Sam Kislin is believed to fight for his frozen “assets of Yanukovych” in Kyiv, yet to journalists he talked about his friendship with US president Trump, his role in dismissal of the US ambassador Yovanivitch and the corruption of Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko.
Few people in Ukraine care about the curious case known in US media as the “Ukrainegate” scandal. Even the journalists of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, could not care less about the impeachment proceedings in the US Congress and names like Biden, Guliani, Fruman together with Parnas and other top heroes of today`s American breaking news. This week, Ukrainian media celebrated the country's football victory in the game agaisnt Portugal, and the political focus lied with the continuing conflict with Russia, endless economic decline, corruption, the strengthening role of oligarchs, unprofessional government and the awkward president whom Ukrainians try to understand after they surprisingly elected him half a year ago.
The bliss ignorance to the US president impeachment story is the only reason that could explain why the Kyiv press conference room, where Semyon “Sam” Kislin held his unexpected press conference on October 18, was half empty. Kislin is widely known as Rudy Giuliani’s associate and longtime friend, who was scheduled to appear for a deposition over any potential knowledge of President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden and Burisma Holdlings at the House Intelligence Committee last Monday. The media often accuse Kislin of links with organized crime, while his current activities in Ukraine mainly involve the attempts to withdraw assets stolen from Ukraine by the previous Ukrainian regime of Victor Yanukovych.
Born in Ukrainian Odesa in 1935, Kislin migrated to the US in 1972. There, he met young Donald Trump, who bought 200 TV sets from him for one of his Hyatt projects. Some years later, Kislin found himself actively sponsoring Rudy Giuliani’s political campaigns, subsequently becoming Rudy’s economic advisor. The two developed a flourishing friendship.
Kislin`s website says he was on Giuliani’s Council of Economic Advisers when the scandalous lawyer served as the mayor of New York. The businessman was one of three Giuliani associates that received requests for documents and testimony from House Democrats. The other two, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were indicted on charges of funneling foreign money into US elections and were subpoenaed last week by the House Intelligence Committee. The committees requested Kislin to provide documents related to Giuliani’s efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate the Bidens and Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that had Hunter Biden on its board, as well as any information he might have on the US military aid freeze. The communications with former Rep. Pete Sessions - a Texas Republican who consulted with Parnas and Fruman - are also of interest to the inquiry.
Friend of the US president and fighter against corruption
During a fairly low profile press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, co-organized by Ukraine’s Federation of Trade Unions "Profspilkovyi Nastup" with only a couple of media present, Sam Kislin was introduced to the audience as President Donald Trump’s advisor and good friend. The businessman later clarified that he advised the American president unofficially and free of charge on the post-Soviet countries, including Ukraine. Interestingly, the man had earlier introduced himself to Ukrainian journalists as “Giuliani’s ex-advisor”, without reaching as far as calling himself Trump’s expert or friend.
Kislin’s main message focused on the need to fight corruption in Ukraine – meaning the country’s former President Petro Poroshenko and his team, who long served as the focal point of Kislin’s statements on corruption.
When Kislin was asked about his most recent communication with Trump’s scandalous lawyer, the man could not name when he last spoke to Giuliani. He, however, claimed Ukraine was never a point of discussion with his longtime friend. “What right do I have to discuss Ukraine with Giuliani?” he asked, noting Rudy is “just a private lawyer” and his friend of 30 years. Describing Giuliani as a “fighter against corruption”, Kislin praised the former New York mayor for “getting rid of the mafia in the US.”
How to dismiss US ambassadors – for Dummies
The things drastically escalated during the press conference when Kislin commented on the recall of the former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. The man revealed that he appeared in Congress earlier this week, testifying on any Trump or his team’s efforts to influence Ukraine for political gain – including Yovanovitch’s suspicious removal.
On Marie Yovanovitch, Kislin asserted rather harshly: “She’s alcoholic. Poroshenko and she used to drink a bottle of whisky in the morning. I reported this to the according officials, and she was removed.” With unveiling this part of his testimony, Kislin alleged that he was responsible for the ambassador’s recall.
Interestingly, some days ago Sam Kislin’s attorney Jeffrey Dannenberg stated his client wouldn’t appear in Congress on Monday. "Following an understanding reached with counsel for the House Intelligence Committee, Mr. Kislin will not be appearing for an interview or deposition today," he said. "Mr. Kislin is not refusing to cooperate with the Committee's requests. I continue to communicate with the Committee's counsel to satisfy the Committee that Mr. Kislin has no knowledge of any matters relevant to the pending impeachment inquiry."
How an American can make money in Ukraine – for Dummies, too
In reality, the story about the dismissal of US ambassador is rather different. Kislin has his own agenda and Ukrainian business interests. The businessman purchased a Cypriot shell company holding a part of $1.5 billion in cash and bonds that the Ukrainian courts recognized as stolen by the country’s former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich.
With this, Kislin bought a company called Opalcore Limited in November 2016, which held a total of $20m in frozen assets. The funds have been frozen in 2015 after being ruled illegal.
Kislin, in turn, appealed to unfreeze the funds and receive the money. If successful, the businessman could withdraw tens of millions dollars. On his quest, Sam Kislin appealed to the ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, saying his company had fallen victim to an “improper scheme” and asking for “assistance”. While Marie Yovanovitch’s response to Kislin’s request remains unknown, one can assume Yovanovitch judged against “assisting” the man, thus gaining a strong enemy, who is a friend of Trump and Giuliani.
It is widely believed in Ukraine that the US is a “king-maker” in Ukrainian politics, which is key for any Ukrainian business. Many, not only the Russian propaganda channels, believe that the White House gives policy commands to Ukrainian authorities. The US ambassadors, at the same time, are perceived to have unrestricted influence over all structures of the Ukrainian government. It should be acknowledged that many western ambassadors do not hesitate to promote interests of their national companies and businesses in relations with the Ukrainian government, which makes it easy to believe that Kislin was interested in using the US ambassador in Kyiv for his business gains.
Yovanovitch was recalled from her position in May – two weeks after being asked to extend her Ukrainian assignment. In her Congress testimony, the ambassador said she believed her dismissal was connected to her anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.
During the conference, Kislin also stressed that the Democrats were preventing Trump from helping Ukraine. He noted that the president wanted to support the country, but the Democrats interfered, citing the recent incident with Nancy Pelosi “storming out” of the meeting with President Trump as an example.
He also recalled Trump’s advice for Ukraine to make amends with Russia, fully agreeing with the suggestion.
In addition, Kislin noted that he never met with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ruslan Ryaboshapka or Vitaly Kasko, thus denying all the circulating rumors in Ukrainian political circles that this week he visited the Prosecutor General's Office and talked to both prosecutor general Ruslan Ryaboshapka and his deputy Vitaly Kasko.
While Sam Kislin traveled to Ukraine to further the cases against Petro Poroshenko’s alleged corruption, he might have furthered the Trump impeachment inquiry instead. Admitting to taking part in Marie Yovanovitch’s removal and acting as Trump’s unofficial advisor on post-Soviet countries makes Kislin even more interesting to the House impeachment probe.
