Т
Kachenko Alexander Vladislavovich
Biography.
Ukrainian media manager, producer, journalist, TV presenter. Former CEO of 1+1 media group. Member of the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation from the Servant of the People party. Since June 4, 2020, he has been the Minister of Culture of Ukraine.
Place of birth
Born on January 22, 1966 in Kyiv.
Related parties
Education.
- In 1990, he graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
- In 2016, he received a diploma from Harvard Business School in the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports program.
- In 2018, he completed his studies at INSEAD Business School in Singapore under the Value Creation for Owners and Directors program.
Career as a journalist
- In 1988-1991, he worked as an editor and host of the weekly TV program “Gart Youth Studio” on the state-owned UT-1 TV channel.
- In 1991-1994, he was a correspondent for the Ukrainian office of the British news agency Reuters in Kyiv.
- In 1994, he created and hosted the weekly news and analysis program “Afterword”.
- In 1998-1999, on the basis of the Nova Myslova TV channel, he created an author’s TV program in the format of interviews with international celebrities called “Faces of the World” for one TV season at the request of the Inter TV channel. The guests of “Faces” were the Dalai Lama, Pinochet, Jean Chrétien, Jacques Chirac and others.
- From January 2000 to May 2001, he was a pro bono advisor to Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko.
- During the 2004 presidential election, he hosted a TV debate between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych.
- Since May 23, 2011, for several years in a row, he has hosted the TV program “Tkachenko.UA” in the format of 45-minute interviews with politicians and celebrities on the 1+1 TV channel.
- Career as a media manager. In 1994-1999, he was the president of the Nova Myslova TV company (production studio), which produced the Afterword and Faces of the World TV programs for UT-1 and Inter TV channels.
- In December 1996, he joined the new Studio 1+1 TV and Radio Company together with the entire team of Poshtomovy. The Television News Service (TSN), created by Tkachenko, went on the air on January 1, 1997, with Alla Mazur as its host. At the same time, 1+1 continued to broadcast the TV program “Afterword”, and Tkachenko also became the deputy general producer of the channel.
- In 1998, he left 1+1 to focus on the development of Novaya Mova.
- In April 1999, he became the head of Novy Kanal TV channel, which became one of the three market leaders in 2000. He reformatted and made the Reporter news program competitive, inviting several of the Afterword team to join it: Andriy Shevchenko, Ivan Naida, and Igor Kulyas.
- He left the post of CEO of Novy Kanal in 2005.
- In 2005, he became the Chairman of the Board and one of the shareholders of Odesa Film Studio CJSC, and began to develop a network of cinemas and film distribution.
- From March to May 2008, he worked in Moscow as Deputy General Director of the REN-TV channel under a consulting agreement. He was responsible for programming content and the broadcasting network.
- Since August 2008, he has been the CEO of 1+1 Media Group, which includes 1+1, 2+2, TET, Plus Plus, Bigudi, Uniate, 1+1 International and Ukraine Today, sales house Plus and TV content production company 1+1 Production.
- On August 20, 2019, Oleksandr Tkachenko announced that he had left the business and resigned as the head of the 1+1 media holding.
Political career
In the 2019 parliamentary elections, he was elected as a member of parliament from the Servant of the People party, No. 9 on the list. Chairman of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy in the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation.
On June 4, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Oleksandr Tkachenko as Minister of Culture.
Family.
His first wife is Tetiana Hnedash, a screenwriter and producer at Art Forms Priduction.
His second wife is Anna Tkachenko (née Barannik), who worked under Oleksandr’s management at 1+1 Media Holding. Her current position is HR director (human resources director).
Currently, Tkachenko is a father of two: he has a daughter, Oleksandra, from his first marriage, who is now the creative director at Novy Kanal, and a son, Danylo, born in 2015.
Kopromat
A recording of negotiations between the governor of Dnipropetrovs’k region, Ihor Kolomoisky, and the CEO of the 1+1 MEDIA group, Oleksandr Tkachenko, has been posted on the Internet.
Over the phone, Kolomoisky instructs Tkachenko to give negative coverage to MP Oleh Lyashko, leader of the Radical Party of Ukraine.
Telephone conversation between Tkachenko and Kolomoisky
Tkachenko: Good morning, Igor Valerievich.
Kolomoisky: Hello! Can’t you see I’m calling you?
Tkachenko: As soon as I saw it, I picked it up. I dropped the other conversation.
Kolomoisky: Where are you?
Tkachenko: In the office.
Kolomoisky: What about your wind?
Tkachenko: I went out to the balcony so that people sitting in the room wouldn’t hear our conversation.
Kolomoisky: And who is sitting in your room?
Tkachenko: Our lawyers and Yaryk (most likely Yaroslav Pakholchuk — Battle for Ukraine) are sitting there. These m…..s don’t want to disconnect the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk, and we are now coming up with a cunning plan for them.
Kolomoisky: I understand, I understand. There is such a p……., in the good sense of the word, named Lyashko. It’s time to start him p……..
Tkachenko: But he has a direct connection there, I know.
Kolomoisky: (inaudible) Lyovochkin.
Tkachenko: Yes, yes, okay.
Kolomoisky: Yeah, yeah. And (inaudible) Lovochkin saddled all…
Tkachenko: He saddled up all the p……..
Kolomoisky: Yes. It’s interesting, in order to ride Lyashko b…. and all the b…….., Lovochkin will have to b…. at least become bi.
Tkachenko: Okay, okay, no problem.
Kolomoisky: Come on, bye.
Tkachenko: Valeriy Valeriyovych, can I ask you a few questions on the black phone…
Kolomoisky: I’ll dial some more, okay.
Tkachenko: Okay.
The scandalous law No. 2693 “On Media”
Tkachenko was one of those who promoted the bill, which actually formalizes censorship and makes it easier to block online media through the courts.
