Original interview by Serhiy Leshchenko, UP

Translated by Eugene Ivantsov

Ukrayinska Pravda starts a series of interviews with the heads of campaign headquarters of the three favorites in the upcoming election.

Borys Kolesnikov who runs the Party of Regions election headquarters is the first to tell Ukrayinska Pravda about his vision of the election campaign. Besides, an interview with Oleksandr Turchunov who controls the BYuT election campaign is being redacted now.

Also, head of Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense campaign headquarters Viktor Baloha agreed to give interview to Ukrayinska Pravda but this meeting was postponed twice.

Mr. Kolesnikov is becoming a public politician although it is very hard for him as like for all ‘donetskies’. Yet, he assumed responsibility for the party campaign headquarters having become the party’s spokesman.

Previously, these were two different positions. Tyhypko and Kushnaryov always spoke at the press conferences while non-public Klyuev and Dzharty ran the campaign headquarters.

Kolesnikov shares his receiving office with Rayisa Bohatyryova. This tandem implements Rynat Akhmeov’s policy in the party.

– What is your today’s forecast regarding the PRU chances at the election held on September 30, 2007?

– Last time we received about 32%. This time we want more. It will depend on whether or not voters will like our ideas and on how successful our election campaign will be. We always gave only real promises.

– Well, it is doubtful. At recent election the PRU promised “improvement of your living standards right away.”

– Have you been to the US? Their food is twice cheaper than in Europe while the salaries are higher. But if you ask ordinary Americans whether they felt any improvements their answers will be very ambiguous. However, we can only dream of such living standards.

Look at macro- and microeconomic indexes. We improved Ukraine’s economy as much as possible.

You may hate Mr. Azarov but he is a top specialist. He has balanced the situation in the national markets.

– Have American spin doctors invited by the PRU proved to be effective?

– There is not a single party in the world that can win the election itself. There is a group of people who worked with us at the recent election, and we had the first position. Spin doctors contributed much to our victory.

– Do you claim that the Party of Regions is a ‘transparent’ party?

– Yes, I do.

– Don’t you think that you ought to make public the price charged by the US spin doctors?

– Transparence of the party is transparence of the decision making. No political party in Ukraine will break its commercial secret.

– Do you think that the PRU members do not want to know how you spend their membership fees?

– The party spends sponsor’s money on the US spin doctors.

– Do you mean Rynat Akhmetov’s money?

– Why Mr. Akhmetov? We have the entire industrial elite on our list.

– It is believed that Rynat Akhmetov became even more influential in the PRU at this election. What is his influence on the party?

– His influence consists of his merits and achievements. Rynat Akhmetov is the man who ‘made his bones’ himself. I think it is the most valuable experience ever. Mr. Akhmetov deserved his respect in Ukraine, in Dobnas. Millions of FC Shakhtar fans respect him. Of course he cannot be considered an ordinary party member.

– Is it true that having chaired the party campaign headquarters you fired some people for stealing from the party?

– I am neither investigator nor the prosecutor to accuse anyone of stealing. Those people were not professional enough as they were not able to meet the party’s demands. So, I discharged about 20% of the staff.

– What is the PRU election budget?

– I cannot talk about that. Our budget sizes up to Our Ukraine and the BYuT budgets. This trinity will spend almost the same money for agitation.

– Is it true that you had a conflict with Andriy Klyuev which resulted in suspension of the latter from the party affairs?

– We do have divergence of view with Andriy Klyuev. We have always argued. We have different approaches and opinions regarding the election campaign. But such hot discussions are very useful.

– What happens after the parliamentary election? Do you think that it is possible that the president will refuse to submit the nomination for the PM proposed by the coalition?

– I think that the president has no moral right to reject this nomination as provided by the Constitution. Besides, the president has stated in public that he will submit any nomination proposed by the coalition.

– Do you believe the president?

– I will be disappointed is he fails to fulfill this promise.

– Do you believe Mr. Yushchenko is general?

– I cannot say I do, but let’s talk about it after the election so it does not sound as the pre-election rhetoric. He made several promises which he failed to fulfill.

His social promises are another problem. In terms of economy these promises are moronic. I am sick and tired of repeating that creation of a million jobs requires $50 billion investments in economy every year.

– After Yuriy Lutsenko headed Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense Bloc it became obvious that it will complicate formation of a broad coalition because of your conflict with Mr. Lutsenko.

– I have no conflict with Yuriy Lutsenko. I had a conflict with then Interior Minister who abused power.

If Mr. Lutsenko was, say, the Minister for Social Security and abused power in this office to score electoral points it would be more or less understandable.

No personal conflicts can be the obstacle for the long-term political unions aimed at building a prosperous country.

– Are you ready to shake hands with Lutsenko in public?

– I have not thought about it. I have more serious problems. His team alerts me a little bit because this team will implement European democratic values under the command of a man who has completely discredited them.

– By the way, your old vis-à-vis Hennadiy Moskal was also included on Our Ukraine party list…

– Well, Moskal is an old Soviet policeman. He passed through all stages of corruption: from a bottle of cognac to millions of dollars. He will defend democracy? Oh, that’s a laugh!

– But you are going to form a coalition with this party.

– We are not going to form anything now. We are going to sweep the election. And then we will see.

– Do you agree that the broad coalition is no way-out from the permanent crisis in the country?

– The best way out for us is an effective collaboration for the sake of the country’s development. It does not matter what kind of coalition it will be. If you have been promised “improvement of your living standards right away” you are not interested in macroeconomic indexes.

Current coalition format is the most suitable because it combines models of a liberal market promoted by the Party of Regions and the social securities which are the program cornerstone of our left-wing partners.

Why did the USSR lose ideological war to the West? The problem is that the USSR always pursued interests of the state while interests of a family were more important in the West. The PRU will always be attentive to interests of an ordinary family and its welfare. That will be the main criterion. No macroeconomic indexes can substitute it.

We need to carry out reforms. Once Winston Churchill told Nikita Khrushchev: “Mr. Khrushchev, no one ever managed to jump over the precipice in two steps. Either you keep implementing structural reforms or better do nothing otherwise you will ruin the country.” One can repeat this to Mr. Yushchenko, word to word.

– You promised “improvement of our living standards right away” a year ago. It is not happening. Prices and communal tariffs are up which makes increase of pensions and wages senseless.

– Let’s see how many automobiles have been purchased during the recent six months.

– You do understand that growth of automobile sales depends on the increasing banking loans programs and that has nothing to do with Yanukovych’s government!

– I can argue that. People believed in our country. If they are not afraid to take banking loans they are sure of their financial stability.

Besides, the country has never seen such an automobile boom! How many apartments have been sold for the recent year? What happened to foodstuffs market?

There is a funny example based on the personal experience. 10-12 years ago Ukraine consumed 10 times less chocolate. It is an expensive product. But its production and sales are keep growing. Ten years ago cookies and caramel were the basis of the confectionary industry. Today, leading companies like Roshen, Konti, ABK, Craft Jacobs and Nestle mainly produce chocolate. Isn’t it an indicator of our well-being?

– You cannot claim it is Yanukovych’s merit.

– But I don’t. I am not saying that the sun is rising because of the wise government policy! But without any doubt Yanukovych’s government has stabilized the situation. What is the government’s merit? It really balanced revenues and the expenditure budget.

Azarov will never afford ungrounded wage raise, like it 2005.

– Do you think he will stay in the Cabinet? Or will he maybe retire?

– I see no reasons for him to retire. It depends on him and his desire to work.

– Does Borys Kolesnikov have claims for PM? Maybe not now. But generally speaking…

– All personal ambitions harm the person and also his team. That is why I have no ambitions.

– But why? Every president writes in his memoirs that he has always had ambitions of becoming the president.

– Ambitions must be reasonable and well as optimism. I am ready for the teamwork. Let this team assign a mission for me. It is not an end in itself for me. That is for sure.

– Don’t you think that not knowing the Ukrainian language will prevent you from the full self-realization in the executive power?

– I can speak Ukrainian. (speaks Ukrainian while he was speaking Russian during the whole interview)

– But you do not speak this language out of principle.

– I speak my mother tongue. Some schizophrenic politicians consider Ukrainian language their key virtue. I think that the Russian-speaking people contributed much to Ukraine’s independence and welfare. No one prevents Russian-speaking Ukraine from thinking about our Motherland in Russian.

– Tell us about your relations with Baloha.

– I would not say that I have deep relations with him. But during the crisis Baloha did everything possible to make negotiations fruitful for Ukraine in general and the political forces in particular. So, I have normal relations with Baloha.

– Many experts believe that the following formula is quite real: Baloha – PM, while the PRU receives the speaker’s office. Do you like it?

– I am convinced that the PM’s office will go to the political force that will win the election.

I repeat that we were ready for a broad coalition in 2006. We made the initial offer and had no claims for the PM. Certain political forces took advantage of this offer, bargained with each other and as a result appeared in the opposition.

