Rybachuk
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</font></div><div><a href="https://pando.com/2014/02/28/pierre-omidyar-co-funded-ukraine-revolution-groups-with-us-government-documents-show/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://pando.com/2014/02/28/pierre-omidyar-co-funded-ukraine-revolution-groups-with-us-government-documents-show/</font></a></div><div><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></div><div>To understand what it means for Omidyar to fund Oleh Rybachuk, some
brief history is necessary. Rybachuk’s background follows a familiar
pattern in post-Soviet opportunism: From well-connected KGB intelligence
ties, to post-Soviet neoliberal networker.
<p>In the Soviet era, Rybachuk studied in a military languages program half of whose graduates went on to work for the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OsjlfaiAJ0kC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=rybachuk+kgb+kgb+university+wilson&source=bl&ots=0lctMvHlLu&sig=tcuABTa5ufWPv2TAuwv6161EEHQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XK4PU5_HHsK2kAfi1oHoBg&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=rybachuk%20kgb%20kgb%20university%20wilson&f=false" target="_blank">KGB</a>.
Rybachuk’s murky overseas posting in India in the late Soviet era
further strengthens many suspicions about his Soviet intelligence ties;
whatever the case, by Rybachuk’s own account, his <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/The-man-who-survived-Russias-poison-chalice/2005/01/22/1106334263427.html" target="blank">close ties</a> to top intelligence figures in the <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=OsjlfaiAJ0kC&pg=PR11&lpg=PR11&dq=rybachuk+security+services+sbu+wilson&source=bl&ots=0lctMBHmRq&sig=tXyQy-qCVIfxBr1tTInQepfjGvI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WJkQU46OB6jA0AGczYHQBw&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=rybachuk%20security%20services%20sbu%20wilson&f=false" target="blank">Ukrainian SBU</a>
served him well during the Orange Revolution of 2004, when the SBU
passed along secret information about vote fraud and assassination
plots.
In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Rybachuk moved to the newly-formed Ukraine Central Bank, heading the <a href="http://eastern-europe-group.com/Advisors/Rybachuk" target="_blank">foreign relations department</a>
under Central Bank chief and future Orange Revolution leader Viktor
Yushchenko. In his central bank post, Rybachuk established close
friendly ties with western government and financial aid institutions, as
well as proto-Omidyar figures like <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/1626.html?PrintVersion”" target="blank">George Soros</a>, who <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/05/world/fg-soros5" target="blank">funded</a> many of the NGOs involved in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20031216022605/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031126.wxsoros1126/BNStory/Front" target="_blank">“color revolutions”</a>
including small donations to the same Ukraine NGOs that Omidyar backed.
(Like Omidyar Network does today, Soros’ charity arms—Open Society and
Renaissance Foundation—publicly preached transparency and good
government in places like Russia during the Yeltsin years, while Soros’
financial arm <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1997-11-23/the-most-powerful-man-in-russia" target="blank">speculated</a> on Russian debt and participated in <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/party-lines-soros-changing-his-tune/262157.html" target="blank">scandal-plagued auctions</a> of state assets.)
In early 2005, Orange Revolution leader Yushchenko became Ukraine’s president, and he appointed Rybachuk <a href="http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=15524540&cat_id=244315200" target="blank">deputy prime minister</a> in charge of integrating Ukraine into the EU, NATO, and other western institutions. Rybachuk also pushed for the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4100270.stm" target="blank">mass-privatization</a> of Ukraine's remaining state holdings.
Over the next several years, Rybachuk was shifted around President
Yushchenko’s embattled administration, torn by internal divisions. In
2010, Yushchenko lost the presidency to recently-overthrown Viktor
Yanukovych, and a year later, Rybachuk was on Omidyar’s and USAID’s
payroll, preparing for the next Orange Revolution. As Rybachuk told the <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013/12/14/ukraine-inside-the-pro-eu-protest-camp/" target="_blank">Financial Times</a> two years ago:
</p><blockquote>“We want to do [the Orange Revolution] again and we think we will.”</blockquote>
Some of Omidyar’s funds were specifically earmarked for covering the
costs of setting up Rybachuk’s “clean up parliament” NGOs in Ukraine’s
regional centers. Shortly after the Euromaidan demonstrations erupted
last November, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry opened up a money laundering
investigation into Rybachuk’s NGOs, dragging Omidyar’s name into the
high-stakes political struggle.
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/rybachuk-democracy-promoting-nongovernmental-organization-faces-ridiculous-investigation-336583.html" target="_blank">Kyiv Post</a> article on February 10 titled, “Rybachuk: Democracy-promoting nongovernmental organization faces ‘ridiculous’ investigation”:
</p><blockquote>“Police are investigating Center UA, a public-sector
watchdog funded by Western donors, on suspicion of money laundering, the
group said. The group’s leader, Oleh Rybachuk, said it appears that
authorities, with the probe, are trying to warn other nongovernmental
organizations that seek to promote democracy, transparency, free speech
and human rights in Ukraine.</blockquote>
<p>“According to Center UA, the Kyiv economic crimes unit of the
Interior Ministry started the investigation on Dec. 11. Recently,
however, investigators stepped up their efforts, questioning some 200
witnesses.
“... Center UA received more than $500,000 in 2012, according to its
annual report for that year, 54 percent of which came from Pact Inc., a
project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. <strong>Nearly 36 percent came from Omidyar Network, a foundation established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife</strong>.
Other donors include the International Renaissance Foundation, whose
key funder is billionaire George Soros, and National Endowment for
Democracy, funded largely by the U.S. Congress.”
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