Makar Yurievich Pasenyuk - biography, incriminating evidence, photographs. Makar Pasenyuk. “Personnel blacksmith” from ICU and financial adviser to Poroshenko How ICU was created and worked with Yanukovych

The ICU group, which only financiers and specialized journalists knew about a year ago, suddenly became famous. Of course. Not only was the current head of the NBU, Valeria Gontareva, a co-owner of the company until last summer, but ICU is now selling the president’s business, the Roshen company.

Hubs spoke with Gontareva's former partners about business, banks and the difficulties of selling Roshen.

How the company was createdICU?

Makar Pasenyuk: Me, Valeria (Gontareva - Hubs) and Konstantin (Stetsenko - Hubs) have known each other for a long time - we worked together at ING bank. We started discussing the idea of ​​our own business in 2005. They wanted to participate independently in value creation processes, but not as agents, but as principals through the creation of an asset management company. In 2006, all our discussions began to acquire some specificity and were implemented in a capital management company - ICU.

What size of the fund did you plan?

M.P. Initially, the idea was to raise a fund of $500 million, which would focus on the CIS countries and public liquid instruments. But amid the mortgage crisis in the United States in 2007-2008, the desire to give management money to new teams was limited. Instead of $500 million, we raised the first $50 million. Therefore, we were forced to return to the areas of business that we were engaged in before. Konstantin - trading, I continued to engage in investment banking business.

Did the company have three partners at once?

M.P. At the initial stage, we had another investor - the famous English hedge fund Autonomy Capital. He owned 25%. The remaining share was proportionally divided between Gontareva, me and Stetsenko. In 2009, we bought out the fund's share, which led to a proportional distribution of shares among existing shareholders.

After the buyout, did you have 33% each?

M.P. Another 10% of the company was owned by management.

Gontareva was a talking head from your company - why did this happen?

M.P. We, as professionals, complemented each other, each did his own thing, Valeria was interested in publicity, and we believed that she was good at it.

What changed in the company after Gontareva left?

M.P. The load has increased. We had to redistribute among ourselves the block of issues that Valeria dealt with. We had no choice but to go public.

Did you find out long before Gontareva left that she was leaving the company?

M.P. Everything happened very quickly, but we, of course, knew about it and she consulted with us.

Did you support her?

M.P. It seemed to us that she was the right person for this, that she would succeed, and that she wanted it herself. Although she hesitated for a long time.

Gontareva had to sell her stake in ICU.How did the deal go?

M.P. We negotiated for three days to buy her stake. In order not to destroy their business, they suggested extending payments over several years. We had no other opportunity to structure this deal and agree on a price. The first tranches have already been paid.

How much did you value the company?

M.P. I can’t name the amount, but it is not small, and this is what determines the amount of payments.

Did Valeria invite you to join her team at the NBU?

M.P. She didn't offer it. It’s already hard for us without her; if one of us leaves, it’s a big risk for the company.

Are you helping her somehow?

M.P. What we can. Basically, this is analytical support. At first, our analytical department worked very closely with the relevant department of the NBU.

For free?

M.P. Yes. It seems to us that this is important for the country, so everyone who wants to receive our expertise receives it for free.

After Gontareva’s departure, the attention of many journalists and politicians was focused on your company. Does such public attention interfere with your work?

M.P. On a personal level, this attention makes us uncomfortable, but nothing more. We do not see any changed attitude towards us from our counterparties. We are not doing anything illegal.

Last September, your company rebranded.The Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) group has changed its name to ICU. Why did you need this?

M.P. The rebranding was partly due to the departure of Gontareva - we wanted to start a new stage in the company’s activities. And the previous corporate style was created six years ago and is already outdated.

Where does the growth come from?

In 2014, you increased the total trading volume by 120% to UAH 197 billion. Due to what?

Konstantin Stetsenko: A year and a half ago, only we and a narrow professional community were interested in our ratings. We modestly hung our diplomas on the wall and no one cared about them. After certain events, people began to look for some terrible pattern in our successes, instead of looking at the structural changes that were taking place in the market. Nobody wants to discuss whether the Settlement Center (a bank that services contracts on financial markets. 77.8% of the bank is owned by the NBU - Hubs) worked correctly, and whether it really helped in turnover, and how the market has changed - why there are more exchange transactions than over-the-counter ones, but have people thought about the specifics of the brokerage business? - no one is interested in this.

So, if five years ago there were 10% of transactions on the exchange market - all the rest took place outside the exchange - now it is already 80-90% of exchange ones, respectively, if before 2014 transactions could take place without the participation of a broker, now - not. That's why our share is growing. Plus a number of competitors left the market.

Which competitors left?

M.P. Previously, the first places were occupied by system banks. They, unlike us, did not have a client business model, but a resource one. They received or issued financing through repo mechanisms and all these volumes passed through ratings. They did not trade for clients. We initially built our business as a client business, plus servicing our operations and funds.

What are the advantages of the client model?

K.S. She's different. You cannot embrace the immensity with your capital. We provide clients with the service of buying/selling bonds, closely communicating with all types of investors present in our market. We also use our capital for such operations, taking on the risk. Thus, we generally make our market more liquid. All government bonds transactions are carried out according to the principle: delivery versus payment. Without 50 million hryvnia in your account, it is difficult to buy securities worth 50 million hryvnia. If there is money, there are papers. The existing model is quite capital-intensive. We have capital and we are not afraid to invest it, because we understand the risks and know how to work. A number of brokers did not have much capital - accordingly, this was a factor that allowed us to increase our share of the brokerage market from year to year. Unlike many brokers, we conduct transactions at our own risk - we can buy securities and keep them. Our contractors appreciate us for this.

M.P. ING Bank simply banned this type of operation in 2008. Just buy and sell, without risk and without participating in transactions with your own capital.

How did the Settlement Center help you?

K.S. At the end of 2013, changes occurred in the model of transactions in the stock market, and the Settlement Center began operating. It became possible to carry out many more transactions with the same amount of money during the day - we began to physically manage more. After the introduction of the Settlement Center mechanism, the client needs to have a broker to carry out transactions through the Settlement Center and on exchanges. In this regard, most of the over-the-counter transactions migrated to the exchange.

Turnover and plans

Last year, you were involved in the restructuring of Mriya’s debts and M&A transactions. What kind of deals are there and how are things going with Mriya?

M.P. We continue to restructure loans from the Mriya agricultural holding. The situation is not easy, there are a lot of creditors and instruments. The Guth family is not particularly involved in this process. This is a long-term deal. In terms of M&A transactions, it was a small telecommunications company in Crimea. We sold. The deal was forced for obvious reasons.

Your group's plans for this year are to create a private equity fund that will invest in sustainable businesses at low valuations. What kind of businesses are these?

M.P. Until recently, I did not see the direct investment market in our country, especially in the purchase of minority stakes, and in fact I turned out to be right. Now the situation has changed. We are, if not at a macroeconomic bottom, then very close to it. Competition from capital for transactions is minimal. The supply of assets and investment opportunities should increase. These are interesting businesses that need capital to recapitalize or consolidate the market. Potentially, these could be assets that will be sold by the Deposit Guarantee Fund, where it will be possible to work with borrowers whose loans are included there, in order to purchase rights of claim with subsequent partial or complete conversion into capital.

Are there any interesting loans from the Fund?

M.P. The idea of ​​​​creating a fund was finalized against the backdrop of conversations with people whose loans fell into the liquidation mass of bankrupt banks. Among them there are quite adequate companies that say that the debt load is relatively small, half of the loan portfolio is in the Fund - we would like to buy it back, but we don’t have the money. It is clear that the banking sector does not lend - they have a need to find this capital somewhere. We can help buy out this claim and add more equity capital - this should create value for both existing clients and our fund.

Do you plan to purchase loans without prior agreement with the borrower?

M.P. This type of transaction with the Fund without the cooperation of the borrower does not make sense. After all, then the company will begin to blackmail the buyer who bought this debt, demanding that part of the loan be written off. I think that such transactions will not work until the system of protecting the rights of creditors is in place.

And the discount is good - the Fund plans to receive only 10% of their nominal value from the sale of assets of troubled banks.

M.P. 10% for trash is also a lot. We bought corporate bonds of Koktebel for 0.1% and then wrote off this money. Then we did this without dialogue with the issuer of the securities. Now, I think this cannot be done. Capital is limited, so I believe in helping real businesses that want positive change and are able to adequately evaluate a business proposal.

Banking pain

Most banks need significant additional capitalization. Where can bank shareholders get this money now?

M.P. All over the world, the need for capital is met in several ways: by adding capital (here the winners are public banks, which can collect a string from the world); by reducing the assets and liabilities of banks, and according to the Cyprus scenario. I think all three options will be used in the future. It is foolish to assume that all capital needs will be covered by private shareholders in a situation where banking is not profitable.

Are there potential buyers for large Ukrainian banks?

M.P. Yes. The only question is the price.

At what multiples can you sell the bank now?

M.P. Buyers are guided not by multipliers, but by the real value of the asset. Now, for most banks, the level of formed reserves does not correspond to reality; against the backdrop of deep devaluation, the quality of foreign exchange portfolios is melting before our eyes. Given a fair amount of capital and an operationally profitable business model, capital should cost at least capital.

Will there be any deals to buy banks this year?

M.P. There must be. We are approached by American investors who are looking at banks in Ukraine. These are real investors who want to create or buy a bank, capitalize it and develop it.

How much money do they have?

M.P. Many. Believe me, no one will invest their last money in Ukraine now. The groups that come to us sometimes surprise us with their business models. Many of them want to create a niche bank in Ukraine, an agricultural bank, a high-tech bank for consumer lending, a platform for working with the Deposit Guarantee Fund.

In your materials you often use the concept of “first-class banks”. Which banks in Ukraine are first-class for you?

M.P. First of all, these are Ukrsibbank, Credit Agricole, City Bank, ING Bank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval and state banks.

Do you plan to expand the list of products of your Avangard bank?

M.P. Initially, we wanted to create a la “ Tinkoff Bank"is a high-tech bank that would engage in consumer lending. We spent nine months analyzing and studying the business model. Mentally, we were ready to invest $50 million in this project, but in fact we came to the conclusion that there was nothing to do there with less than $100 million, and we buried this idea. Then we looked at the number of bills we pay across the entire infrastructure banking institutions, we remembered the slight discomfort that we experience with the efficiency of servicing our own client transactions. And we came to the conclusion that we need a bank that will expand our core business and make it more sustainable. This is how a business model emerged, implemented on the basis of Avangard. Due to the emergence of the bank, we have the opportunity to engage in Forex, attract deposits and interbank loans, service the calculations of our corporate clients. The bank helped expand the tools for our existing business. We do not engage in corporate lending or retail. We do not plan to expand the list of products yet.

Sweet deal

At what stage are the negotiations on the sale of Roshen?

M.P. Certain negotiations took place even before the president’s official announcement of Petro Poroshenko’s intentions to sell the business. Negotiations are ongoing. But now in Ukraine it is extremely difficult to sell anything, not just Roshen. You need to understand that strategic investors spend a long time harnessing and they have their own vision, which may differ from what the seller needs. Some people are only interested in the Ukrainian part of the asset, but not the Russian part.

What is the sales strategy?

M.P. The basic strategy is to sell the business as it is now. This is what our client and we would like to achieve. Unfortunately, this is quite difficult to do. The second strategy is to sell the business in parts. Active negotiations are also underway in this direction.

Are there any deadlines?

M.P. The main goal of the seller is to complete the transaction as quickly as possible. The client can set any deadlines for us, but what if the people writing the check are not yet ready for the deal? Here we are talking about a very complex and large asset - a significant part of it is located in countries that are in conflict.

I didn't have an M&A deal that lasted less than a year. Not even a year has passed since the issuance of this mandate to us and the Rothschild Bank until today - work is underway. Even in times of peace, assets of this size cannot be sold at the snap of a finger.

You don’t have a question about selling your business at any cost, do you?

M.P. Of course not! In fact, in other countries, in most cases, presidents, prime ministers or high-ranking officials who came from business did not sell their companies. It seems to me that people think that if the president sells the business, he will become poorer for it. He won't become poorer, he will get money. And then the question arises - what will he do with them?

What about the conflict of interest?

M.P. Roshen is a completely independent company; management makes 100% of its decisions independently. It is, of course, possible to say that the presence of this business for the president leads to a conflict of interest, but in my opinion it is difficult. Roughly speaking, if they introduce an import duty on cocoa beans for all companies except Roshen, then we can talk about something. Roshen’s management has always adequately competed using market methods, and the very nature of the business is such that it does not need administrative resources. And if someone does figure out how to help a business with administrative resources, then tomorrow everyone will know about it.