One of the key provisions of the law is a requirement for all media outlets to provide the National Council with information on their ownership structure, censorship of news and materials about Russia and the USSR, and a simplified procedure for blocking websites.
Following criticism from Ukrainian journalists and international organizations, the document was returned for revision in late April.
Tkachenko is on Russia’s sanctions list
After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the outbreak of the war in eastern Ukraine, Tkachenko initiated a boycott of Russian films and TV series. Since November 1, 2018, he has been on the Russian sanctions list, according to which Russian accounts, securities and property have been frozen, and money transactions to withdraw money from Russia are prohibited.
Interestingly, during Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s press conference dedicated to the year of his presidency, the guarantor complained about “personnel hunger.” In particular, he said that there was no one to head the Ministry of Culture.
“We have a staff shortage in the country. I can’t find a good Minister of Culture right now. Together with the prime minister, we are looking, and we have turned to our cultural community. It is very difficult for us to find a Minister of Education. It is very difficult for us to find a minister of energy,” the president said at the time.
As a reminder, Olha Stefanyshyna was appointed Deputy Prime Minister to replace Vadym Prystaiko.
Odesa Cinematographers Guild asks the Rada not to appoint Tkachenko as Minister of Culture
The Odesa Cinematographers Guild, a non-governmental organization for the protection and realization of the rights of cinematographers, has appealed to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Razumkov, to prevent the appointment of Oleksandr Tkachenko, a member of the Servant of the People party, as Minister of Culture.
This is stated in the union’s appeal, RBC-Ukraine reports.
“Professional cinematographers of Odesa ask you to prevent the appointment of the notorious media manager, former CEO of 1+1 Oleksandr Tkachenko to the post of Minister of Culture of Ukraine due to the fact that by his actions he has already actually appropriated and cynically destroyed the Odesa Feature Film Studio and is currently attempting to raider seize the Ukrkinokhronika film studio,” the Guild said.
Earlier, the same organization appealed to law enforcement with a request to punish those responsible for the seizure and destruction of the Odesa Film Studio. The letter was addressed to the heads of the SBU, the PGO, the NABU, the SAPO, and the SBI.
“A. V. Tkachenko and O. Y. Neverko, acting for mercenary motives by prior conspiracy, falsified the relevant documents and carried out a raider seizure of the cultural national heritage of the people of Ukraine — the Odesa Film Studio. This led to illegal privatization and the actual destruction of the state-owned enterprise. The actions of Neverk and Tkachenko fall under the signs of a crime under Articles 190, 191, 233, 364, 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the letter says.
As reported earlier, the staff of the state-owned Ukrainian Studio of Chronicle and Documentary Films (Ukrkinokhronika) appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to protect them from attempts by Oleksandr Tkachenko, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, to organize a raider seizure of the state-owned enterprise.
In his turn, Oleksandr Tkachenko denies the accusations of raiding and states that the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada has all the documents confirming the attempt of the company’s management to take over state property.
Wedding with a young colleague
In November 2014, in a conversation with Katya Osadcha, Oleksandr Tkachenko said that he was going to get married again. This time to Anna Barannik, a young woman who works as a human resources director in the same company as her fiancé.
As the CEO of 1+1 Media himself admitted to Kata Osadcha, it was the tragic events in Ukraine that prompted him to ask Anna (who had also been married and divorced before) to become his wife.
It turned out that Oleksandr Tkachenko is a real romantic. He proposed to his second chosen one in the air, during a pleasure flight over Kyiv in a helicopter.
The lovers decided not to have a loud wedding, but only to get married in the circle of family and close friends. They got married in Jerusalem and then went on a honeymoon trip to the Maldives.
The scandal over Oksana Marchenko’s participation in Dancing with the Stars
In September 2018, scandalous news spread in the media that the CEO of 1+1 TV channel allowed Viktor Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, to participate in the country’s most anticipated TV project, Dancing with the Stars.
Upon learning of this, the TSN project team protested against the wife of Viktor Putin’s godfather participating in the most popular Ukrainian show on 1+1.
The protesters were supported by TSN host Marichka Padalko, who wrote on Facebook that she was joining the joint statement remotely because she considered the situation “simply disgusting.”
Padalko said she condemned her management’s decision to allow Marchenko, who is essentially a relative of Vladimir Putin and whose husband clearly expresses his pro-Russian sentiment, to join the project.
In response, Oleksandr Tkachenko said that he still considers Medvedchuk an enemy of Ukraine, but that his wife has nothing to do with it. As for the position of the TSN team, the head of 1+1 noted that this is a separate project, so its correspondents have the right to express their opinions. At the same time, the channel’s CEO added that he has the right to decide without outside help who to invite to the show and who not to.
There were rumors that before the upcoming elections, 1+1 owner Ihor Kolomoisky was resolving political issues with Viktor Medvedchuk, which was the reason for Oksana Marchenko’s appearance on Dancing with the Stars. In response, Tkachenko said that he had already heard a lot of such “nonsense” and various “conspiracy theories.” According to him, all of this is nothing more than the fantasies of people who see political intrigue and conspiracies in a simple invitation to an entertainment project.
According to some publications, the management of the 1+1 media holding was looking for ways to attract new investments to revive the Odesa Film Studio. Viktor Medvedchuk agreed to sponsor one of the projects under two conditions: first, if Marchenko participated in the show, and second, if he was allocated a plot of land on the territory of the film industry to build a residential area.
Accusations of bias against 1+1
On New Year’s Eve, many Ukrainians were outraged that the management of the TV channel had moved the traditional speech of President Petro Poroshenko to make way for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s.
President Poroshenko’s speech was shown after midnight, and before the “chimes” at 23:55, the favorite of the 1+1 CEO, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appeared on TV screens.
The day before the New Year, Oleksandr Tkachenko posted a photo of Zelensky on Facebook, under which he wrote that “it’s high time for a new one.” Apparently, the media personality is so confident in Vova’s success that he even gave him the floor in advance during the President’s traditional speech.
Faced with numerous outrages and questions from Internet users, Tkachenko said that 1+1 Media is a commercial TV company that can afford not to follow the Soviet tradition of showing the President’s greetings to the sound of a chime that has long since disappeared. The CEO of the TV channel noted that Poroshenko was still shown, albeit later than usual.
On the first day of 2019, Oleksandr Tkachenko posted another post in which he accused the head of state of being attacked by internet bots.
He expressed confidence that the master of this pack was none other than Petro Poroshenko, who was afraid that “someone smarter had appeared on the horizon.”
Taras Kremin about Tkachenko
In the program “Rendezvous with Yanina Sokolova” on Channel 5, the language ombudsman Taras Kremin commented on the activities of Oleksandr Tkachenko as Minister of Culture.
Kremin confirmed that, in his opinion, Tkachenko’s work as Minister of Culture is pointless.
“What is the reason for this? You know, one of my father’s poems has the following words: “If you take up cinema, there is no cinema, if you take up culture, there is no culture.” I think that Oleksandr Tkachenko is not an accidental person in his position, but he can,” the language ombudsman said.
He also emphasized: “Everyone who is responsible for language policy must work. Therefore, the Minister of Culture should prepare a state program for the Year of the Ukrainian Language. I have been saying this for the hundredth or two hundredth time.”
Tkachenko heads inter-factional association in the Rada “New Kyiv”
MP from the Servant of the People faction Oleksandr Tkachenko has become the head of the New Kyiv inter-factional parliamentary association.
The creation of the MPO was announced by the First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk during the evening session of the parliament on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“We have received an application for the establishment of the inter-factional deputy association “New Kyiv”. MP Oleksandr Vladyslavovych Tkachenko has been elected as the head of this association,” Stefanchuk said.
MP from the Servant of the People faction, Tkachenko, filed a declaration of candidacy for the post of head of the Kyiv City State Administration.
The declaration was published in the Unified State Register of Declarations of Persons Authorized to Perform State or Local Government Functions.
Read also: Rada may adopt new law on the capital in December — MP
Oleksandr Tkachenko is an MP elected on the list of the Servant of the People party, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy. Previously, he was the CEO of 1+1 Media.
As reported by Ukrinform, on September 4, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the dismissal of Vitali Klitschko from the post of head of the Kyiv City State Administration and submitted a corresponding submission to the Presidential Office.
Declaration
According to his 2018 declaration, Oleksandr Tkachenko owns a 5% stake in the 1+1 TV and radio company, 25% in the online publication The Babel, and 16.67% in Kvartal TV. Among other things, he owns three film companies: Kinolav, HTM, 1+1 Production, as well as the book publishing company Knigolav and others. Together with his wife, Oleksandr Tkachenko owns nine companies.
Given that Tkachenko has never held public office and is entering politics for the first time, he is not required to declare his assets. According to the shareholders of the 1+1 Media holding, Tkachenko is the third largest shareholder (he owns 22.4 percent of the shares of the foreign company 1+1 Production) and co-owner of the company Odesa Film Studios. Recently, Tkachenko managed to exercise his option granted by the shareholders several years ago and now becomes a co-owner of 1+1 TV channel.
Compromising data
Oleksandr Tkachenko, an MP from the Servant of the People party, rents an illegal house on Trukhaniv Island in Kyiv, which he did not indicate in his declaration. According to the Bihus.info investigation, he was supposed to indicate the house in his declaration when he was a candidate for MP, but failed to do so.
It is noted that the city leased the site for 15 years for the water sports complex of the Training and Sports Commercial Club Ukraine LLC.
It is forbidden to build housing on this land: it is forest land that belongs to the coastal protection zone and is part of the protection zone.
However, there is a main house, two smaller houses, and a yard with a lake on the porch.
Currently, the estate is surrounded by a fence. A guard is constantly on duty at the automatic gate, explaining to those wishing to approach the water that this is a private area.
The journalists also have a photo that Tkachenko took on the territory of the house back in May 2018.
In a comment to Ukrayinska Pravda, Tkachenko said that he had only rented a house on Trukhaniv Island in Kyiv for six months. He claims that he rented the house in the summer. Moreover, according to him, he rented a different house than the one shown in the journalists’ photos.
“I’ve been to Trukhaniv Island many times, I’ve been playing sports there. It’s a great place, so this year my wife and I decided to rent a house there for the summer. We signed the lease agreement for six months back in May this year. Therefore, the rent will be reflected in the declaration for the current year,” Tkachenko said.
On August 13, 2020, a rally was held in Kyiv in front of the house of the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, located in the protected area of Trukhaniv Island.
Activists of the NGO “Forest” and the NGO “Society for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Kyiv” protested against the construction of Trukhaniv Island and demanded that Tkachenko explain the situation with the house in the center of the protected area, as the Minister of Culture, a representative of the Servant of the People party and former CEO of 1+1 Media lives in this house on Trukhaniv Island in the recreational area and has not yet declared it.
“We have gathered here to ask the current Minister of Culture to explain why he believes that he has the right to live in the protected area and why he has not included this property in his declaration. This is not the first time that Oleksandr Tkachenko has been asked to explain to Kyiv residents the fact that he lives in this house. 2 years ago, he assured us that in his 2019 declaration we would see from whom and for how much he rents this property, but unfortunately, this never happened,” commented one of the activists.
The president’s team planned to establish total control over Kyiv’s economy immediately after the presidential election. According to Vitali Klitschko, Oleksandr Tkachenko and businessman Andriy Vavrysh were given full powers to act as the capital’s curators. While Tkachenko is the head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Vavrysh is given the status of a supervisor. Vavrysh is a consultant to the president on city development and a friend of Andriy Bohdan. Tkachenko is rumored to have plans to run for mayor of the city.
