Andrii Artemenko

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Andy Victor Kuchma
Андрій Артеменко
Andrey Artemenko.jpg
Andrey Artemenko, a Ukrainian politician, the People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation of Verkovna Rada
People's Deputy of Ukraine
8th convocation
In office
November 27, 2014 – 24 July 2019
ConstituencyRadical Party, No.16[1]
Personal details
Born
Andrii Viktorovych Artemenko

(1969-01-14) 14 January 1969 (age 53)
Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Political partySolidarity of Right Forces
Alma materKyiv Polytechnic Institute
Websitehttp://www.avartemenko.com/[dead link]

Andy Victor Kuchma[2] (Ukrainian: Андрій Вікторович Артеменко, born 14 January 1969, Kyiv) is a former Ukrainian politician and businessman Andrii Viktorovych Artemenko who was a People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation of Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) and chairman of the "Solidarity of Right Forces" party (Ukrainian political party).

Since 2017 Andy Victor Kuchma is a Canadian national and was stripped of Ukrainian citizenship on special order of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

Education[]

Artemenko was born in Kyiv on January 14, 1969.[3][4][5] In 1976, he attended Kyiv school No.43 and, later, attended school No. 178.[4][5] It was in school that A. Artemenko showed an interest in history, geography and military training. He paid special attention to geopolitics and various forms of government. Later, together with other famous graduates, he provided various welfare assistance to the school No. 178. In particular, it was assistance in arranging governmental funding for the completion of a second building.

In 1986, Andrii Artemenko entered Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Department of Electric Power Engineering, where he specialized in energy engineering.[4][5] From 1987 to 1989 he was conscripted into the Soviet Army as a motorized rifleman and served in various military units throughout the Soviet Union.[5] In May 1989, he was transferred to the Armed Forces reserves of the USSR. After coming back to Kyiv, he continued his studies in Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, at the Computer Science Department and got a master's degree in systems engineering in 1993.[4][5][6]

He worked in various jobs in Belgium during the early 1990s.[4][5][6]

Start of business activities[]

In 1993–1994, Andrii Artemenko founded and operated "Krista" (Russian: ПМЖ "Криста"), an export and import operation with raw materials for the light industry.[4][5][6]

From 1994 to 1996, he was chairman of the board of CJSC "New Lines" (Russian: ЗАО "Новые Линии").[4][5]

In 1994 he visited the United States for the first time and during this trip attended training courses on "International Sports Law", which prompted him in 1996 to establish a law firm in Ukraine "First Legal Club".[5] This entity was the first such organization in the post-soviet territory, which served most successful sportsmen from the former Soviet Union and provided legal, consulting and management support, as well as their employment abroad.[5]

From 1996 to 1999, he was president of the law firm "First Legal Club", which represented the majority of the athletes former USSR gaining them employment abroad.[4][5]

Andrii Artemenko served as Head of Committee on Status of Football players in Football Federation of Ukraine.

During same period, Artemenko also has started selling broadcasting rights to the world's leading sports competitions to Ukrainian central TV channels - such as: UEFA Champions League, World and European football Cups, Boxing world tournaments and others.[4][5]

In 1996, he founded Ukrainian Trade Union of professional football players, which is now a member of FIFPRO (part of FIFA since 1998).[5]

Replacing Viktor Topolov in 1999, Andrii Artemenko became the President of the government enterprise of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine football club CSKA Kyiv (later changed to FC Arsenal Kyiv) and held the position until 2000.[4][5]

Political career[]

In 1998, he met the public politician, head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Oleksandr Omelchenko. That same year, A. Artemenko took part in election campaign of Omelchenko who was elected the Mayor of Kyiv. Together they founded a political party called "Unity".[4][5]

In 2000, he was appointed adviser for the Mayor of Kyiv Omelchenko. Artemenko left this office in 2004.[5][6]

In 2001, during a campaign to discredit Omelchenko, Artemenko became a subject of attention by the General Prosecutor's Office because of his close connection to the Mayor.[5][6] The General Prosecutor's Office questioned him repeatedly.[5][6]

