish figures signed an open letter to Putin in March, calling upon him to stop interfering in Ukrainian politics and urging him to refrain from accusing the new government of being anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi.
But while Kolomoisky is one of the leaders of this surge of Ukrainian patriotism among the country’s Jews, his prominence has still made him subject to criticism. Not all Jewish leaders are happy with the role he has played in recent months. “Jews shouldn’t be involved in politics in such a way,” says one community leader, who asked not to be named. “There is enough anti-Semitism here without making us into more obvious targets.”
“Putin is here to stay,” said another. “We don’t have to pick fights with him.” Yuri Kipperman defended his partner, though, noting, “The Jewish leadership helped to make sure the elections took place safely. We were doing our duty.”
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