Oleksandr Tkachenko has been repeatedly called Ihor Kolomoisky’s man. The partners of the event say that Zelenskyi’s decision to surround himself with people who are somehow connected to Ihor Kolomoiskyi is a total mistake. The Internet is full of recordings of conversations between Tkachenko and Kolomoisky, which only confirm the close and trusting relationship between the two people. By the way, the conversations are quite ordinary, with a normal share of profanity.
Under Tkachenko’s leadership, 1+1 media repeatedly aired stories criticizing Klitschko. Among the news items was a story about a pedestrian and bicycle bridge connecting Volodymyrska Hill and the Arch of Friendship of Peoples. They also talked about the 11 Mirrors hotel. Rumor has it that Klitschko intends to take over this property, which is listed as a communal property. The mayor’s office sees the stories as an information attack. Tkachenko has always been considered the main pawn serving the oligarchs and their interests.
The list of “Servant of the People” was supposed to include no people who were in any way close to the oligarchs. Why does Zelenskyy allow himself to be so wasteful? The tenth place on the list was taken by Tkachenko, who is in good terms with Kolomoisky.
Savik Shuster also expressed his opinion about Tkachenko, calling him a “servant.” But Oleksandr says that his work is not controlled by the oligarchs. The CEO has already denied the information that during the nationalization of Privatbank, he did not have any 1+1 shares in his account.
In 2019, in the spring, Oleksandr Tkachenko decided to sue Petro Poroshenko. The main reason was intimidation of journalists, which Petro Poroshenko had voiced in the past. According to Tkachenko, Poroshenko burst into the air of “Right to Power” on April 11, 2019, using his status.
Tkachenko also claims that all the rumors that he wants to take the mayor’s seat in Kyiv are just rumors. His main goal and work in the future is the parliament.
According to his 2018 declaration, Oleksandr Tkachenko has owned a 132.7-square-meter apartment in Kyiv since 2015. His wife, Anna Tkachenko, has owned a 45.7-square-meter apartment in Kyiv since 2014.
Since 2013, Oleksandr Tkachenko has been entitled to use a 2013 Land Rover Range Rover Sport owned by Studio 1+1 TV and Radio Company LLC, and his wife has owned a BMW X5 of the same year of manufacture since 2016.
The declaration does not list any valuables, but it does declare Tkachenko’s rights to three trademarks in the form of word marks: since 2011 — “Tkachenko”, since 2012 — “NOVA STUDIYA” and since 2018 — “NOVA MOVA”.
In 2018, Oleksandr Tkachenko’s income consisted exclusively of his salary at Studio 1+1 TV and Radio Company LLC in the amount of UAH 2 million 973 thousand 718. His wife also received a salary from the same organization in the amount of UAH 1 million. 278 thousand 601 hryvnias.
Oleksandr Tkachenko kept his savings in cash in the amount of USD 300 thousand. USD, as well as in bank accounts: UAH 203 thousand, USD 11 thousand. USD, AND USD 11 THOUSAND. In addition, he indicated UAH 214 thousand 600 as loans to third parties and liabilities in the amount of UAH 6 million 985 thousand 435 that arose to him on the basis of a court decision.
Anna Tkachenko kept USD 30 thousand in cash. USD in cash, as well as USD 5 thousand and UAH 170 thousand. USD 5 thousand and UAH 170 thousand in bank accounts.
In the declaration declared during his registration as a candidate for deputy, Oleksandr Tkachenko stated that he
— owns corporate rights of the private company “Cinema love ltd” (IN 10237797), registered in the UK;
— is a beneficiary of the Cinema Art Development Fund LLC (EDRPOU 33085856) through Cinema love ltd, specializing in the production of films and videos, television programs;
— is a beneficiary of Nova Kinostudio LLC (EDRPOU 33216314) through the Cinema Art Development Fund LLC and Cinema love ltd, specializing in the production of films, videos and television programs;
— is a beneficiary of Planet Cinema LLC (EDRPOU 36757206), apparently through the Cyprus-based company Cinema Limited, specializing in film screenings.
According to the YouControl system, Cinema Limited is the founder of Velyten LLC (EDRPOU 38810381), specializing in restaurants and mobile catering services; however, this was not reflected in Tkachenko’s declaration.
Also, according to the YouControl system and the submitted declaration, as of August 12, 2019, Tkachenko is
- — a director and member of Studio 1+1 TV and Radio Company LLC (EDRPOU 23729809), profile — activities in the field of television broadcasting;
- — a participant and liquidator of NTM LLC (EDRPOU 23738346), specializing in the production of films and videos, television programs;
- — one of the founders and beneficiaries of LLC “Solutions” (EDRPOU 34530959), specializing in the wholesale trade of computers, peripheral equipment and software;
- — one of the founders and beneficiary of Babel LLC (EDRPOU 42125532), specialization — Web portals;
- — a founder (together with his wife) of Kinolav LLC (EDRPOU 40868734), profile — production of films, videos and television programs;
- — one of the founders of Knigolav LLC (EDRPOU 40632877), specializing in book publishing;
- — one of the founders of Kvartal TV LLC (EDRPOU 4055543), specializing in television broadcasting, theater and concert activities;
- — one of the founders of the Foreign Enterprise “1+1 Production” (EDRPOU 23389360), specializing in the production of films and videos, television programs;
- — the founder of A.T. Trading PE (EDRPOU 31812838), specializing in advertising activities;
- — beneficiary of Vision TV LLC (EDRPOU 36496608), specialization — television broadcasting;
- — the beneficiary of Vision Media LLC (EDRPOU 36692060), profile — activities in the field of television broadcasting;
- — the beneficiary of Plus TV LLC (EDRPOU 42642803), profile — activities in the field of television broadcasting;
- — the beneficiary of Bavarsky Dvir LLC (EDRPOU 40879086), profile — activities of restaurants, mobile catering services;
- — a beneficiary of Odesa Film Studio PrJSC (EDRPOU 33932816), specializing in the production of films and videos, television programs. In November 2019, the well-known Andriy Vavrysh said in an interview with Bihus.info that he (through Dmytro Ovsiy) has been Tkachenko’s partner in the Odesa Film Studio since 2018: they are working on the development of this facility, negotiating with production studios;
- — a former member of Synergy LLC (EDRPOU 31241685), which was part of the Industrial Union of Donbas group, specializing in the distribution of films, videos, and television programs;
- — one of the founders of the NGO “Open Orthodox University of St. Sophia the Wise” (EDRPOU 40574578);
- — one of the founders and a member of the board of the NGO “November 21” (EDRPOU 39853756).
