Impact of Philanthropy on Ukrainian Society

Yes, uh, uh, because basically, i-in many ways,

uh, I, I set up the foundation in Ukraine in

1990, um, uh, which was two years

before the independence of Ukraine. That was part...

It, it was, uh, an offshoot of the, uh,

uh, foundation in Russia. You know, there's this, uh, I

set up, uh, um, a cultural initiative

foundation in, uh, in, uh,

um, in, in Ru- in, uh, s- Soviet Union,

uh, in 1987. Uh, and then, uh,

uh, we've built this branch in, in Ukraine

in, uh, 1990. Um,

and, and, uh, um,

the foundation... One of the found- the things that the foundation did,

gave a lot of scholarships and, and, and, uh,

supported civil society, and, uh, the

maturity of civil society

25 years later is, to a large extent,

uh, uh, the work of the foundation.

Yeah, and I will just offer my own personal

testimony here.

It's actually amazing in Ukraine, the new

Ukrainian government, the new Ukrainian leadership,

everyone who I know in that group has been touched

somehow

by open society and by George. Like, literally,

either people personally got a scholarship or someone, you know, their

wife got a scholarship. It, it's a, a really remarkable thing.

Well, this is, uh, uh, uh, for me, uh, uh,

quite an experience, uh, to see this, and I, I

didn't realize actually, uh, uh,

how much, uh, how big an effect it has had over a

25-year period because those were students, uh,

25 years later, they were leaders.

Um, so George, the way you describe Ukraine,

and you know that's where my own

sympathies lie also, um, is incredibly appealing.

It maybe is another one of these fantastical objects.

But not all Europeans agree with us.

Mm, no.

Um, the leader of your own homeland, Hungary, has

described Putin as a model, as a role model.

Uh, we have political leaders across Europe.

We have the Greeks right now making trips to Moscow.

We have, in France-

Mm

... uh, Marine Le Pen having close contacts with

Putin. What, what...

How do you explain this influence, this appeal that Putin has

in Europe?

Yeah. Well, uh, uh, I think I, I can take a,

a polit- a, a historical, uh, uh, perspective

because I was very much involved

in the, uh, the collapse of the Soviet system.

Uh, that was my debut, uh, uh, as a, what

I, uh, call myself a, a political

philanthropist.