How much are investors willing to pay for Roshen?

M.P. We have not yet reached this stage of negotiations. Much depends on the structure of the deal.

Are there many potential buyers?

M.P. Due to its size, there are few potential buyers for the entire business and they are all known. There are few people in the world who can write such a check.

What type of check?

M.P. Multipliers for such a business are 10-14 EBITDA.

With Makar Pasenyuk, a partner of the Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) company, training like “Finance for Dummies” is much more effective. Rarely smiling and juggling with special terms, 37-year-old Pasenyuk begins his answer to any question with criticism: “Illiterate formulation.” This is followed by a detailed explanation of the theory. Only after making sure that the interlocutor understands everything that is being said does the financier respond to asked question. “I try in every possible way to educate journalists,” he notes without a hint of irony. Pasenyuk reluctantly agreed to talk about himself, and not about another deal he knew well: “Bad karma.”

More likely, excessive modesty. During his 15-year career as an investment banker, Pasenyuk took part in transactions worth $9 billion. These included debt restructuring for $5.6 billion, M&A for $1.4 billion, transactions to attract share capital- by $1.9 billion. It was Pasenyuk who opened up access to money from foreign investors for Ukrainian agricultural holdings. In August 2006, he participated in the first IPO of the domestic agricultural company Astarta. In 2007, under the leadership of Pasenyuk, the IPO of the Kernel agricultural holding took place. The latter has become one of the largest landowners in Ukraine (cultivates about 400,000 hectares of land) and a leader in the production of sunflower oil thanks to numerous acquisitions. “Makar participated in almost all of our transactions,” says Kernel founder Andrey Verevsky (No. 12 in Forbes ranking with a capital of $667 million). “He either managed them or I brought him in as an adviser.” The agricultural sector and FMCG account for about a third of the projects implemented by Pasenyuk, for which he is called an agricultural investment banker among financiers and business owners. He himself does not agree with this definition. " Agriculture- a large sector of the economy, many transactions over the past eight years have taken place in it,” he says. “But this is not the main direction of my work.”

“Makar has excellent expertise in the agricultural sector and FMCG,” says colleague, investment banker Sergei Alekseenko, about Pasenyuk. - But his largest transactions took place in other industries: debt restructuring of Donetskstal ($850 million) and Azovmash ($750 million). Makar is a universal banker.”

“Why are investment bankers needed? Why are people willing to pay for our services?” - Having seized the initiative from the Forbes journalist, Pasenyuk himself asked questions that worried him and answered them almost without pause. So, what is the essence of an investment banker? Firstly, he must do his best...

...strive to make money

Paseniuk has his own definition of an investment bank. This is a team of people with a good education and a broad outlook that works for results. Their income, unlike consultants and lawyers who are paid hourly, depends on the result, and not on the amount of time worked.

Pasenyuk dreamed of becoming an investment banker since the seventh grade. “I didn’t know this word then, but I understood that in the future I wanted to work in finance,” he recalls. He was inspired by Theodore Dreiser's Trilogy of Desire, which he read at the age of 13, which tells the story of the dizzying career of financier Frank Cowperwood. However, at the multidisciplinary Kiev Lyceum, Pasenyuk initially chose the medical field. “While studying yet another cell theory, I realized that, firstly, medicine is also an art, and secondly, you can’t earn decent money in it, especially without humiliation,” says Pasenyuk. He transferred from medical to economics and devoted himself to finance.

Pasenyuk graduated from 12th grade at the Alexandria School for Boys (USA, Virginia). Having entered Boston University, he took a sabbatical and returned to Ukraine - his family did not have the opportunity to pay for his education in the States.

In the end higher education Pasenyuk received his degree in Kyiv - at the International Christian University. In his first year, he worked as a columnist for economic and financial news in the English-language weekly Eastern Economist. In 1997, an office of the English investment bank Caspian Securities, created by one of the highest paid investment bankers, Christopher Heath, opened in Kyiv. 20-year-old Pasenyuk saw this as an excellent chance to lay the foundation for a future career and asked to be hired. The refusal he received from the bank did not frighten him, and he offered to work for free for a while. Three months later, Pasenyuk was already a full-time employee with a good salary. In 1998, Caspian curtailed its activities in Ukraine, and part of the team moved to the London bank ING, which then opened an office in our country. In his new position, Pasenyuk was engaged in analysis of Ukrainian issuers (equity research) - mainly in the energy sector. A year later, he moved to the depository department, and later headed the securities department of the Ukrainian ING Bank. “From time to time, my London colleagues from an investment bank involved me in various projects,” shares Pasenyuk. “And I became more and more immersed in this area.”

Among the largest transactions of that period in which Pasenyuk took part were the restructuring of Ukraine’s commercial external debt in the amount of $2.7 billion, the sale of large stakes in a number of regional power companies, the acquisition by MTS of the Ukrainian mobile operator UMC, etc.

From 2002 to 2006, Pasenyuk worked in the London office of ING, overseeing transactions in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of his clients, however, were from Ukraine. “I only spent weekends in London, and worked in Kyiv from Monday to Friday,” recalls Pasenyuk. In 2006, he decided to move back and upon his return headed the investment banking division of the Ukrainian ING.
Universal banker

“A deep analytical mind, enormous capacity for work and constant self-education are Makar’s strengths, which made him one of the best investment bankers in the country,” NBU head Valeria Gontareva, who met Pasenyuk at ING in the early 2000s, characterizes his former colleague. Verevsky notes that Pasenyuk at the beginning of their cooperation had three advantages over other investment bankers. “Firstly, he well understood all the nuances of the Ukrainian market, which employees of international banks could not boast of,” Verevsky lists. - Secondly, he knew how foreign markets work, which was something that specialists from Ukrainian investment companies lacked. Thirdly, he worked in a world-famous bank, and this was a powerful argument for foreign investors during the Kernel IPO.

Pasenyuk returned to Ukraine with a name, a long list of transactions in his portfolio and a pool of regular clients, the number of which was growing steadily. Because, having learned to make money, he learned well the second task of an investment banker...

…increase clients’ capital

How does a good investment banker differ from a mediocre one? “A good investment banker is a professional who, behind a complex set of words, or “artistic whistle,” as one of my clients says, is able to understand the business model and decompose it into simple mathematics,” notes Paseniuk.