Tkachenko’s declaration does not specify this, but a person with the same data is listed as a liquidator of the NGO “Ukrainian Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property” (EDRPOU 26051845).
Also, the declaration does not indicate this, but the person with Tkachenko’s data, as of June 16, 2017, is listed as a member of Kinomania LLC (EDRPOU 32208748), which is part of the Industrial Union of Donbas group, with a profile of distribution of films, videos, and television programs.
Until the end of 2018, Kinomania, owned by the daughters of businessman and politician, MP of the IX convocation Serhiy Taruta (#2 on the Batkivshchyna party list), was managed by the former ISD manager, MP of the IX convocation from the 223rd Kyiv constituency (Shevchenkivskyi district), member of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Development, Liudmyla Buymister.
In November 2019, an investigation by Bihus.info revealed that Tkachenko had lied when he claimed that he had been living in a mansion in the protected zone of Trukhaniv Island only since May 2019 — journalists proved that he had been using this housing for at least three years.
Contrary to the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”, which provides for submission of annual declarations by April 1, 2020, Tkachenko’s declaration for 2019 was not available on the NACP website by the deadline. Only two forms of amendments were available.
According to the form dated December 27, 2019 — December 23, Oleksandr Tkachenko received UAH 23.5 million from Alfa Cross LLC (EDRPOU 39724812) under the agreement for the alienation of securities and corporate rights. By a strange coincidence, on the same day, Tkachenko’s colleague in the SN faction and former subordinate Oleksandr Dubinskyi received UAH 4 million 295 thousand from the same company for the assignment of the right of claim under the agreement of 12.08.2019.
In addition, on 24.12.2019, Tkachenko purchased a 1459 sq. m. land plot and a 267.3 sq. m. garden (country) house from an individual in Lebedivka, Vyshhorod district, Kyiv region.
According to the form dated February 28, 2020, on February 27, Tkachenko purchased an ATV BRP OUTLANDER MAX DPS 570 made in 2019.
Oleksandr Tkachenko’s declaration of property, income, expenses and financial liabilities for 2019
According to the declaration, in 2019, in addition to the real estate already mentioned, Tkachenko received the right to lease an administrative building in Kyiv with an area of 396.7 square meters.
Since April 2019, Anna Tkachenko’s list of valuable property has included jewelry valued at UAH 603 thousand.
Since June 2019, Oleksandr Tkachenko has had the right to use a 2019 Land Rover Range Rover Sport, owned by Studio 1+1 LLC, which has been leased since August.
In 2019, Anna Tkachenko acquired another car, a 2006 BMW 525.
As stated in the declaration, the corporate rights belonging to Oleksandr Tkachenko were sold off. He still owns: 99% of Kinolav LLC (and 1% remained with Hanna Tkachenko), 60% of Knigolav LLC, 99% of Cinema Love Ltd (1% remained with Hanna Tkachenko), 95% of NTM LLC and 100% of A.T. Trading PE. All these assets (except those owned by his wife) are listed as transferred to management.
Tkachenko also indicated that he was the beneficiary:
- — in Kinolav LLC (EDRPOU 40868734), profile — production of films and videos, television programs; his wife continues to own 1%;
- — in Knigolav LLC (EDRPOU 40632877), specializing in book publishing;
- — in Bavarsky Dvor LLC (USREOU 40879086), profile — restaurant activities, mobile catering services;
- — Cinema Art Development Fund LLC (EDRPOU 33085856, Odesa), profile: production of films and videos, television programs;
- — Nova Kinostudio LLC (EDRPOU 33216314, Odesa), specialization — restaurant activities, mobile catering services;
- — Planeta Kino LLC (EDRPOU 36757206), profile — demonstration of films;
- — NTM LLC (EDRPOU 23738346), profile — production of films and videos, television programs;
- — at A.T. Trading PE (EDRPOU 31812838), profile — advertising activities;
- — in Cinema Love Ltd (10237797), registered in the UK; his wife continues to own 1%.
As is known, in June 2020, Tkachenko sold a stake to the British company Cinema Love Ltd, through which Nova Kinostudio LLC was the beneficiary of Odesa Film Studio.
Tkachenko’s income in 2019 amounted to UAH 27 million 467 thousand 447: UAH 3 million 697 thousand 852 — salary at Studio 1+1 TV and Radio Company LLC, UAH 107 thousand 205 — salary at BP, UAH 35 thousand — additional benefit; UAH 23 million 627 thousand 390 — from the alienation of corporate rights.
In the reporting year, Tkachenko’s wife received an income of UAH 6 million 9 thousand 857: UAH 1 million 697 thousand 848 — salary at Studio 1+1 TV and Radio Company LLC, UAH 4 million 295 thousand 73 — from the alienation of corporate rights, UAH 16 thousand 936 — additional benefit.
Tkachenko kept his savings in cash — USD 40 thousand. USD, as well as UAH 5 million 426 thousand 600 and USD 7 thousand in bank accounts. USD in bank accounts. His wife kept: USD 31 thousand in cash and USD 4 million 44 thousand in bank accounts. USD 31 thousand in cash and UAH 4 million 444 thousand 918 in bank accounts.