In spring 2002, in an attempt to increase the pressure on Omelchenko, Artemenko was arrested. "It was done deliberately. I was held in different remand prisons (SIZO), sometimes in the same cell with persons sick with pulmonary TB. I was ordered by the heads of security agencies to sign a statement saying that Olexander Omelchenko illegally transferred money from accounts of Kyiv City State Administration to his political project and to a construction project of his son's facilities. Coercion to give false testimony was unacceptable, so I stayed true to my positions and did not perjure." Artemenko said.[5]

On October 22, 2004, Artemenko was released on bail of some MPs.[5] Although all charges against Artemenko were subsequently dropped and the courts of Ukraine confirmed the illegitimacy of the claims, he had spent 2 years 7 months and 21 days in prison.[5]

During the Orange Revolution (2004) he met Yulia Tymoshenko. Later, on a request of Yulia Tymoshenko, he became one of the leaders of her election campaign headquarters,[5] where he succeeded in gaining many constituencies.[5]

In 2006, A. Artemenko was elected as a deputy of the Kyiv City Council and led the faction of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.[4][5][6] He was also a Deputy Head of Committee for ecological questions of Kyiv City Council.[4][5] A. Artemenko has participated in the development and implementation of many environmental and infrastructural programs successfully executed in city infrastructure and still operating nowadays.

Career in the defense industry[]

Since 2005 Artemenko founded a number of companies specialized in air transport and military logistics supporting special operations in "hot spots".[5] From 2008 to 2012, his main activities were logistical support of Ukraine and NATO forces[5] in North Africa and the Middle East: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Afghanistan and other countries of the region.

In 2012, he participated in the implementation of a major innovative project in Qatar, which is associated with induced effects on the environment in order to increase the humidity and precipitation. "This was a military technology, developed by military engineers. I was personally engaged in the installation of this technology in Qatar," he stated.

In November 2012, with his personal assistance, the Embassy of Ukraine was opened in the State of Qatar and the State of Qatar embassy was opened accordingly in Ukraine.

Parliamentary activities[]

Artemenko defines himself as a neoconservative. He held strong positions concerning urgent changes in the state. Therefore, he responded to the invitation of the leader of the Radical Party, Oleh Lyashko, and agreed to be on the list[7] for early parliamentary elections in October 2014.

A. Artemenko realized Ukraine needed an ideological party. He studied the performance and experience of various political systems, taking as an example the activities of political organizations like the US Republican Party and the UK Conservative Party. Together with other like-minded individuals and following his beliefs, he founded a political party called "Solidarity of Right Forces"[8] in November 2014. It was all done in contrast to the numerous and artificial election projects. The "Solidarity of Right Forces" party set a goal to participate in all upcoming elections: local, parliamentary and presidential.

Prior to the Maidan uprising beginning in November 2013 against pro Russia, pro Kremlin, pro Putin policies of Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions which were supported by Paul Manafort and Rudy Giuliani,[a] Artemenko was in the post Party of Regions block established by Manafort who, according to the black ledger, was receiving payments from pro Russia, pro Kremlin, pro Putin sources.[3][9][10][11][12] He was the Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on issues of European integration, Subcommittees on Cooperation of Ukraine and NATO and EU Common Security and Defense Policy. Furthermore, he is a member of subcommittee on economic and sectoral cooperation and a free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU. Andrii Artemenko is actively pursuing his personal point of view on non-aligned status of Ukraine, on good-neighborly, friendly and mutually beneficial cooperative relations with neighboring countries. He is not a supporter of Ukraine joining any supranational structure, union, or organization.[13]

Andrii Artemenko headed the Inter-Parliamentary Group of Friendship with Qatar, which included 23 MPs.[14] Besides, he is a co-chair of Parliamentary Friendship Group with Slovenia.

On December 25, 2014, the establishment of inter-factional deputy group "Solidarity of Right Forces" was announced in the Parliament. Andrii Artemenko initiated the formation of the party and eventually headed it. The members of Parliament are working together on the draft bills aimed to solve middle class problems in Ukraine. In particular, creating a favorable legal environment for business, private property protection and fair trial.

Andrii Artemenko authored 37 bills, of which 17 were voted into laws. Some of representative bills are: number 1601 "On Amendments to the administrative-territorial system of Luhansk region, changing and setting boundaries of Popasnjansky and Slavyanoserbsk districts of Luhansk region", number 1310 "On Amendments to Article 41 of the Law of Ukraine" On Joint Stock Companies" (with respect to the quorum of the general meetings of joint stock companies with majority state corporate rights), the bill number 1736 "On the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the European Parliament, the Parliament of the Council of Europe and the national parliaments of the EU Member States, the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia on the issue of the mass shooting of people near Volnovakha", the Resolution number 2066 "On holding parliamentary hearings entitled: "Perspectives of introducing visa free regime for the citizens of Ukraine by the European Union" (May 21–22, 2015).