He has three basic rules: focus not on the volume of transactions, but on their quality; do not lie to yourself and the client; Constantly study and read a lot so as not to fall out of the loop.

“I divide transactions into those that ultimately helped the client achieve his goals, and those that did not bring him any benefit,” Paseniuk emphasizes. “Another thing is that often a person himself cannot formulate his goal or changes it several times while working on a project.” This is clearly seen in the example of IPOs. Many of his clients treated the IPO as the first and last deal in their lives. “An IPO for them is the digitization of what they built,” explains the investment banker. “But it should be different: placement is the beginning of a new path, an opportunity to grow further.”
Founder of the Kernel agricultural holding Andrey Verevsky: “Makar and I have always complemented each other”

He is impressed by clients who can “calculate their business on a napkin” and clearly formulate what they want to achieve. Verevsky is one of these. According to the owner of Kernel, an investment banker and a businessman must work in tandem: the first one advises, the second one makes decisions. He and Pasenyuk formed such a tandem. As one example, Verevsky cites Kernel’s takeover of Allseeds in 2010. The amount of the deal, which allowed his company to double the production of sunflower oil, amounted to $220 million. “This purchase was risky, complex and multi-stage, there were litigation, - recalls Verevsky. - Makar definitely guided me, and I already made a decision: were we taking risks or not. We complemented each other."

Many investment bankers hold on to a potential client with both hands, afraid of missing out on possible earnings. Pasenyuk, according to Alekseenko, is one of the few in this market who is ready to refuse a deal if he does not see the point in it or the client is not ready to listen to his opinion. Alekseenko knows what he's talking about. He participated in many transactions with Pasenyuk. During one of them, the preparation for the IPO of the development company KDD Group in 2007, they almost came to blows. We argued about the price range. “He is not a bully or a boor,” Alekseenko says about Pasenyuk. “He’s just very straightforward and makes a clear argument.”

Lev Partskhaladze, the founder of the XXI Century company, whose IPO was led by Pasenyuk in 2005, especially remembered this trait. “Makar is clear, constructive and firm in his convictions,” characterizes Partskhaladze. “If he argues, it is not in order to emphasize his importance, but in order to conclude a deal as fairly and honestly as possible.” He strives for partnership, not one-sided gain.

Pasenyuk, as a rule, simultaneously conducts seven to ten transactions. Each lasts a minimum of nine months. Most often they close at the end of the year or on New Year's holidays. The habit of conducting several transactions at the same time helped Pasenyuk painlessly survive the transition from ING to the ICU company created by him, Konstantin Stetsenko and Valeria Gontareva. According to him, ICU was created for asset management. “In fact, all three of us were tired of doing what we were doing before,” comments Paseniuk. “We wanted to raise about $500 million under management.” But the crisis did not allow this plan to be realized. The maximum that was achieved - $100 million - was not satisfied with the partners, and everyone returned to their old occupation. Pasenyuk, in particular, to investment banking. He headed the department of the same name at ICU. There were no problems with clients: throughout the period during which the launch and marketing of ICU took place, he continued to work on the transactions started at ING.
“I’m impressed by clients who can calculate their business on a napkin.”

During the interview, Pasenyuk drinks strong coffee every now and then. The day before, he discussed the next project with the client until the night. After sleeping for a couple of hours, I went to meetings again. Considering that letters from his work email can arrive at midnight and at four in the morning, we can assume that he lives by the principle “eight-hour sleep was invented by lazy people.” Pasenyuk calls himself a maximalist and admits that this is not his best trait.

The perfectionism and meticulousness of the ICU partner is also noted by his subordinates. “Under any circumstances, he tries to maintain his brand and be the best, and he demands the same from his employees,” states former ICU analyst Pavel Bidak. - Makar wants you to go beyond classical finance and give him something non-pop. If you haven’t done enough work somewhere, Makar turns into a beast.” Paseniuk doesn’t let either his team or himself down. Even on Friday he is dressed in a formal suit and a snow-white shirt.

“You can ask Makar for information on any professional issue, and you won’t have to hear in response that now he will call the analyst and come back with an answer,” says Gontareva. “He will immediately explain to you the entire sector of the economy in which you are interested, using facts and figures, and share his vision and forecasts.” Pasenyuk’s knowledge is highly valued by his clients. Verevsky notes that in the case of M&A transactions, an investment banker is useful mainly as a carrier of information. “Makar knows what is happening in the industry, what is being bought or sold,” says Verevsky. - For example, I don’t see this because I’m busy with my work - management, operational issues. They won’t just come to me and tell me that there is an opportunity to make a profitable deal. Makar monitors the market, sees and hears everything.” In addition, according to the businessman, there are practically no problem-free takeovers in Ukraine. Without Pasenyuk it would be difficult to accomplish them - he always quickly finds non-standard solutions to problems.

“I don’t like to come to meetings unprepared,” says the investment banker. “To be in demand, you must be a bearer of the latest knowledge, technologies and understand what you are talking about with a person.”
ICU was created for asset management. They wanted to raise about $500 million

Pasenyuk’s ideal working day looks like this. No more than four meetings. Two of them before lunch. After lunch - reading reports, specialized literature and news, monitoring the work of subordinates, time for analysis and “thinking”. Two more meetings - after 17:00. It was like that before. Now the circumstances have changed. After Gontareva left the NBU, Pasenyuk was given additional responsibilities and representative functions. In addition, ICU has big plans, and Pasenyuk, as the head of the investment committee, is directly involved in their implementation. The company is actively developing three funds: the Bond Fund (Ukraine) worth 300 million hryvnia, the CIS Opportunities Fund (CIS) worth $200 million, and the Global Opportunities Fund launched a month ago for $10 million.

Despite this workload, Paseniuk is satisfied: “I love what I do, and I consider my work a well-paid hobby.” As a child, while still studying in a “medical” class, Pasenyuk wanted to help people in the future. According to him, this is exactly what he is doing now. Because the third function of an investment banker...