Schemes, connections, scandals
At various times in his career, Tkachenko had ties to oligarch Viktor Pinchuk, Ivan Fursin (RosUkrEnergo group), and has good business connections in Russia.
According to an annual study by the Institute of Mass Information and the Independent Media Trade Union, Oleksandr Tkachenko was among the ten biggest enemies of the Ukrainian press in 2012-2013.
In March 2019, Artur Herasymov, head of the BPP faction in the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation, said that the current president, Petro Poroshenko, could file a lawsuit against the 1+1 TV channel “for systematic lies on a particularly large scale, for spreading gigantic amounts of disinformation.” It seems to be about the program “50 Shades of Poroshenko”, during which, in particular, Poroshenko was accused of involvement in the death of his brother Mykhailo in 1997.
The CEO of 1+1 TV Channel, Tkachenko, wrote on his Facebook page that “since 1991, there has never been such an unprincipled and ruthless presidential election campaign by the current government.”
In the evening of April 11, the talk show “Right to Power” on 1+1 TV channel began with a surprise for the hosts and editors — President Poroshenko unexpectedly appeared in the studio. He greeted the hosts and the audience, and then addressed his rival in the second round of the election, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on live TV.
On April 12, in connection with the arbitrariness of the private TV channel and the abuse of the status of a protected person, Tkachenko announced his intention to sue and spoke very unpleasantly about the manners of the current president.
Since the beginning of May 2019, Oleksandr Tkachenko’s name has been circulating in Kyiv political circles as the main contender for the leadership of the Kyiv City State Administration and a possible candidate for the post of mayor of Kyiv. Tkachenko himself claimed that he had no intention of running for this position. There were rumors that Tkachenko wanted to take the chair of the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.
Perhaps due to this uncertainty, in early July, President Zelenskyy’s office began an unofficial “casting call” for candidates for the position of Kyiv mayor.
At the end of July 2019, even before the election results were announced, Oleksandr Tkachenko, on the basis of the Memorandum on the Establishment of the Kyiv Deputy Group, began to create a group of the same name from his future faction colleagues. It immediately became known that at least two MPs elected from the Servant of the People party learned about their membership in this group from the press: Oleksandr Dubinsky, a producer and TV presenter at 1+1 TV channel, and Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk.
On July 26, 2019, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said during a press conference that the head of the OP, Andrii Bohdan, tried to impose on him former KCSA official and developer Andrii Vavrysh, as well as 1+1 CEO Oleksandr Tkachenko, to coordinate all working decisions.
On September 4, 2019, Oleksiy Honcharuk’s Cabinet unanimously approved the dismissal of Vitali Klitschko from the post of head of the Kyiv City State Administration. The decision was made at the insistence of the Presidential Administration, whose head, Andriy Bohdan, had initially unsuccessfully appealed to Volodymyr Groysman’s Cabinet with a similar request.
On September 16, MP Tkachenko addressed Prime Minister Honcharuk with a parliamentary inquiry and a request to initiate a general audit of the activities of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and the Kyiv City State Administration, as well as the activities of their subordinate structures.
On November 2, the government commission completed the audit of the KCSA and presented its findings on 880 pages. As of the beginning of 2020, the audit did not result in any administrative, personnel or organizational conclusions.
Vavrysh and Tkachenko will build residential buildings on the territory of the Odesa Film Studio
According to Vavrysh, he has no other partners in this project besides Tkachenko
Andriy Vavrysh, director of the Kyiv-based development company Saga Development, said that a large hub with residential complexes to accommodate film crews is planned for the Odesa Film Studio. He also confirmed that Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko has a stake in the studio and wants to sell it.
“We want to launch a large hub with a huge number of multimedia companies and other organizations. We will launch a film studio and everything that is necessary for the industry. Film production is not only about movies. It includes shows, production, and news agencies,” the developer said.
When asked whether the hub’s facilities would include residential buildings, Vavrysh replied that they are planning to build housing, but it will be intended only for film crews.
Also, according to Andriy Vavrysh, a former official of the Kyiv City State Administration under Viktor Yanukovych, he has no other partners in this project besides Tkachenko.
Earlier, Bihus.info journalists found out that Andriy Vavrysh, a Kyiv developer and friend of the former head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Bohdan, was granted permission to build high-rises in Pechersk in Kyiv, despite violations and lack of necessary documentation.
According to their data, Vavrysh’s companies are also building a residential complex on almost 30 hectares of recreational land of the National Academy of Internal Affairs. It was reported that the National Academy of Internal Affairs signed a contract for the development of two plots with Rezon in the summer of 2017. The future residential complex is called O2 Residence and will consist of 12 buildings. However, the purpose of the two plots of the National Academy is recreational. Construction of residential buildings on recreational land is prohibited.
Saga Development is also implementing a number of projects in Odesa. The project to build a beach near the Chkalovsky sanatorium has gained a scandalous reputation.
As RBK-Ukraine previously reported, the Odesa Cinematographers Guild, a public organization for the protection and realization of the rights of filmmakers, appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to punish those responsible for the seizure of the Odesa Film Studio. The letter was also addressed to the heads of the SBU, the PGO, the NABU, the SAPO, and the SBI.
In particular, the filmmakers accused the then MP Oleksandr Tkachenko of illegal privatization of the Odesa Film Studio.
In addition, the staff of Ukrkinokhronika appealed to the President to protect them from Tkachenko’s attempts to organize a raider seizure of the state-owned enterprise Ukrkinokhronika.
Apparently, this video contained serious information
The Odesa Film Studio is in the calm before the storm. In July, the government transferred the controlling stake in the film factory to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. And the main private shareholder of the enterprise is Oleksandr Tkachenko, the CEO of the 1+1 group of companies. In fact, he has been running the film studio for more than ten years, or rather, he has been persistently destroying it. The force-news.com investigation explains why and how an unscrupulous businessman is destroying the symbol of Ukrainian film production. French Boulevard. 33 . The center of Odesa. More than six hectares of land. The last area in the coastal zone that has not yet become private property. And the only thing that prevents it from doing so is a movie studio. Back in 2005, Oleksandr Tkachenko spotted the ownerless oasis by the Black Sea.