One of the more popular bills initiated by Artemenko was on legalization of dual citizenship No. 6139 - which currently enjoys support of incumbent President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

During his tenure as Member of Parliament, Artemenko criticized Poroshenko's regime and uncovered facts of internal and international corruption.

Since 2015 Artemenko has been cooperating with the US investigative authorities in inquiries related to misappropriation of US financial aid to Ukraine by then President Petro Poroshenko.

Artemenko did not take part in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[15]

Pro-Trump position[]

According to one of his posts on his Facebook page, Andrii Artemenko was introduced to Michael Cohen and others by the Ukrainian oligarch Alex Oronov.[16][17][18][19][20][b]

In 2016, still in the capacity of Ukrainian MP, Andrii Artemenko was the only Ukrainian politician who openly supported then Presidential candidate Donald Trump and demanded that Ukrainian policies were adjusted to take into account Trump's program at the time when official Ukraine publicly supported Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.[28] Mr. Artemenko was deprived of Ukrainian citizenship, MP mandate, and was forced to leave Ukraine together with his family.

Andrii Artemenko challenged this decision in Ukrainian courts but the decision remains in force. In 2017 he claimed unlawful deprivation of citizenship to The European Court of Human Rights.

On August 11, 2020, the Central Office of the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine began a pre-trial investigation of a criminal offense under Article 367 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as amended in 2001, with regard to the fact of improper performance of their official duties by officials of State Migration Service of Ukraine, Members of the Commission on Citizenship under the President of Ukraine and  other high-ranking officials - during the preparation and approval of documents on the termination of citizenship of Ukraine of Andrii Artemenko.

On August 18, 2020, The District Administrative Court of Kyiv received a lawsuit from Andriy Artemenko to the Commission under the President of Ukraine on Citizenship, third parties - the President of Ukraine and the State Migration Service of Ukraine. The plaintiff asks the court to declare illegal the actions of the commission to submit to the President of Ukraine a proposal to satisfy the application of the State Migration Service of Ukraine dated April 21, 2017 to terminate his citizenship of Ukraine.[29]

According to The New York Times, he was Putin – Trump back channel.[16] As a consequence, Mr. Artemenko was interrogated by Ukrainian General Prosecutor office and became part of the Mueller investigation in the US. In June 2018 Mr. Andrii Artemenko testified under the oath to the grand jury of the Supreme court in Washington DC.[30] No charges have yet been brought against Andrii Artemenko as a result of these investigations.

During the 2019 Ukrainian Presidential elections, Andrii Artemenko endorsed the candidacy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[31]

After Zelensky's official statement about work on the reform of dual citizenship[32] and the return of Ukrainian citizenship to Mikhail Saakashvili[33] (he was illegally deprived of his citizenship in 2017 by the decree of the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko), Andrii Artemenko sent a letter to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, requesting the restoration of his constitutional rights and the abolition of decree No. 119/2017 regarding the termination of citizenship.[34][35]

In April 2021, Forensic News reported that Artemenko was under FBI scrutiny for his work alongside Rudy Giuliani and suspected Russian agent Andrii Derkach in their efforts to produce dirt on Hunter and Joe Biden.[36] Forensic News also found that a lobbying company controlled by Artemenko disguised a 2019 payment from 112 Ukraine to appear as though it came from an oil company.

Time reported in May 2021 that Artemenko is a longtime business partner of Republican donor and Trump ally Erik Prince, and had helped arrange December 2019 meetings between Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Ukrainian officials, as Giuliani sought damaging information on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.[3]

Current activities[]

Artemenko is currently the co-owner and Executive Chairman of Airtrans LLC that is part of the Frontier Resource Group.

He is also actively developing (co-owner and President, American Industrial Group Inc.) a manufacturing company in the US that provides sustainable disinfectant and other personal protective equipment in the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Since January 2019, Artemenko has been serving as Executive Chairman of Global Management Association Corporation which has been registered in the US lobbyist register, according to data of the US Department of Justice, in compliance with FARA law.