That is why I have no doubts that the PRU is ready for a broad coalition with any political force ready to support our goals.

– It would be naïve to think that the PRU did not discuss possible collaboration in the new Verkhovna Rada with the president after he had dissolved parliament. It is political nearsightedness then.

– Firstly, I am not an ophthalmologist. Secondly, there is nothing to discuss. We hear only hypocritical statements from the Orange…

– Do you mean Lutsenko’s address to Mr. Yanukovych at NU-NS congress: “Hey man, it is time you must take responsibility for what you have said!?”

– Have you heard any PRU member or government official talking speaking this way about our opponents?

– Azarov ‘destroys’ Tymoshenko at every press conference.

– But he does it without using vulgar language. Sometimes it seems that the Orange team has served 15-year sentence in prison. Reading their interviews and watching their press conferences one can see that they are either mesmerized by Shanson Radio (songs about criminals) or they have serious mental disease.

– But you also like Radio Shanson, don’t you?

– I can’t say I hate Shanson. But I also like Retro-FM, Melodia, Russian Radio. Tastes differ. I like Quen, Bon Jovi. But some people like songs about criminals.

– You mood suggests that you are not ready for the opposition because you expect to be in authority in the near future.

– It is the same if to ask any team before the game: “Are you ready to lose? Do you consent to 0:5?”

– Your rivals want to outcompete you altogether.

– Yes. But still they lose us 4-6%. That is why the opposition still cannot get us.

By the way, the PRU was in opposition and we are not afraid of being in opposition. The PRU ideas are a million times stronger than destructive ideas of our opponents.

– It would be difficult for you to form a coalition without Socialists. But appearance of former socialists Derkach and Kunchenko in your party list shows that even the Socialist Party does not believe in such a coalition.

– I would not dump the SPU. Do you remember election-2002 when the SPU had very low rating having afterwards received so many seats in parliament that nobody ever expected? Gallup Polls may be 1-2% wrong forecasting results for the large parties. But it is different with smaller parties.

– But the SPU is angry with you. They say that you consented to this election having thereby betrayed the SPU…

– It was a goodwill gesture from Mr. Yanukovych and the PRU in order to save territorial integrity and peace in Ukraine.

– The crisis deepened with the attempts to fire Prosecutor General Piskun. When the relevant decree was issued and it became hot in the Prosecutor General’s Office you were among the first to come to support Mr. Piskun. They say that Piskun had already accepted his resignation but returned to the Prosecutor General’s Office under your pressure.

– When we heard about the whole story with Mr. Piskun we came to the Prosecutor General’s Office with Rayisa Bohatyryova. Then we spent some time walking at the blocked entrance to the building.

When we finally got inside all doors were already closed. The Prosecutor General’s Office was seized by the State Guard Service whose representatives were wearing civilian clothes. This army looked just ridiculous.

When we came up to the third storey Mr. Piskun was about to return to his office.

Kolesnikov and Tsushko storming the Prosecutor General’s Office. Photo by Kommersant

– How can you comment on the events of May 27 when Mr. Yanukovych consented to an early election to be held on September 30? Was a forceful scenario possible?

– Overcoming the political crisis was the most important for us.

Look, I like post-Maidan Ukrainian mass media but why don’t the journalists write about Interior Forces coming to Kyiv back then? Ask the governors: “How many buses and police unit did the President order?”

That could have been ridiculous if it had not been so serious! It was a shame because Ukraine showed the world it was always ready for forceful measure and the state of emergency.

– But these complaints about the Interior Forces can be addressed to the current government as well…

– …as well as to the Commander-in-chief and the Defense Minister.

– Early election was caused by MPs leaving the opposition to join the coalition. Do you think it will be possible in future parliament?

– It is not democratic to forbid MPs to change factions. Our pseudo-democratic forces use both conclusions of the Venetian Commission and Stalin’s Constitution. It is ridiculous.

– But there is no practice of bribing MPs in the Western democracies…

– There is the practice of implementing reforms in the critical situations instead of blaming each other of bribing MPs.

Do you remember our opponents saying the following about our party list: “That is the list of prisoners?” This was said by the person who earned his political dividends through repressions and frauds. What did the BYuT members say about their list? “This is the most fabulous and wonderful list ever!”

But then, people from Our Ukraine and the BYuT started leaving their factions. And now it turns out that the country must have another election because they included dishonest and dishonorable people on their lists? Obviously, it was all about to create a new sponsor’s fund and a new list.

But this looks like earning money but not promoting democracy. At least I think so.