Mezhyhirya Festival

Home About [#about] Schedule Speakers Organizers Register Supporters Location Past events Mezhyhirya fest-2018 Mezhyhirya fest-2017 Mezhyhirya fest-2016 Mezhyhirya fest-2014 June 9-10th, 2018, Novi Petrivtsi village, Kyiv Oblast | Ukraine MEZHYHIRYA FESTIVAL Investigative journalism | Corrupt assets tracking and recovery #Mezhyhiryafest Live Journalism, technology & activism at the ex-president Yanukovych residence Mezhyhirya MezhyhiryaFest - 2018 After Ukraine’s ousted president Viktor Yanukovych and his closest allies fled the country millions of dollars in assets were left behind to be investigated by journalists and state law enforcement agencies. Ukrainian investigative journalists poured through millions of documents to find proof those assets were acquired through corrupt means and kept revealing further properties and accounts. However, the state’s progress has been slow at best. Only a small portion of the stolen money was returned to the Ukrainian state budget. This year’s MezhyhiryaFest looks into why the recovery process of state assets is moving so slowly and how the international experience of asset recovery and management can help improve and accelerate the process. Related links : More about Yanukovych Leaks Share House During the 7th and 8th of June we will transform Yanukovych Guest House into the knowledge sharing platform. We will gather to share knowledge and experiences , discuss issues related to freedom of speech, investigative journalism, whistleblowing, digital security and activism. Activists, hackers, media theorists and journalists from around the world will share with you their experiences in form of lectures, open discussions and workshops. Together we will explore intersections between journalism and technology, we will learn how to defend ourselves in cyberspace, and how to use technology to empower us in our everyday struggle for better society. Learn more from our previous gatherings . Celebration Its not just about serious topics, knowledge sharing and discussions. its also about having fun. We know that chilling together with interesting people, music and food on the sunny day is the ultimate forms of joy. It is the time to enjoy in our newly regained public space together. 2 Days In the residency of ex-president Yanukovych 350+ Participants International & local experts + +10 Events Talks, discussions, workshops & parties Schedule Day 1 June 9, 2018 Day 2 June 10, 2018 1 pm - 2 pm | Welcome lemonade and registration 2 pm - 3.30 pm | Discussion 1: Yanukovych’s assets - What was done in four years? (90 min) Speakers: Denys Bihus (Bihus.info), Anton Yanchuk (Head of Ukraine’s assets recovery and management agency - ARMA), Andrii Lysenko (Spokesman of Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office), Daria Kaleniuk (Anti-corruption Action Center NGO). Moderator: Sergii Leshchenko (member of Ukrainian parliament, former investigative journalist) 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm | Discussion 2: Corrupt assets recovery: An international story (120min) Speakers: Cecilia Anesi (Italy), Lilia Weslaty (Tunisia), Matiss Arnicans (Latvia), Dapo Olorunyomi (Nigeria), Vladimir Thorik (Moldova). Moderator: Oliver Bullough (journalist and author, U.K.) 5.30 pm - 6 pm | Coffee break 6 pm - 7 pm | Movie screening. (Premiere of the investigative documentary by Slidstvo.info looking into the recovery of corrupt assets) 7 pm - 8 pm | Award Ceremony for National Investigative Journalism Award 8 pm - 11 pm | Dinner and concert 10 am - 10.30 am | Morning coffee 10.00 am - 11.30 pm | Journalism investigations into corrupt assets and asset recovery (Ukrainian cases) Speakers: Maksym Savchuk (Schemy, RFERL), Oleksa Shalaiskyi, (Nashi Groshi), Kateryna Kapliuk (Schemy, RFERL) Moderator: Anna Babinets (Slidstvo.Info film producer and investigative journalist) 10.00 am - 11.30 pm | Follow the money - how to track the movement of the money Speaker/trainer: Drew Sullivan (OCCRP Editor and cofounder) 11.30 am - 1pm | Britain vs. the offshores: A legal success for activists and journalists Speaker: Oliver Bullough (journalist and author, U.K.), Rachel Davies (Transparency International) Moderator: Natalie Sedletskaya (investigative journalist and founder of Schemy, RFERL) 11.30 am - 1 pm | Assasination threats: Is there a protocol on how to keep journalists safe? Speaker: Drew Sullivan (OCCRP), Katya Gorchinskaya (Hromadske, Ukraine) Moderator: Jakub Parusinski (MDF chairman) 1 pm - 2 pm | Lunch 2 pm - 3 pm | What to do with recovered assets? An honest talk between activists from Italy and Ukraine (press conference) 3 pm - 3.30 pm | Q&A session for press Speaker: Giulia Baruzzo (Libera Contro Le Mafie NGO, Italy) and Denys Tarakhkotelyk (Mezhyhirya Mansion, Ukraine) Moderator: Daryna Shevchenko (project manager RPDI) 3.30 pm - 5 pm | Covering complicated topics in a simple way Speaker/trainer: Ilya Lozovsky (Managing Editor, OCCRP) 3.30 pm - 5 pm | Forensic accounting: tracking dark assets Speaker/trainer: Oliver Bullough (journalist and author from Great Britain) 3.30 pm - 5 pm | Reading between the lines of financial statements Speaker: Representative of the international accounting and audit company - Representative of a Big Four accounting firm 5 pm - 5.30 pm | Coffee-break 5.30 pm - 7 pm | Yet to be recovered: Investigative journalists reveal corrupt assets of the serving top officials Speaker: Mykhailo Tkach (Schemy, RFERL), Nadia