...to be a psychoanalyst

This applies to a greater extent to M&A transactions. It's not every day that businesses are bought or sold. One way or another, this is stressful for businessmen. There should be someone nearby who will listen and give advice. “Investment bankers help clients feel more confident when making difficult decisions,” Paseniuk insists. “This is a psychoanalyst with a deep understanding of finance.” No matter what level a businessman is, in reality there are not many people around him with whom he can consult. According to Pasenyuk, it is psychologically very important for the owner to have an unbiased opinion of a third party. “Business sellers think irrationally - they have attachments and desires that affect the sobriety of decision-making,” Paseniuk is convinced. The investment banker may exploit this weakness not to benefit the client, but simply to make money for himself. They rarely return to such bankers. “The best indicator of professionalism in our business is the implementation of several projects for one client. Any banker strives for this,” says Yuri Astakhov, director of the investment banking department of Dragon Capital. Pasenyuk’s clients often become his friends. “Makar has always regarded our cooperation as long-term. He is flexible; the first place for him is not money, but human relationships,” emphasizes Verevsky. For an investment banker, long-term cooperation also has benefits. “Working with me, Makar learned a lot,” continues Verevsky. “At first, he didn’t fully understand the industry and strategic nuances: for example, which companies and why I was attracted.”

Like many investment bankers, Paseniuk recommends the book Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle by John Rolfe and Peter Troub for those new to the field. He himself is thinking about writing a similar one about the Ukrainian market, and hopes that it will not be a story of failure.

Realist | Dossier

Makar Pasenyuk. "Blacksmith of Personnel" from ICU and financial advisor to Poroshenko

Makar Pasenyuk is a Ukrainian investment banker who has led many successful and high-value mergers and acquisitions, debt restructurings and capital raising transactions

His story is the story of an undeniably talented professional and specialist of the highest level. Who, by coincidence, chose to do business with different people, regardless of their political color. So only business grew into reputational difficulties. Which, again, says little about Paseniuk’s personal and professional qualities.

Together with the head of the NBU Valeria Gontareva and Konstantin Stetsenko, they founded the ICU company. Now Pasenyuk is a financial adviser to President Petro Poroshenko, although he resolves issues for the president that go far beyond the orbit of finance. It is unlikely that he defines tasks and goals. Rather, the co-owner of ICU is a talented performer.

Makar Pasenyuk

Not much is known about him - the investment banker prefers to avoid publicity.

Pasenyuk graduated from the 12th grade at the Alexandria School for Boys (USA, Virginia). Then he entered Boston University, but there was no opportunity to complete his studies - he returned to Ukraine and received higher education at the capital's International Christian University.

Makar began his career in the investment field back in 1997, when at the age of 20 he got a job in the Kiev office of the English bank Caspian Security. Then he moved to the London bank ING, which opened in Ukraine.

At that time, the second person in the Ukrainian representative office of the bank was Valeria Gontareva, who dealt with issues of securities and investment banking. Apparently, that's how they met.

Pasenyuk spent 2002-2006 in the London office of ING - he oversaw transactions taking place in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2006, he returned to Ukraine and headed the investment banking division of the Ukrainian ING.

In 2009, Pasenyuk went to work for the ICU company he and his colleagues at ING created.

How the ICU was created and worked with the Yanukovychs

The financial group "Investment Capital of Ukraine" (ICU) was created by Valeria Gontareva, Makar Pasenyuk and Konstantin Stetsenko. The company is engaged in trading operations, investment banking and asset management.

The decision to create a company came in 2005. At that time, Gontareva, Pasenyuk and Stetsenko were colleagues at ING Bank. As they said later, the Dutch did not allow Gontareva to head the Ukrainian ING, and she decided to start her own path in business.

So in 2006 it appeared finance company, which immediately made itself known loudly among financiers. In a short period of time, ICU, with its office opposite the Opera House in Kyiv, became one of the leading organizers of bond issues in Ukraine. The extensive connections and rich experience of the founders played into their hands. At that time, Ukraine was on the rise, foreign money was flowing into the country at a crazy pace, and the financial markets were literally booming.

Valeria Gontareva

A year later, ICU became one of the leaders in the securities market. And by and large, no one else has heard of ING in Ukraine.

The company's investor, in addition to the above-mentioned partners, was the English hedge fund Autonomy Capital. He owned 25%. The remaining share was proportionally divided between Gontareva, Pasenyuk and Stetsenko. True, already in 2009 the hedge fund’s share was bought out and also divided among shareholders. The project was obviously a success.

With the onset of the crisis, the financial market associated with securities went down. Hardly anyone remembers the once-famous KINTO, Socrates or Art-Capital. By and large, only a few of the former leaders remain afloat: Dragon Capital, Concord (in a greatly reduced form).

Surprisingly, the ICU was doing quite well, and in the midst of the crisis even created own bank"Vanguard". The partners found their niches.

The first such niche was transactions with government bonds. Bank treasurers say that the co-founders of ICU closely used (and possibly created) “passing” schemes, when billions of government bonds were passed through several banks, and the profit was deposited where needed. State-owned banks were usually used as donors who did not receive a profit. But their employees had a share, so the scheme flourished.

By and large, it is thriving and

Konstantin Stetsenko

Now. Betting on government bonds turned out to be a wise choice. Corporate bonds died as a class, issuing loans in Ukraine has become impossible and even dangerous, so today banks are engaged in issuing government bonds. .

ICU and its Avangard bank are firmly located in the center of the OVGZ universe. Their business partner in these operations was trading system“Perspective”, through which most of the transactions of “ICI specialists” pass.

The second niche of ICU was servicing the “shadow” capital of the “family” of Viktor Yanukovych. These operations, of course, were not advertised. According to fragmentary information, ICU (including Pasenyuk and Gontareva) helped invest not entirely legal money in securities in Ukraine and abroad. Government bonds worth $1.5 billion, which were recently confiscated in favor of the state budget of Ukraine, were also purchased by specialists from Investment Capital Ukraine.

By and large, there was nothing shameful in these operations. Yanukovych and his “family” were clients, and ICU were pure businessmen. The shameful thing began in 2014, when new president Petro Poroshenko suddenly appointed Valeria Gontareva to the post of head of the National Bank of Ukraine.

After the victory of Euromaidan, Ukraine was in dire need of money. Politicians who came to power, including Poroshenko, promised to confiscate the money of Yanukovych and the “family” in favor of the state budget. Who, if not Gontareva, knew where this money was? And who, if not her, did nothing to “expose” this money?

Information that ICU worked with the Yanukovychs appeared publicly much later, when new chapter The NBU began bankrupting the “extra” banks one after another. Their owners began to “thank” the banker, who boasted of her reputation. This information did not go beyond the “drain cisterns,” but in the financial community they are quite seriously talking about the fact that Gontareva worked with the “family.”