“When asked if the studio was not located on Frantsuzsky Boulevard, he replied: “Why, who would need it then?” It was more than frank. These were Tkachenko’s words,” recalls Yevhen Zhenin, former head of the acting department at the Odesa Film Studio.
The media manager was literally stomping his feet — the company urgently needed to be privatized!
“Hollywood will be here,” Tkachenko said. At the beginning, we were told that the Odesa Film Studio was sick, it was entirely in the hands of the state, and the state is not an effective manager, so we need to give 50% to a private owner, and then there will be Hollywood here!” says Mykola Sednev, a staff director at the Odesa Film Studio.
The idea was not supported, but the fighter for private property did not give up. A knight’s move was made — the signatures of leading Odesa filmmakers were forged under a request for shareholding.
“There was nothing like that, these people did not put their signatures. The signatures were forged. All these investigations have sunk into oblivion. Despite the fact that there were people who died trying to protect the studio. There were!” — insists Yevhen Zhenin.
As a result of the brazen fraud, the state retained 50% and one share, while a private investor, Nova Kinostudio LLC, headed by the founders Oleksandr Tkachenko and Serhiy Taruta, received 50% and minus one share. “No work, no salary, no unemployment benefits, no contributions to the pension fund — this is beyond the law. How do I feel about the management of the Odesa Film Studio? How should I treat arbitrarians?” — Mykola Sednev wonders.
With the arrival of the shareholders, the film studio did not receive a new breath of life, but rather is falling into further decline. The place is in ruins. The pavilions and costume shops are empty and have not been repaired for years. The access to the sea, where the filming pool used to be, is overgrown with weeds. There is, however, one thing to be proud of: the Vera Kholodnaya Art Center, which was opened with a bang. But it was only marafetized from the facade. At public expense. And then it was immediately leased to private individuals.
In fact, even the old-timers don’t remember how to make movies at the Odesa Film Studio anymore.
“They don’t want to expel us, so that the media won’t pick up on the fact that they’ve exposed the creative team. They don’t want to expel us, and they don’t want to give us work,” says Mykola Sednev.
But they will find work for their own projects, not for nothing that they bought new equipment for the “sound”. “Oleksandr Tkachenko used the Odesa Film Studio in the interests of the projects he was involved in outside of cinema, outside of Odesa!” says Yevhen Zhenin.
“And, of course, it’s a sin not to make money by renting out equipment on unfavorable terms for enterprises. Through black accounting.
“All the projects that were filmed were filmed to the detriment of the Odesa film studio. If they rented equipment, I was asked to give discounts that were simply unprofitable. I said, “Wait a minute. Isn’t this your film studio? He said: “Well, what can I do, make money on other people!” says Viktor Nozdriukhin-Zabolotny, former general producer of the Odesa Film Studio.
Another know-how from an advanced shareholder is holding food festivals on the territory of the Odesa Film Studio, which bring in a good amount of money without any extra investments. The manager refused to invest directly in filming. Evgeny Genin: “Universal Pictures and the Odesa Film Studio were offered by Fradiz for his money, which he had already brought. Tkachenko passed it all on to Nikitin, Nikitin passed it on to Zverev, who said: “Okay, fine, leave the money, we’ll take care of it, and we’ll report back.”
It seems that the management is going out of its way to prevent the studio from making films of its own production under any circumstances.
A few years ago, Oleksandr Tkachenko made a priceless gift to the Odesa Film Studio. The company had huge debts on utility bills and lacked funds to pay off wage arrears. “Tkachenko provided the studio with financial assistance from his company. On very unfavorable terms. Higher interest rates if the money was not repaid on time, and it was clear that it was impossible to repay it on time, a serious penalty, and all the contractual terms were bondage,” — explains Viktor Nozdriukhin-Zabolotny.
“Tkachenko gave the Odesa Film Studio two million hryvnias. In fact, he put it on a meter. In five years, the amount of debt increased fivefold. And then a kind creditor demanded to repay the debt…. from his own company!
“Tkachenko was removed from the management of the film studio, and he said, ‘Give me my money back. Taruta said: ‘Where can I get it, we haven’t earned any money. Tkachenko said, ‘I’m going to sue. Taruta replied, ‘Go ahead and sue. He won the court, they sat down behind closed doors and made a deal with Taruta, and he handed over the studio to him.”
Cunning, blackmail, and voila — Oleksandr Vladyslavovych gets the sole reins of power. The path to this was long, difficult and thorny. During the ten years of managing the film studio, Tkachenko managed to get rid of not only an inconvenient business partner, but also other “unnecessary junk”. “Literally in the first months of corporatization, all this equipment flew from the windows of the fourth floor. It was turned into scrap metal. Because scrap metal was more valuable to the studio director than movies,” says director Leonid Pavlovsky. The archive with rare films was also literally covered with mold.
Nowadays, the studio can easily go bankrupt if it wants to. It will be all within the law. Such attempts have been made with enviable regularity in the past. In December 2009, it became known that the State Property Fund of Ukraine had decided to put up for sale a 50.01% stake in the studio. To cool down the private investor’s enthusiasm, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law banning the privatization of the Odesa Film Studio.
But Tkachenko was persistent. In the midst of the Revolution of Dignity, a project to change the status of the Ekran dormitory to that of a residential building suddenly appeared on the Odesa City Council’s website. What is the connection with the bankruptcy of the Odesa Film Studio? It’s direct. As soon as a private shareholder manages to get rid of the dormitory by transferring it to the city, the state’s share is reduced by 7 million shares at once. Then an independent audit is ordered, which sets the condition that the missing millions be paid in within a month. Otherwise, the film studio is at the full disposal of the satisfied founder.
