20 years ago, Vladimir Putin, Leonid Kuchma and the oligarchs of Ukraine and Russia gathered in Crimea to meet Victor Yanukovych, the expected Ukraineʼs next president. But then everything went south

On July 26, 2004, the then President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, received Vladimir Putin in the Livadia Palace in Yalta, Crimea. They arranged a meeting with Ukrainian and Russian oligarchs, among whom were Rinat Akhmetov, Ihor Kolomoisky and Viktor Pinchuk, Vagit Alekperov from Lukoil, Oleg Deripaska from RUSAL and Vladimir Yevtushenkov from AFK Sistema. At this meeting, cooperation between the two countries was discussed — in fact, they just shared areas of interest. Oligarchs and Putin were also presented with a pro-government candidate for the presidency of Ukraine — then Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. In July 2004, everything seemed to be going according to the calculated scenario: Ukraine refused to join NATO and the EU, Yanukovych gained ratings thanks to black PR, which was mastered by Russian political technologists. But everything ended with the victory of the Orange Revolution. Babel tells about the landmark meeting in Yalta in 2004 and mentions the historical context of those times.

What happened before the meeting in Yalta: the presidential campaign started, Ukraine refused to join NATO and the EU

On July 3, 2004, the presidential election campaign officially started. A total of 26 candidates registered. Although at that time it was already clear that the main struggle would take place between two persons — the pro-government candidate and then prime minister Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition candidate and ex-prime minister Viktor Yushchenko. At that time, according to the ratings, Yanukovych was inferior to Yushchenko. According to opinion polls as of the end of July 2004, Yushchenko was leading with a margin of approximately 10%.

On the day of the meeting with Putin in the Livadia Palace, on July 26, 2004, it became known that on July 15, Kuchma, by his decree, excluded from the Military Doctrine the provisions on Ukraineʼs accession to NATO and the European Union. He wrote this provision in the doctrine just one month ago — on June 15, 2004. Such a sharp change took place after the NATO Summit in Istanbul at the end of June, where Kuchma was criticized for suppressing public freedoms and inadequate preparations for holding presidential elections. However, Kuchma has said before that Ukraine is not yet ready to join NATO and is at the same distance from the Alliance as it is from the European Union.

What happened at the meeting: talks about oil and high technologies, Putin promoted Yanukovych

On July 26, 2004, Putin brought the head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, to a meeting with representatives of Ukrainian and Russian business in the Livadia Palace in Yalta. Kuchma brought the head of his Administration Viktor Medvedchuk, as well as Prime Minister and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych.

Who was among the Ukrainian oligarchs:

• Yuriy Alekseev — general director of the L.M. Makarov Southern Machine-Building Plant Production Association;
• Rinat Akhmetov — president of the System Capital Management company;
• Vyacheslav Boguslaev — general director of Motor Sich PJSC;
• Yuriy Boyko — chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine;
• Volodymyr Boyko — MP, General Director of JSC Mariupol Metallurgical Plant named after Ilyich;
• Oleksandr Derkach — chairman of the board of the Aval bank;
• Heorhiy Dzekon — chairman of the board of JSC Ukrtelecom;
• Ihor Kolomoisky — chairman of the board of the Privat group of companies;
• Volodymyr Lukyanenko — president of OJSC Sumy Machine-Building Research and Production Association named after M. V. Frunze;
• Viktor Pinchuk — President of Interpipe;
• Georgy Skudar — MP, Chairman of the Board of Novokramatorsk Machine-Building Plant CJSC;
• Hryhoriy Surkis — peopleʼs deputy, honorary president of FC Dynamo Kyiv;
• Serhiy Taruta — chairman of the board of directors of the Industrial Union of Donbas corporation;
• Eduard Shifrin is the founder of the Metallurgical Center company;
• Mykola Yankovskyi — Peopleʼs Deputy, Chairman of the Board of Concern Stirol OJSC;
• Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi is a peopleʼs deputy, honorary president of the UkrSibbank.