The same applied to the Russians. This refers to Valeria Alekseevna’s connection with Yuri Solovyov, who is one of the top executives of the Russian state-owned VTB Bank. This connection in 2014-2017 was expressed in patronage of Russian state banks in Ukraine, and in 2017 it manifested itself in.

Officially, after Gontareva’s appointment, ICU has nothing to do with her. In 2014, Valeria Alekseevna left the company, selling her share to Pasenyuk and Stetsenko. In any speeches and interviews, she publicly disowns her former companions.

However, here's what's interesting. Two years after Gontareva left the NBU, ICU became a leader in the government bond market in 2016. It has the largest trading volume and the largest number of contracts.

ICU management explained its annual leadership not by proximity to power, but by changes in the exchange market - until 2014, transactions could be concluded without the participation of a broker, after which this became impossible.

Among themselves, financiers, of course, nod towards the NBU. They say that the company (formally) of Pasenyuk and Stetsenko owes its profits to Gontareva.

To be fair, ICU is really professional. Over 15 years of work, Paseniuk and his team participated in transactions worth almost $10 billion, including $5.6 billion in debt restructuring, $1.4 billion in M&A, and $1.9 billion in equity capital raising transactions.

In 2006, Pasenyuk for the first time brought the Ukrainian agricultural company Astarta, owned by Vladimir Ivanchik, to IPO. A year later, in 2007, he conducted an IPO of one of the largest domestic agricultural holdings, Kernel.

Kernel founder Andrei Verevsky calls Pasenyuk his advisor in the field of mergers and acquisitions. He owes the growth of his own holding to the investment banker. (Note that after the change of power and the increase in Pasenyuk’s influence, Kernel’s affairs also went up, including thanks to the support of Vitaly Khomutynnik).

For these and other transactions in the agricultural sector, Paseniuk is sometimes called the “agricultural investment banker.” True, his largest transactions were not in the agricultural sector. They were the restructuring of the debts of Donetskstal ($850 million) and Azovmash ($750 million).

ICU is a source of personnel for Poroshenko

After Petro Poroshenko came to power, part of the ICU team went to this very government.

Valeria Gontareva sold her share of the company and became the head of the National Bank. Her story is described above.

The head of the company’s investment banking services department, Vladimir Demchishin, initially became the head of the National Commission that carries out state regulation in the field of energy and utilities(NKREKU), and then the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine (until recently he served as a member of the supervisory board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, formally no longer being an official. Today he is an adviser to Poroshenko.

By all accounts, Demchishin never grabbed the stars from heaven. But he turned out to be an ideal employee for Petro Poroshenko. Ready to take risks and willing to carry out orders, he fits perfectly into the personnel concept of the new president.

The head of the investment activities department of ICU, Alexander Zhivotovsky, became the head of the National Commission for Regulation of Communications and Informatization (NCRSI).

But the one who became most famous was Valeria Gontareva’s former assistant at the ICU company, and then the manager at the Roshen corporation, Dmitry Vovk. He became the chairman of the National Commission that carries out state regulation in the fields of energy and utilities (NCREKU).

Dmitry Vovk

It is he who signs scandalous decisions like “Rotterdam+” and increases in electricity tariffs that come from above. Thanks to these decisions, Rinat Akhmetov’s well-being is maintained under the current government. The number one former oligarch in Ukraine today (according to our data) conducts his business “in shares” with Poroshenko. Hence the loyalty of the authorities to the ex-“master of Donbass”. Rumor has it that close cooperation formally began when ICU, in the interests of the president, inexpensively bought up the foreign currency debts of Akhmetov’s companies. Although before this, the Donetsk resident agreed to pay tribute to Poroshenko for the Neftegazdobycha company.

Since 2014, the analytical department of ICU has worked quite closely with the relevant department of the NBU and provided support. According to Pasenyuk, this was done for free. Did this mean that ICU analysts had access to closed internal NBU statistics?

Even before the sweet word “Rothschild” was spoken, it was Pasenyuk who was entrusted by President Poroshenko with the sale of his confectionery business, the Roshen company. The demand to sell the “sweet” business has been hanging over the president for three years now, but the matter still hasn’t gotten off the ground. According to some reports, because the president is asking too much. According to others, he had no intention of selling his business.

The co-owner of ICU commented on the fate of the famous Roshen factory in Lipetsk, Russia. According to Pasenyuk, the sale of the Russian part of the business cannot be carried out, since the assets are still frozen. There were allegedly buyers, but they were not ready to write checks.

Pasenyuk calls information about the intentions of the Russian confectionery factory "Slavyanka" to buy the Lipetsk factory rumors, despite the confirmation of this information by ICU managers.

At the beginning of 2017, the company’s management decided to completely stop work and mothball the confectionery factory in Lipetsk in April 2017. The Basmanny Court of Moscow extended the arrest of the factory until June 2017.

Roshen CEO Vyacheslav Moskalevsky values ​​the company at $200 million and accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian corporation United Confectioners of being unable to sell the Russian factory, which is trying to squeeze out the assets. How things really stand is unknown.

ICU, Grigorishin and Vinnitsaoblenergo

On November 27, 2014, the State Property Fund held a privatization competition for PJSC Vinnitsaoblenergo. The competition caused considerable excitement - the companies of Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov, Igor and Grigory Surkis and Konstantin Grigorishin competed for the enterprise. As a result, Grigorishin’s Fondovy Aktiv company won, which bought a 25% stake in Vinnitsaoblenergo for UAH 112.7 million, with a starting price of UAH 81.7 million.

It is interesting that there was no financial sense in such a struggle for Grigorishin - even before the competition he had a controlling stake (73%) under his control. But there was still a certain meaning.

Oligarch Grigorishin is known for his friendship with Poroshenko, the businessman’s people worked for state enterprises, in the Ministry of Energy and the National Commission, which carries out state regulation in this area.

Konstantin Grigorishin

The National Commission that carries out state regulation in the field of energy and utilities, headed by Poroshenko’s man Dmitry Vovk, intends to introduce RAB regulation for oblenergos. In simple words, this will allow NEURC to increase the tariff for oblenergos in order to modernize capacities.

Thanks to this tariff, not only the cost of regional power companies will be recouped, but the capitalization of enterprises will also be significantly increased. According to journalist and people's deputy Sergei Leshchenko, this will happen, when Poroshenko, through his partners, will become a market participant. This was the reason for the acquisition of Vinnitsaoblenergo. It’s very similar to the scheme with Akhmetov, you’ll agree.