Thanks to the public outcry and the courts, the deal was not pulled off. But it’s not over yet….
“No one understands what Tkachenko will do, he will not obey anyone, he will not report to anyone. As long as the controlling stake is owned by the state, we can appeal to anyone. If it goes into private hands, we will lose this opportunity,” states Viktor Nozdriukhin-Zabolotny.
According to insider information, the actions of Oleksandr Tkachenko, who is trying his best to drive one of the last strongholds of Ukrainian cinema into bankruptcy, have finally aroused the interest of regulatory authorities. The inspections will focus on the systematic misappropriation of the company’s funds. Over the past eleven years, the Odesa Film Studio’s losses have amounted to more than 46 million hryvnias. So where is Hollywood?
Secular chronicle and TV | TV KP
Elena YURCHENKO (September 3, 2017, 19:00)
This time, we invited the CEO of 1+1 to our traditional Television Talk. Oleksandr Tkachenko had to answer some tough questions.
On quotas and the political background of the license denial for 1+1
— How is the channel preparing for the introduction of language quotas on TV? Have you ever reached the required 75%?
— In principle, it’s enough… But not quite. Some projects are starting to be broadcast in Ukrainian, and we are also launching the production of series in the state language. Despite good starting opportunities to meet the new requirements, we realize that we have a serious field for work here, particularly in the comedy genre.
— In Kvartal, almost all of the actors are Russian-speaking and the jokes are also in Russian. Have you discussed the possibility of switching to Ukrainian?
— We started with the fact that we hold working meetings with Kvartal in Ukrainian. And the guys are doing well! They are thinking about it. And there is an understanding of how to gradually switch to Ukrainian. But even if there are some projects in Russian, they will not prevent us from meeting the quotas.
— In 2016, 1+1 faced the problem of extending its broadcasting license. Was there a political background to this story? How did it end?
— We were eventually granted the license after a number of unjustified claims by the National Council to the documents we submitted regarding our founders. For now, this page is closed. We think that there was a political motive behind it. If these claims were legitimate, the story would not have ended so quickly.
— Why was The Candidate taken off the air after the 8th episode? They say it was very popular on Youtube! Do you often cancel long-term projects?
— We constantly analyze the projects we launch. 90% of all our premiere projects show higher than average channel share. This is a natural process. We are experimenting, trying to understand which genre of our own production resonates with Ukrainians. We try to play with the audience’s expectations to predict what will be interesting in the next step. If this series was targeted at an advanced audience, as we now understand, perhaps that’s why it was watched better online than on air. If we compare the trends in developed markets, the number of successful and unsuccessful projects in the series environment is about 1:3, or even more. Relatively speaking, a third of projects can be unsuccessful, some of them are good, and only a third do very well. In Ukraine, this percentage is much higher.
— Speaking about the tastes of Ukrainians, what kind of series do they want to watch now? Have viewers’ preferences changed over the past two years?
— There has been a radical change in the market supply: the desire to watch comedy and melodrama is currently a priority. We are likely to develop in these genres. TET and 2+2 have other priorities in terms of genre production and program development, but they will tell you about it themselves.
A QUESTION FROM THE ROOM
— Two years ago, the channel had a conflict with Savik Shuster. And now he is completely out of work in Ukraine. Do you have any plans to bring his show back to Plus? After all, his ratings were good…
— It flashed through our minds like a bright comet. No, we have no plans.
— There is information that Ihor Kolomoisky may give away 1+1 for the debts of Privatbank. And that Petro Poroshenko, who is allegedly already in charge of Channel 112, is claiming the channel. It is clear that such a resource as “pluses” will be useful to him before the election. How well-founded are these rumors?
— I don’t know who is claiming what. I am only familiar with the current state of affairs. Privatbank’s business and 1+1’s business are different businesses. I don’t understand what, how and for what can be pledged if there are no legal grounds for it. So the rumors are not true. And they are an unpleasant thing that is difficult to comment on. That’s what rumors are.
— I would like to know about the fate of the Breakfast with 1+1 program — in addition to Anatoliy Anatoliyovych, Marina Leonchuk left the program. Didn’t she get along with the new host?
— TV is a thing that constantly needs changes and updates. It’s a normal process, and over the years I’ve gotten used to it. There are cycles in the programs, how the hosts work on projects — each of them is individual. In this situation, we decided to end our working relationship with Leonchuk. But Yegor Gordeev returned to us after spending a long time abroad. I promise you will know the name of the new host very soon, it will be an interesting discovery!
— Why didn’t Olga Freimut, who left Novy Kanal for Plus four years ago in such a big way, take root with you? What are the main reasons for this “reverse transfer” — maybe her difficult character?
— Of course I did for four years. And then our contract expired. This is a normal process. We wish Olga success, and we parted ways calmly and peacefully.
— What about her projects Inspector Freimuth and On Knives? Will you continue them with new hosts?
— We are not closing these projects, and soon there will be news about them — first of all, about Instepector, because it is a development of our production, and it is important and interesting for us to continue. Moreover, there is interest in this format in other markets.
— Is the lawsuit with the New Channel still ongoing? Or is there nothing to sue for now that Freimuth has left?
— We are in court over the Revizor format. It is still ongoing. But I think the court should have its say, and I would not want to interfere in the vicissitudes of these disputes.
Conclusion.
Oleksandr Vladyslavovych Tkachenko is a man of Ihor Kolomoisky, this is an indisputable fact, and there is a lot of evidence of this, including telephone conversations that are freely available on YouTube. It is thanks to his connections that Tkachenko allows himself to break the law and build a house in a protected area, thus preventing ordinary people from admiring the publicly accessible beauty. He also wants to get his hands on the Odesa film studio, which is also very sad. And as for the looted money in the media industry and in the parliamentary activities, there are scary incredible amounts that an ordinary person cannot imagine in his or her head.