His IT company (owner and President, AlphaNet Technologies, Inc.), which previously successfully pioneered the online educational project Eduboard.com, in cooperation with ZAKA is working on implementing the blockchain based COVID-19 immunity passport project (NewNorm) - to enable people to prove their COVID-19 health status to institutions without compromising their privacy.

Family and personal life[]

His parents: Viktor Andreevich Artemenko (Russian: Виктор Андреевич Артеменко) and Olga Alexandrovna Artemenko (Russian: Ольга Александровна Артеменко) are professors.[5]

Andrii Artemenko is married to famous[clarification needed] Ukrainian model Oksana Ostapivna Kuchma (Ukrainian: Оксана Остапівна Кучма) who is 22 years younger than Artemenko.[4] He has four children and one grandchild. In 2017, he legally changed his name to Andy Victor Kuchma (his spouse's last name).[2]

Andrii Artemenko is a citizen of Canada and lives permanently in Washington DC with his wife and children. Two of their children Edward and Amber are United States citizens and the third child Vitaly is a citizen of Canada.[3][6][37]

Notes[]

  1. ^ In 2001, Maidan Nezalezhnosti had protests for Ukraine without Kuchma, which led to Andrii Derkach's father Leonid Derkach being fired, because the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma's strong support of Vladimir Putin and his very pro Russia, pro Kremlin stance and involvement in the murder of Georgiy Gongadze which was revealed in the Cassette Scandal that led to the Orange Revolution in 2004.
  2. ^ Alex Oronov (Ukrainian: Олексій Оронов; born 1948 Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, USSR - died 2 March 2017, United States) was a powerful Ukrainian oligarch.[21] He started his vast agricultural investments in 1994. Through his Swedish company BZK Grain Alliance AB (originally known as Harvest Moon), he owned the Ukrainian firm Baryshivka Grain Company (Ukrainian: Баришівська зернова компанія) (BZK)[20] and 100,000 acres (40,000 hectares) of farmland in Ukraine growing corn, soybeans, and wheat.[22][23] He was an investor in Ukrethanol LLC and his daughter Oxana married Bryan Cohen.[17][18][23][21] Bryan Cohen is Michael Cohen's brother.[17][18][20][23] Although he was born in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, USSR,[24] Oronov moved to the United States in 1978, sold lithographs based on items from the Russian State Museum and operated a Manhattan art gallery.[23] At the time of his death, he was a United States citizen and resided in the Trump Hollywood building in Hollywood, Florida, which are condominiums that are controlled by Donald Trump and another investor.[18] Oronov's funeral was in New York City. Oronov had a close relationship with Viktor Topolov (Ukrainian: Віктор Тополов), a powerful Ukrainian banker.[19][23][25][26][27]

References[]

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  3. ^ a b c d Shuster, Simon (28 May 2021). "Exclusive: How an Accused Russian Agent Worked With Rudy Giuliani in a Plot Against the 2020 Election". Time. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n ПУЛЯЕВ, ПЕТР (20 February 2017). Дети - граждане США и жена-модель: Все, что известно о радикале Артеменко. "ВЕСТИ" (vesti.ua) website. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Genshtab staff Артеменко, Андрей Викторович. Генштабъ website. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
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  13. ^ "За чи Проти 30.11.16 Андрій Артеменко".
  14. ^ "Head of group for interparliamentary relations with Qatar Andrii Artemenko visits Qatar to meet with Minister of Energy and Industry of the country". www.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  15. ^ "Електоральна пам'ять". ukr.vote.
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  18. ^ a b c d Leopold, Jason; McDaniel, Chris; Cormier, Anthony (March 6, 2017).A Suspicious Death In Trump's Orbit? "Total Bullshit," Says Family: Despite extraordinary claims by a pro-Kremlin lawmaker — and a close connection to the president’s personal attorney — Alex Oronov died after a long illness, says his son-in-law. BuzzFeed website. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
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  28. ^ "Андрей Артеменко, народный депутат, – гость ток-шоу "Люди. Hard Talk". Выпуск от 07.12.2016".
  29. ^ "Андрій Артеменко позивається до Комісії при Президентові України з питань громадянства | Окружний адміністративний суд міста Києва". oask.gov.ua. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
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