Did Pasenyuk influence Gontareva so that she would not bankrupt Platinum? The answer to this question is unknown. Formally, this is what this case looks like.

The chairman of Platinum Bank at that time was Ekaterina Rozhkova, who then became deputy chairman of the board of the National Bank, and in fact, Gontareva’s “right hand”.

Gontareva was not embarrassed by the fact that two months before, law enforcement officers opened a criminal case against Rozhkova for the theft of funds from PJSC Platinum Bank. According to the investigation, Rozhkova was engaged in distortion financial statements bank, withdrawal of refinancing funds, fictitious lending.

Rozhkova is accused of siphoning $75 million of bank depositors’ funds offshore. After transferring money abroad, the bank continued to “vacuum” money, attracting new depositors with favorable deposit conditions.

At the beginning of 2015, Platinum began to gradually return hryvnia deposits, but stopped paying out dollar deposits. The National Bank came to the aid of the sinking bank and provided it with stabilization loans in the amount of UAH 400 million. Despite the obvious problems of the bank, the National Bank preferred not to notice this and allowed Platinum to continue deceiving depositors. The criminal case against Rozhkova was dropped.

“It is obvious that Rozhkova knew very well about the state of Platinum Bank. I believe she hid the real state of affairs in the bank until the diagnostic results,” said the former director of the department of registration issues and licensing of the NBU, Alexander Zavadetsky.

On January 10, 2017, the National Bank declared Platinum Bank insolvent, and on February 23 it sent it for liquidation.

At the end of 2016, the network got into numerous “films” of the Prosecutor General’s Office, on which the deputy chairman of the NBU Ekaterina Rozhkova conducts negotiations with the management of Platinum Bank.

In the recordings, Rozhkova “consults” the adviser to the board of Platinum, Dmitry Zinkov, and the owner of the same bank, Boris Kaufman, regarding obtaining NBU refinancing with smaller collateral.

Bank "Mikhailovsky"

On May 23, 2016, a temporary administration was introduced into Polishchuk's Mikhailovsky Bank. The National Bank declared the bank insolvent after a series of scheduled and unscheduled inspections.

The bank was ordered to increase capital by $50 million, which the owner allegedly did not have. Then an alternative option was proposed - a merger with Kaufman's Platinum Bank. After everyone has signed necessary documents about the transfer of property, Polishchuk stated that the bank was “squeezed” from him by the National Bank by order of Kaufman.

In September 2016, Polishchuk fled abroad, taking his deposits from Mikhailovsky. The scheme by which the bank operated was classic. Some banks also worked on it. Having bought high interest rates on deposits, depositors bring money to the bank and sign an agreement with other financial companies.

Trump's enemies were hired in Washington to promote the interests of the Ukrainian presidential administration

Anastasia Pasyutina

Thus, the information from “Strana”, which was reported back on December 16, that Bankova intends to hire BGR Group for lobbying in Washington, was fully confirmed.

True, it is still unclear whether Poroshenko will be able to improve relations with Trump after “everything that happened” and even with the help of such specific lobbyists.

Contract terms

As noted in the information provided by FARA, Ukraine will pay BGR Group $50 thousand monthly at least until the end of 2017. The document (can be read at the link) indicates the client’s address - “Bankovaya 11 Kyiv, Ukraine”. That is, the Administration of President Petro Poroshenko.

And the negotiations were led by Dmitry Shimkiv, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine and Secretary of the National Reform Council, which ended on December 23 with the signing of an agreement on the provision of lobbying services.

Anastasia Pasyutina

Makar Pasenyuk

BGR group is an influential American company that has existed for 25 years. The firm's founder, Ed Rogers, worked in the White House as deputy assistant to President George H. W. Bush and assistant chief of staff. He also served as the first deputy campaign manager for the Bush-Quayle election campaign in 1988.

After leaving the White House in 1991, Ed Rogers founded a lobbying firm with his longtime political friend Haley Barbour (Governor of Mississippi and head of the Republican National Committee). Later, Lanny Griffith joined the company (Lanny Griffith - also worked in the Administration of President Bush, worked on education reform).

"Whether you are a US or international customer, you depend on information about how Washington affects you," the company says on its website. "No firm understands Washington better than BGR. We give you the data, insights and connections you need to achieve your goals."

The main activities of BGR group are government lobbying, PR, business consulting. According to Fortune magazine, the company became the No. 2 lobbying firm in Washington in the 1990s.

A “Country” source from the States characterizes the BGR company as follows: “They are very expensive: the budget for showing their knees is at least 5 million dollars, for all sorts of tricks such as communication and PR - additional services - it will also run up to a couple of million.”

But the main intrigue is that the company’s founder, Ed Rogers, was one of the leaders of the Never Trump movement, which was founded with the goal of preventing the future US president from coming to power.

“Therefore, hiring this lobbying firm to build bridges with Trump and his administration means throwing money down the drain. These guys from BGR have been campaigning for Poroshenko for a long time. Poroshenko at first didn’t want to pay, he thought it was expensive. But now he’s apparently panicking, and he promised to pay. But he is unlikely to reach Trump through BGR,” a Strana source in lobbying circles in Washington said.

We sent a request to BGR asking to confirm or deny this information, but received no response. By calling the phone number listed on the company's website, we were promised to comment on the situation next week.

They do not comment on Poroshenko’s information either. “Strana” sent a request to the President’s financial adviser, Makar Pasenyuk, who had previously been repeatedly mentioned in connection with Pyotr Alekseevich’s lobbying efforts in the United States. But at the time of publication, we had not received a response from him (but we are ready to publish Pasenyuk’s position on this issue at any time - Ed.).

100 thousand dollars for lobbying Ukraine

Thus, on the FARA (The Foreign Agents Registration Act) website you can publicly find a contract between the American lobbying company Ben Barnes Group and the offshore company AS Prima Societas Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands. AS Prima Sodetas Limited is wholly owned and controlled by Artem Saprykin, and lobbyist services are paid for by... Makar Pasenyuk.

Makar Pasenyuk is a financial adviser to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, co-owner of the Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) company, and in the past a business partner of the head of the National Bank Valeria Gontareva . Artem Saprykin, who is indicated in the contract as the owner of the offshore company, also works for the ICU company. Let us recall that Pasenyuk, on behalf of Poroshenko, was engaged in the sale of the Roshen corporation and, in particular, the Lipetsk factory. In addition, it was Pasenyuk, as Strana wrote, who negotiated the purchase and sale of Channel 112 in the interests of the president. True, the deal fell through.

