Who Is Really Corrupt in Ukraine?

Please join Stanford's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at 4:30pm for a conversation with Sergii Leschenko.  Leschenko will be joined in coversation with Francis Fukuyama, the Mosbacher Director of CDDRL.

Abstract: 

Sergii Leshchenko was a journalist and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament who played a role in releasing the so-called "Black Ledger" detailing under-the-table payments made by Ukraine's corrupt former President Viktor Yanukovich to a number of figures.  One was Paul Manafort, President Trump's one-time campaign manager, who was subsequently convicted of money laundering and tax evasion in the Mueller probe.  As a result, Leshchenko has been attacked by Rudy Giuliani and other Trump associates for "interfering" in the US election.  In his talk, Leshchenko will discuss his role in the current impeachment case, set the record straight as to who is genuinely corrupt in Ukrainian politics, and explain how corruption scandals are now playing out in the politics of both Ukraine and the US.

Sergii Leshchenko is a Kyiv-based journalist, blogger, and press freedom activist served as Member of Ukrainian Parliament from 2014 until 2019. He was Chairperson of the subcommittee on international cooperation and implementation of anti-corruption legislation in Anticorruption Com-mittee of Parliament. 

Sergii Leshchenko graduated from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and got the Master’s degree in journalism. 

From 2000 up to 2014 he worked for online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, where he specializes in anti-corruption investigations and other political reporting. He helped to launch the «Stop Censor-ship!» movement in 2010 and «Chesno» campaign that called for transparency in the Parliament. 

In 2011, Poland’s Foundation of Reporters recognized Mr. Leshchenko as the best journalist within the countries of the Eastern Partnership. Most recently, in 2013, Mr. Leshchenko was awarded a Press Prize by the Norwegian Fritt Ord Foundation and the German ZEIT Foundation. 

In 2012, he was awarded a John Smith Fellowship, and in 2013 he was awarded a Draper Hills Fellowship at Stanford University. 

Sergii Leshchenko was Reagan-Fascell Fellow in Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy in 2013-2014. Leshchenko was selected as one of Reporters Without Borders’ "100 In-formation Heroes-2014". In 2014 he was honoured with the NDI’s Democracy Award. 

He is the author of 3 books. “The American Saga of Pavlo Lazarenko” is about investigations conducted by U.S. law enforcement agencies on former Ukrainian Prime Minister and “Mezhygirya Syndrom of Viktor Yanukovych” is about corrupt previous Ukrainian regime. Third book “The rise and fall of the oligarchs” was published in Norway in 2018.