Burdey (Nashi Groshi), Evhenia Motorevska (Slidstvo.Info), Olena Loginova (OCCRP), Detective of National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine Moderator: Anna Babinets (Slidstvo.Info film producer and investigative journalist) Some speakers Daria Kaleniuk Daria Kaleniuk is the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center. She is experienced in international legal mechanisms for anti-corruption actions, particularly in stolen assets recovery and anti-money laundering initiatives. Kaleniuk holds a master’s degree in financial services law from Chicago-Kent College of Law. She was a Fullbright program student in 2010-2011. Drew Sullivan Drew Sullivan is a veteran journalist and media development specialist who has worked for almost a decade in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. He founded the Center for Investigative Reporting in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2004 and served as director, editor and now advising editor to the organization. He co-founded and served as the first director of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Program, a regional consortium of investigative centers, where he now serves as advising editor. He founded the Journalism Development Network, an innovative media development organization with programs worldwide. Oliver Bullough Oliver Bullough grew up in Wales, studied Modern History at Oxford and moved to St Petersburg in 1999. He stayed in Russia for much of the next seven years, working mostly as a correspondent for Reuters specialising in Chechnya and the Caucasus region. On returning to Britain in 2006, he wanted to write more about his experiences in Chechnya. The result was Let Our Fame Be Great, a travel and history book published by Penguin in 2010, which described his journeys to find the scattered peoples of the mountains. It was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in the UK, and won the Cornelius Ryan award in the US. His second book, The Last Man in Russia, was published to brilliant reviews in 2013. Ilya Lozovsky Ilya Lozovsky is Managing Editor at OCCRP. Prior to joining the organization, he worked for Foreign Policy in Washington, where he edited and wrote for the magazine's Democracy Lab channel. Ilya has also worked as Program Officer for Eurasia at Freedom House, providing emergency support to human rights activists and organizations across that continent. He speaks Russian and German and holds an MA in political development from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Cecilia Anesi Cecilia Anesi is a freelance reporter and co-founder of the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI). IRPI is a centre for investigative journalism based in Italy and member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network and the OCCRP Network. A graduate in Journalism with Sociology from City University, London, Cecilia co-authored the investigative documentary on illicit waste trafficking in Europe, ‘Toxic Europe’, which won the Best International Organised Crime Report Award in 2011 and was nominated in the 2012 Data Journalism Awards by the Global Editors Network. Cecilia works in team that focuses its investigations mainly on Italian organised crime gangs and their transnational ties. As IRPI, she has published about doomed finance, frauds, corruption, environmental crimes and money laundering - exposing criminals through a glocal approach. She has published investigative work on the Italian mafias in Africa, in Germany, in the UK, in Northern Europe and Latin America on regional, national and international media outlets. Dapo Olorunyomi Dapo Olorunyomi has about 25 years experience working as a reporter, editor, trainer, and manager in the media sector. His experience straddles the print, broadcast, and online media. He has won numerous local and international awards including the 1995 International Editor of the Year award. He is currently the Chief Judge for the Zimeo Award of the African Media Initiative [AMI], and a board member of the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism, an initiative of the UNODC to promote investigative journalism in West Africa. Lilia Weslaty Lilia Weslaty is a Tunisian journalist, writer and a human rights advocate. She worked as the editor-in-chief of a francophone website called Webdo.tn covering mainly political news in Tunisia and MENA region however focusing on the tunisian judiciary process. Very interested in law, justice, human rights, media and social media. She worked as a journalist for arte tv, aljazeera english, BBC arabic, IEMed Mykhailo Tkach Mykhailo Tkach works as an investigative journalist at Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe and is one of the lead journalists of Skhemy: Corruption in Details investigative team. The winner of the investigative journalism contest among young journalists in 206. He is best known for the investigations mapping out the connections of Ukrainian officials, politicians and oligarchs. Tkach used to work for “Hroshi”, investigative project at 1+1 channel. Matiss Arnicans Matiss Arnicans is correspondent and TV presenter of the investigative telegram "De facto" at Public Television in Latvia (LTV). He has over 10 years experience in journalism. Anna Babinets Co-founder and journalist of "Slidstvo.Info", OCCRP editor in Ukraine. She has been working as journalist-investigator since 2009: first for the agency "Svidomo", then for the TV-program "Znak Oklyku" (TVi). In 206 Anna with Dmytro Gnap founded their own project "Slidstvo.Info." Anna is a member of the YanukovychLeaks project. She worked with documents at the international initiative Panama Papers. Editor of the international network OCCRP in Ukraine. Natalie Sedletska Natalie Sedletska is a ukrainian journalist and TV anchor, known for investigating corruption of Ukrainian politicians and officials. She used to work for Znak Oklyku (Exclamation Mark), investigative project at TVi channel, author and host of the “Tender News” program. In 2014 Sedletska joined Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe and became the anchor and the leader of the Skhemy: Corruption in Details investigative program. Kateryna Kapliuk Kateryna Kapliuk is a ukrainian journalist and TV anchor, known for investigating corruption of Ukrainian politicians and officials. She used to work for Znak Oklyku (Exclamation Mark), investigative project at TVi channel, author and host of the “Tender News” program. In 2014 Sedletska joined Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe and became the anchor and the leader of the Skhemy: Corruption in Details investigative program. Anton Yanchuk Head of National Agency of Ukraine for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and other Crimes Maksym Savchuk Is an investigative journalist. He graduated from the National Transport University and the Drahomanov National Pedagogical University. Savchuk previously worked for ‘Svidomo’, ‘Ukraina Moloda’ and Znak Oklyku (Exclamation Mark), investigative project at TVi channel Rachel Davies Rachel is the Senior Advocacy Manager at Transparency International UK and heads TI-UK's communications work, as well the UK-focused advocacy on money laundering, political corruption, and open governance. She is Chair of the Bond Anti-Corruption Group, a collection of like-minded British NGOs who work on the issue of corruption, and sits on the steering group for the UK Open Governance Partnership Civil Giulia Baruzzo Is a senior official of Libera. Associations, names and numbers against mafias, an Italian humanitarian organisation and coordinator of European desk since August 2016. Before she have been the co-coordinator of Latinamerican desk for 4 years, handling the network ALAS - América Latina Alternativa Social. Giulia’s work is connected to advocacy towards European Institutions as Libera's consultative status at Asset Recovery’s Offices’ platform of European Commission. Denys Tarakhkotelyk Is a Mezhyhirya’s commandant Nadia Burdey Is an investigative journalist. She works for “Nashi Groshi” anticorruption project at Bihus.info Evhenia Motorevska Is an investigative journalist. She graduated Oles Honchar Dnipro National University. Evhenia works for Slidstvo.Info project. Sergii Leshchenko is a Ukrainian journalist, politician and public figure. Formerly a reporter for the Novyi Kanal, he worked as deputy editor for the internet newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda. In the 2014 parliamentary elections he was elected to the Ukrainian parliament on the list of Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Elena Loginova Elena Loginova is Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project reporter. She has been working as an investigative journalist since 2014 in different Ukrainian and international TV and print investigative projects. She took part in big cross border investigations such as Russian and Azerbaijani Laundromats, Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, was one of the co-authors of “Killing Pavel” - a joint investigation of OCCRP and Slidstvo.Info into the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet. Vladimir Thorik Vladimir Thorik is a Russian language editor in RISE Moldova and member of OCCRP. He specializes in investigating economic and political frauds in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Organizers OCCRP The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a not-for-profit, joint program of a number of regional non-profit investigative centers and for profit independent media stretching from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. Yanukovych Leaks A group of Ukrainian journalists and activists behind investigation and publishing of the enormous wealth of information founded in Yanukovych villa. Media Development Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Kyiv Post journalists to improve Ukraine’s journalism profession through three main activities: investigative/enterprise journalism, journalism exchanges and specialized training. Register This event is free, because we believe that information and knowledge should be free, but you need to register yourself. Number of attendees are limited, so its better to reserve your place right now. Free Registration Supported by Media partners Location Mezhyhirya compound, kyiv countryside Ex President Yanukovych residence Mezhyhirya, was the former private residence of former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, nearby kyiv which he occupied since 2002. On February 22nd 2014, after the end of the Yanukovych government and his abrupt leave, the Mezhyhirya compound, his residence in the Ky iev countryside, was opened to protesters, activists and journalists. On February 23, 2014 the Ukrainian parliament adopted a resolution on transfer of Mezhyhirya into a state ownership. 360 Panorama -->