Who was among the Russian oligarchs:

• Vagit Alekperov — president of JSC Lukoil;
• Petr Aven — president of JSC "Alfa Bank";
• Oleg Deripaska — Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Basic Element and RUSAL companies;
• Vladimir Yevtushenkov — Chairman of the Board of Directors of AFK Sistema;
• Andrei Kostin — chairman of the board of JSC "Vneshtorgbank";
• Aleksandr Lebedev — deputy of the State Duma, president and general director of JSC "National Reserve Bank";
• Aleksei Miller — Chairman of the Board of JSC Gazprom;
• Shafagat Takhautdinov is the general director of JSC Tatneft.

For two hours, they formally discussed cooperation within the framework of the Joint Economic Space, and in fact the strengthening of Russian companies in the Ukrainian economy under the slogans of "joint opposition to Europe and America." Yuriy Boyko, the head of Naftogaz of Ukraine at that time, reported that from August 1, 2004, Russian oil would begin to be pumped through the Ukrainian oil pipeline "Odesa — Brody". However, Putin agreed on this with Kuchma at the beginning of the year. Boyko complained that the price of Russian oil in Ukraine suddenly became 10% higher than the world price. To which Putin started talking about the "tricky arithmetic" with Russian taxation.

Putin tried to emphasize that cooperation with Ukraine is not limited to oil. And tried to start a conversation about high technologies. But they only agreed on the fact that the Ukrainian company UMC, which was bought out by the Russians last year, became the number one mobile operator in Ukraine.

Unexpectedly, the president of "Dynamo" Hryhoriy Surkis took the floor. He said that Ukraine turned to Poland with a proposal to submit an application for the joint hosting of the 2012 European Football Championship. But the Poles are dragging their feet with the answer, then maybe Russia will join the application instead of Poland. To which Putin angrily replied that "Russia will never be on a second guess."

It all ended with passing statements about "the preparation of a package of agreements within the framework of the JES, which will have enormous opportunities." And at the end, Putin almost traditionally declared that the "Western agents" are trying in every possible way to disrupt the integration between Russia and Ukraine.

What happened after the meeting: Russian political technologists, elections and the victory of the Orange Revolution

Yanukovychʼs election campaign began, led by a group of Russian political technologists headed by Gleb Pavlovskiy. They used the administrative resources and control of the Presidential Administration over the main Ukrainian TV channels. In addition, they saturated the media space with black PR aimed at splitting Ukraine into the West and the East. It was then that billboards appeared about the "three types of Ukrainians" into which Yushchenko was allegedly going to divide the country.

On the morning of September 6, 2004, Yushchenko began to complain of nausea, terrible headaches and stomachaches. In a few days, he was taken to an Austrian hospital, where he was diagnosed with toxin poisoning. Yushchenko accused the government of being involved in the poisoning. At the end of September, the General Prosecutorʼs Office opened a criminal case, closed it at the end of October, and resumed the investigation in December. The case still remains unsolved.

Due to his health, Yushchenko was unable to effectively conduct an election campaign. Three weeks before the elections, according to opinion polls, Yanukovych jumped ahead by several percentage points.

After voting on October 31, 2004, Yushchenko and Yanukovych were predicted to enter the second round. The second round of voting took place on November 21. And the very next day, Putin congratulated Yanukovych on his victory, although the official results appeared only on November 24. The Central Election Commission announced the victory of Yanukovych.

Already on November 22, 2004, a protest action began on Independence Square in Kyiv due to mass falsifications during the elections, which later turned into the Orange Revolution. Ultimately, the Supreme Court of Ukraine invalidated the results of the second round and scheduled a re-vote for December 26. According to its results, Yushchenko won. This is how the opposition came to power in Ukraine.

In an interview in 2021, the former Russian banker and former friend of Putin, Sergei Pugachev, recalled how Putin spent huge sums of money on Yanukovychʼs campaign in 2004. He was sure that he would have a pocket Ukrainian president. But these plans were hindered by "some people over there". At that time, Putin was very offended by Ukraine and immediately after Yushchenkoʼs victory, he began to put pressure on it, initially with the help of "gas blackmail".

Translated from Ukrainian by Anton Semyzhenko.

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