Kyiv Seven

The term "Kyiv Seven" refers to a group of Ukrainian oligarchs who wielded significant financial and political power in Ukraine during the late 1980s and 1990s.

Viktor Medvedchuk's link to the group remains unclear, though he has claimed that he met Hryhoriy Surkis while they were both employed by FC Dynamo Kyiv.

[5] According to Yuriy Buzduhan [uk], leader of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (unrelated to SDPU(o)), asserted in 1998 that Slavutych was purchasing petroleum at ₴0.30–0.40 and selling it to collective farms at a rate of ₴1.20, or as high as ₴2.40 during harvests.

With many farmers unable to pay the full price, they instead paid in sugar and other products, which was exported to Russia in return for oil, then refined and sent to Ukraine for sale.

[7] By the late 1990s, the Seven had shifted its focuses to achieving total monopolisation of the Ukrainian energy industry, an endeavour supported by Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko (deputy owner of FC Dynamo Kyiv under Surkis).

In 1998, Pustovoitenko signed an act transferring 25% of government shares in energy companies in the Kirovohrad, Ternopil, and Kherson Oblasts to Ukrainian Credit Bank [uk], owned by Surkis.

The Black Sea ports of Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kherson were monopolised by the group, which lobbied for the establishment of free economic zones throughout southern Ukraine.

During the 1994 Ukrainian presidential election, both Medvedchuk and Surkis attempted to become members of Kravchuk's electoral staff, though he refused the offer due to the fact that there were no suitable roles to be filled.

An investigation was also launched into allegations of Slavutych illegally being funded by the government, and attempts were made by Kuchma's staff to intimidate Surkis into leaving the country.

[7] Surkis brought in allies Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ihor Pluzhnikov, who, while unaffiliated with the Kyiv Seven, became a vital part of the SDPU(o)'s organs.

In a 1997 by-election, Medvedchuk was elected to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) from Ukraine's 73rd electoral district by a margin of 94.16%, a record number of votes cast for a single candidate.

After the election, however, another 25 deputies expressed a desire to join the SDPU(o) faction, and the party received recognition as a significant political force.

[10] Ravil Safiullin's appointment as president of the Professional Football League of Ukraine in 2000 was viewed as a slight against Surkis, who had previously held the post.

Following the Orange Revolution, Yuriy Liakh [uk], a member of the Seven, was found dead with a suicide note, having apparently slashed his throat with a letter opener.