According to the document, from October 2015 to September 2016, Makar Pasenyuk transferred $100 thousand per month (plus operating expenses) to Ben Barnes Group through an offshore company. Thus, over the past year, the American lobbying firm, according to the contract, was supposed to receive at least $1.1 million from Paseniuk “for the services of promoting the economic and geopolitical interests of the Ukrainian government.” In a commentary to Strana, Makar Pasenyuk previously confirmed the legitimacy of this document.

Specialist in international law Markiyan Klyuchkovsky explains that the term “foreign principal” is very broad. It includes foreign governments, political parties, and foreign citizens, and foreign organizations.

“Assuming that the data is reliable, I see no reason to talk about government control. And yet, it cannot be ruled out that the company is controlled by the highest officials. Only a special investigation can establish the reliability of this data,” he said.

Also, judging by the contract, the Client (AS Prima Societas Limited) must be aware that “the Consultant has other projects and clients whose interests must also be taken into account.”

The contract was personally signed by Ben Barnes, owner of the Ben Barnes Group.

Barnes is 78 years old and lives in Texas. And, as Strana managed to find out, he regularly donates large sums to support the US Democratic Party, and also sponsors the election campaign Hillary Clinton . According to Federal Election Commission records, Ben Barnes gave $2,300 to Hillary's campaign twice (the maximum allowed donation for an individual is $5,000). As can be seen from the register, he also regularly made contributions to the US Democratic Party.

In 1993, by the time the Clinton administration arrived, for many years there had been an internal travel agency in the White House - The White House Travel Office, which organized charter planes for the White House press corps, which accompanied the president on all his trips .

But after Bill Clinton became president, the White House, without a tender, awarded a contract to provide charters to a private travel company, Little Rock, associated with Clinton's relatives. And the employees of the Travel Bureau were fired with a scandal, in addition, criminal cases were opened against them and accused of embezzlement of funds. (By the way, the very first flight organized by Little Rock was unsuccessful: the plane took off at the wrong time, there were problems with fuel, and most importantly, they forgot to load the journalists with booze).

And Patsy Thomasson, at that time an employee of the Clinton administration, was directly involved in this scheme.

It is Patsy Thomasson who is associated with the concealment of a key document in the Travelgate case - a memorandum from David Watkins, a White House lawyer, in which he describes in detail the background to the dismissal of Travel Agency employees and the role of Hillary Clinton personally in this story. According to Watkins, the New York Times newspaper reports that it was at the insistence of the first lady that the Travel Bureau employees were fired, although the lawyer himself insisted on a gradual reorganization of the department. White House officials found the document in the saved files of Patsy Thomasson, then an assistant to Mr. Watkins. And now - one of the leading employees of the Ben Barnes Group.

"We can pay whoever we want"

"Payment for services in itself is not subject to tax. Lobbying for the interests of Ukraine is, in principle, not prohibited. The use of an offshore company can be explained by many factors, in particular, currency restrictions in Ukraine, through which it is difficult to make a payment abroad. There are many nuances here, without knowing which It’s difficult to say anything specifically,” says lawyer Markiyan Klyuchkovsky. In his opinion, from a legal point of view, AS Prima Societas Limited is clean before the law.

Regarding cooperation with the Ben Barnes Group, we were lucky to get a response from Makar Pasenyuk, who, judging by the above contract, paid this firm for the company’s lobbying services from his own pocket. He confirmed the existence of payments.

“We are a private company and, accordingly, we can pay whoever we want. The actual amount paid is 220,572 thousand dollars,” Pasenyuk said. According to him, lobbyists, like investment bankers, introduce people and bring interests together, but, unlike investment bankers, they do not participate in their clients’ transactions, but receive retainers (fixed payments/subscription fees). Their clients are private businesses - both American and foreign.

“At one time, ICU brought such well-known personalities in the world of finance and investment to the country as Nouriel Roubini, Nassim Taleb and others in order to increase their awareness of Ukraine, its opportunities and problems. After Roubini’s visit, by the way, Ukraine regularly appears in its speeches and analytical research. Would this be possible without our efforts? I think not. We publish a series of business books in Ukrainian to improve the level. financial literacy. Do you think the publishing rights are given to us for free or are they given to everyone? I hope that everything said above answers the question of what lobbyists do and for whom,” Pasenyuk said, and added that representatives state power communicate directly with everyone who needs to be informed about something. According to Pasenyuk, they do not need lobbyists for this, and “for private business, such a privilege does not fall out of the sky on its own.”

That is, in essence, Paseniuk claims that the services were not provided for the Ukrainian state. But already in the next paragraph he advises paying attention to how Ukraine is perceived by the outside world:

"Scandals and endless negative PR. One of the reasons for the growth of the stock market and the placement of shares and bonds Ukrainian companies in 2005-2007 was that Dragon, Concord, ING and others invested their money in promoting a story called "Ukraine". There were receptions, conferences, days of Ukrainian companies in London, New York, as well as in some Asian cities, which were attended by top officials of serious organizations. Do you think this all happened for free?” Makar Paseniuk answered us.

True, he did not answer Strana’s question about why his offshore company turned to Ben Barnes Group in order to attract investments to Ukraine and promote it on the world stage.

Change of vector

“Most likely, it was like this: Petro Poroshenko set the task for his financial adviser Makar Pasenyuk to find lobbyists in the United States. I myself have repeatedly taken part in negotiations with American companies and I know that when selecting lobbyists, no tender is held - just someone recommends someone to someone. Ben Barnes was recommended to Pasenyuk,” Bondarenko claims.

But at the same time, according to the expert, the Ukrainian administration overpaid for the services of this company. "In general, $100 thousand a month is the average amount of a contract of this kind. But, for comparison, Paul Manafort, a former consultant "Party of Regions" , took less from Ukrainian politicians for his services than Barnes,” says Bondarenko. In his opinion, Ben Barnes’ closeness to the Clintons and the US Democratic Party played a key role in the choice of a lobbying company by Poroshenko’s people.

But now this is already in the past. And the Presidential Administration, as we see, is looking for lobbyists in the Republican camp. Considering that Kyiv previously relied too heavily on Hillary’s team and helped it with all its might (including in terms of discrediting Trump adviser Paul Manafort), the task of building bridges with the team of the new US President is extremely urgent for Poroshenko.