Vladimir Ivashko

Vladimir Antonovich Ivashko (Russian: Влади́мир Анто́нович Ива́шко; Ukrainian: Володимир Антонович Івашко, Volodymyr Antonovych Ivashko; 28 October 1932 – 13 November 1994) was a Soviet Ukrainian politician, briefly acting as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the period from 24 August 1991 to 29 August 1991. On 24 August Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from the post, and on 29 August the CPSU was suspended by the Supreme Soviet. Before becoming General Secretary he had been voted Gorbachev's Deputy General Secretary within the Party on 12 July 1990, a newly created position as a result of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party.

Vladimir Ivashko Владимир Ивашко (in Russian) Володимир Івашко (in Ukrainian)
Acting General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office 24 August 1991 – 29 August 1991
Preceded by	Mikhail Gorbachev
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Deputy General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office 12 July 1990 – 29 August 1991
General Secretary	Mikhail Gorbachev
Preceded by	Yegor Ligachev
Succeeded by	Office abolished
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine
In office 28 September 1989 – 22 June 1990
Preceded by	Volodymyr Shcherbytsky
Succeeded by	Stanislav Hurenko
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR
In office 4 June 1990 – 9 July 1990
Preceded by	Platon Kostiuk
Succeeded by	Leonid Kravchuk
Full member of the 27th, 28th Politburo
In office 9 December 1989 – 29 August 1991
Member of the 28th Secretariat
In office 14 July 1990 – 29 August 1991
Personal details
Born	28 October 1932 Poltava, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	13 November 1994 (aged 62) Moscow, Russian Federation
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Signature

The Communist Party in between Gorbachev's resignation and its suspension was politically impotent. By the time of the 28th Congress in July 1990, the party was largely regarded as being unable to lead the country and had, in fifteen republics, split into opposing factions favouring either independent republics or the continuation of the Soviet Union. Stripped of its leading role in society, the party lost its authority to lead the nation or the cohesion that kept the party united. Actual political power lay in the positions of President of the Soviet Union (held by Gorbachev) and President of the Russian SFSR (held by Boris Yeltsin). During the August Coup he did not make public statements but on behalf of the Secretariat distributed letters to local party organizations calling on them to uphold the CPSU.

Mikhail Gorbachev brought in his ally Ivashko in to replace the long-serving Volodymyr Shcherbytsky as First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party on 28 September 1989. Ivashko led the Communists to victory in the first relatively free parliamentary election held in the Ukrainian SSR, which took place from 4 March to 18 March 1990, the Communists winning 331 seats to the Democratic Bloc's 111 seats. Ivashko was elected by the communist majority to the post of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR on 4 June 1990. Since the abandonment by the Communists of their "leading role" in early 1990 this position now superseded that of First Secretary of the Communist Party as the most powerful position in the Ukraine.

He resigned his position as First Secretary on 22 June 1990 following opposition demonstrations against his simultaneous occupation of both the posts of First Secretary of the ruling party and Chairman of the legislature. However, on 9 July 1990 he too resigned as Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR after declining to be recalled to Kyiv during the 28th Congress of the Communist Party in Moscow, and a few days later successfully secured the position of Deputy General Secretary of the CPSU.

On August 23, 1990, a secret memorandum from Ivashko outlined strategies to hide the Communist Party's assets through Russian and international joint ventures because Boris Yeltsin, who was the new president of the Russian Republic in the Soviet Union, wanted to levy taxes on the Communist Party's vast administrative property holdings and on the Party itself.[1] The memorandum was to organize the transfer of CPSU funds, CPSU financing and support of its operations through associations, ventures, foundations, etc. which are to act as invisible economics.[2][lower-alpha 1] In November 1990, the offshore structure Fimaco was formed by the Russian Central Bank, then known as Gosbank, to hide these funds.[4][5] According to Sergei Tretyakov, KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov sent US$50 billion worth of funds of the Communist Party to an unknown location in the lead up to the collapse of the USSR.[6][7][lower-alpha 2]

Ivashko retired in 1992 and died on 13 November 1994, at the age of 62 after an undetermined long illness.

Notes

1. Richard L. Palmer, president of Cachet International, Inc., was the CIA station chief at the United States Embassy in Moscow from 1992 to 1994.[2][3]
2. Sergei Tretyakov, SVR rezident in United States from 1995-2000, was a double agent for the FBI from 1997-2000.[8]

References

1. Dobbs, Michael; Coll, Steve (1 February 1993). "Ex-Communists are scrambling for quick cash". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
2. Palmer, Richard L. (21 September 1999). "Statement of Richard L. Palmer, president of Cachet International, Inc. on the Infiltration of the Western Financial System by Elements of Russian Organized Crime before the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services". House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
3. Foer, Franklin (1 March 2019). "Russian-Style Kleptocracy Is Infiltrating America: When the U.S.S.R. collapsed, Washington bet on the global spread of democratic capitalist values—and lost". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
4. Belton 2020, p. 94.
5. Leach, James A., ed. (21 September 1999). Russian Money Laudering: United States Congressional Hearing (serial number 106-38). Diane Publishing. p. 316. ISBN 9780756712556. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
6. Wise, David (27 January 2008). "Spy vs. Spy: They had Robert Hanssen. We had Sergei Tretyakov". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
7. Earley 2008.
8. Steigerwald, Bill (31 March 2008). "Comrade J by Pete Earley". Townhall.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.

Books

• Belton, Catherine (23 June 2020). Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West. Farrar, Straus, Giroux. ISBN 978-0374238711.
• Earley, Pete (2008). Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War. Putnam. ISBN 9780399154393.

External links

• Volodymyr Ivashko in the Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine