View source for European Centre for a Modern Ukraine

{{Infobox organization
| name                = European Centre for a Modern Ukraine
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| abbreviation        = ECFMU
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| founded             = 1 February 2012<ref name="Apache2014">{{cite news|url=https://www.apache.be/2014/03/14/brusselse-vzw-draaischijf-tussen-janoekovitsj-en-vs/|title=Brusselse vzw draaischijf tussen Janoekovitsj en VS|author=Tom Cochez|publisher=Apache.be|accessdate=4 March 2018|date=14 March 2014|language=Dutch}}</ref>
| founder             = [[Leonid Kozhara]] (president), Vitaliy Kahlyshnyy (finance), Ina Kirsch – Van de Water (secretary)<ref name="Apache2014" />
| type                = [[Association without lucrative purpose#Belgium|vzw]]
| status              = [[Dissolution (law)|dissolved]] and [[liquidation]] closed since 29 June 2016<ref name="MinJust">{{cite web|url=http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/tsv_pdf/2016/06/29/16089843.pdf|language=Dutch|date=29 June 2016|accessdate=4 March 2018|title=Ontbinding en onmiddellijke sluiting vereffening|publisher=Belgisch Staatsblad|agency=Akten van rechtspersonen}}</ref>
| purpose             = [[Advocacy group|political advocacy group]], enhancing [[Ukraine–European Union relations]]
| professional_title  = <!-- for professional associations -->
| headquarters        = [[Brussels]]
| location            = Wetenschapsstraat 14b, Brussels<ref name="Apache2014" />
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| region_served       = [[Ukraine]], [[European Union]]
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| key_people          = [[List of the Party of Regions members of the parliament of Ukraine, 2007–12#List|Oleksiy Plotnikov]] (president), Oleg Nadosha (secretary), Ina Kirsch – Van de Water (executive)<ref name="Apache2014" />
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| website             = {{URL|www.modernukraine.eu/}}{{deadlink|date=March 2018}}
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The '''European Centre for a Modern Ukraine''' (ECFMU) was an organisation based in [[Brussels]] and operating internationally. It described itself as "an advocate for enhancing [[EU]]-[[Ukraine]] relations".
==Operation==
It has been described by the ''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]'' newspaper as "an operation controlled by [[Yanukovych]]"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-xpm-2012-oct-01-lat-na-tt-yanukovych-20120930-story.html|author=David Horsey|title=Yanukovych: PR firms and nice suits hide authoritarian intentions|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1 October 2012|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>  (Viktor Yanukovych, [[President of Ukraine]] from February 2010 until February 2014) and tied to [[Serhiy Klyuyev]]<ref name="DBeast">{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ukraines-dc-lobbyists-in-disarray-as-dictator-flees|title=Ukraine's D.C. Lobbyists in Disarray as Dictator Flees|author=Eli Lake|date=25 February 2014|accessdate=4 March 2018|publisher=The Daily Beast}}</ref> and Yanukovich's [[Party of Regions]]. In 2012, it had contracts with the American lobbying firms [[Vin Weber|Mercury]], who received $560,000 over 2 years, and the [[Podesta Group]], who received $900,000 over 2 years. However, the source of the funding remains unclear since it listed its budget for the financial year ending in November 2012 as only €10,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-ukraine-lobbying-idUSBRE9BJ1B220131220|author=Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel|title=With cash, Ukraine's political foes bring fight to Washington|publisher=Reuters|date=20 December 2013|accessdate=4 March 2018}}</ref>
Its street address was the same as that of the [[Ukrainian nationalism|Ukrainian nationalist]] [[Svoboda (political party)|Svoboda]] party representative office that was opened in Brussels in August 2013.<ref name="Apache2014" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.svoboda.org.ua/news/events/00000745/|title=Svoboda opened a representative office in Brussels|publisher=Svoboda.org.ua|date=29 August 2013|accessdate=4 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063212/http://en.svoboda.org.ua/news/events/00000745/|archive-date=5 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Liquidation==
In the 29 June 2016, the ''[[Belgian Official Journal]]'' annex published its immediate liquidation agreed without debts on 1 January 2016, as registered in Brussels on 17 June 2016. The defunct company's books were assigned for five years at Ina Kirsch, Van de Water's address in [[Linthe]], [[Germany]]. The last administrators were Oleksiy Plotnikov, Oleg Nadosha and Kseniia Soloviova. A [[power of attorney]] authorizes a [[Moore Stephens]] representative to act on behalf of the [[inheritance|succession]].<ref name="MinJust" />
==Investigation==
[[File:Manafort_superseding_indictment.pdf|thumb|"The Centre effectively ceased to operate upon the downfall of Yanukovych in 2014".]]
According to the 31-page 23 February 2018 superseding indictment of [[Paul Manafort]] by [[United States Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel|Special Counsel]] [[Robert Mueller]], "the Centre" reported to the [[First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine]].
The document also alleges that Manafort worked with an unnamed ex-chancellor as part of a group that received more than €2 million. A US regulatory filing states that speakers at the Centre's events included [[Aleksander Kwaśniewski]], the former [[president of Poland]]; [[Alfred Gusenbauer]], the former [[chancellor of Austria]]; and [[Romano Prodi]], the former [[prime Minister of Italy]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/mueller-finds-crimes-ukraine-gusenbauer-prodi-azarov-manafort-enforcers.html|title=Mueller Finds Plenty Of Crimes In Ukraine, In Contrast To Nation's Law Enforcers|date=2 March 2018|accessdate=4 March 2018|publisher=Kyiv Post|author=Josh Kovensky}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Special Counsel investigation (2017–present)]]
*[[Tony Podesta]]
*[[Vin Weber]]
*[[Andriy Klyuyev]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Political organizations based in Ukraine]]