"Why not in a trench?" Ihor Kondratiuk talks about his attitude to haters, the loss of large sums of money and the tense relationship with his wife

In the first part of his interview, TV host and music producer Ihor Kondratiuk spoke about his godfather, the famous Russian TV presenter Andriy Kozlov, his trip to Moscow in late 2013, which turned out to be his last, and his letter to the head of STB regarding Oksana Marchenko after the annexation of Crimea.

Why is Vlad Yama not returning home from the U.S.? What is the fate of the first winner of the "Ukraine's Got Talent" program and does Kondratyuk keep in touch with his popular TV show colleague Slava Frolova? Why did he not listen to his wife's advice in an important matter? And what were the consequences? This and much more will be discussed in the second part of our conversation.

- Do you follow the winners of the Ukraine's Got Talent project? For example, do you know how the fate of the first winner of the program, Ksenia Simonova, a sand artist from Crimea, turned out? As you know, she has the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine, but a few years ago she agreed to receive a Russian award.

- I would say the following about Ksenia: I cannot say that she has betrayed Ukraine. I don't follow her, but those "likes" and some personal congratulations on the holidays lead me to believe that she is in pain. Her opportunities to protest must have been limited. Because she is an artist. She walks a little bit off the ground. I don't want to whitewash her, but I think she's one of those Crimeans for whom Russia's arrival was a snowball's chance. She felt great in Ukraine, became a star here, went to the Eurovision Song Contest with Mika Newton, and later performed on American talent shows. I think we even had some kind of conversation with her after 2014, if I'm not mistaken... No, Ksenia Simonova is not a person about whom I would say that she is a traitor. In Crimea, it was primarily the leaders at all levels who were like that.

- I wonder where Slava Frolova, one of the most famous judges of the "Ukraine's Got Talent" program, has disappeared to?

- Slava Frolova is now abroad, but I'm not authorized to say where exactly. She is in touch. We write to each other from time to time to say that we miss each other very much. When the tenth season of Ukraine's Got Talent was being planned, we hoped that we would be involved. I was, however, invited to sit as the fourth judge, who was constantly changing according to the script, but I don't remember what prevented me from participating. On the other hand, life has taught me that a channel that is interested in you will always invite you. And there's no point in going around beating on doors, proving your superiority over other actors. Make a decent product, and you will be interesting to those who want to air it.

Basically, that's how it was with my life. I called other channels only once, when I wanted to leave Inter. And that was the moment when I realized that the channel that would take "Karaoke on the Maidan" and "Chance" would not regret it, because back then these were really popular and rated programs. At 1+1, they told me: "Go for it!".

- How do you feel about Vlad Yama, another colleague from the talent show, who took his family to the United States when the war started but did not return to Ukraine?

- He went to America and stayed there, I don't know anything else about him. Speaking about Vlad Yama, we must understand that he is a family man, he has a wife and a child. If you think that he could have said, "That's it, I'm leaving you and going to Ukraine," you are mistaken. People who are at war probably have the right to call him a scoundrel. People who are not at war, in my opinion, should understand the following: what is happening should be asked of Vlad Yama himself. I will not be responsible for him. I am an outside observer and can only put a "tick" in front of his name.

- Will Vlad be able to return and work as successfully as before, given the amount of criticism that has been poured on him?

- Whether Potap, Vynnyk, and Yama will make a career when they return home is a big question. Most likely, it will be easier for Vynnyk and Potap, because they can write a few hits that will be put on the airwaves. And it will be a comeback. As for Vlada Yama, I don't know.

Although, you know, President Zelensky awarded Vitaliy Kozlovsky, who performed at the Victory Day in Moscow in 2016, an order. A singer who said that he did not care whose Crimea was. So never say never.

- What do you think about the new round of legal conflict with Vitaly Kozlovsky, who complains that you are collecting almost all of his military salary in the Armed Forces in your favor?

- Listen, I'm tired of this topic... I wrote a post about it on Facebook, where I laid it all out! The singer suddenly started a PR campaign saying that I was taking the lion's share of his National Guard salary, but in fact it wasn't. According to the court decision, the accounting department deducts only 20 percent of his official salary in my favor. And the law and the court believe that I am not taking money, but returning what is mine. This is a fundamental difference. But sometimes you can't get it into people's minds. I won all the courts, and quite easily. It was a simple controversial issue of copyright. One person is a copyright holder, the other is an infringer.

When he started serving in the National Guard, two months later he launched a shameful campaign that Kondratyuk was allegedly ripping him off like a sticky. Like, we need to sit down and negotiate. Listen, since 2012, everything could have been resolved, but he is not a negotiable person because of his intelligence and dishonesty.

In 2023, court payments began and continued for three months, the last time in October. And that was it. Since then, there has been no money. And I'm just wondering: where is Vitaliy Kozlovsky now? Judging by the fact that no payments are coming, most likely, Vitaliy Vitaliyovych Kozlovsky is nowhere: he has no official salary. He can't not receive a salary while he is in the Armed Forces, can he? Who from the accounting department of a military unit would want to have problems with the law? No one. So, we conclude that Private Kozlovsky has disappeared.

- How do you feel about your colleagues who rushed to publicly defend Vitaliy Kozlovsky?

- I would advise them all to buy a brain. Or maybe they didn't understand the situation, for some reason they think that only Vitalik Kozlovsky can have honor, and I am some kind of Karabas-Barabas. Although everyone I've produced would never say that. And the only people who can say that are Vitaliy Kozlovsky and his entourage. Attention, a question: maybe it's not me that's the problem? Ask Valevskaya, Voronova, Tabakov, Dmitrichenko, Aviators. Who else did I work with there? Ask them.

- How do you generally react to hate in the public space?

- I don't care about hate! Since the fall of 2022, I have had a new Facebook page, and I have been gaining friends here among like-minded people. Before that, I simply blocked haters because they are people who can slander anything. I criticize a lot myself, but I try to be constructive. This is how we bring our society closer to the right country, a more progressive one with a better quality of life. Hates like "where are your sons?", "what are you doing now?", "why aren't you in the trenches?" - these kinds of reproaches are up my ass. At my age, you can be in the trenches, and I know such men, they are great, but I will go with my health when I need to. And the haters, in my opinion, are mostly just uneducated people. There are, of course, those who deliberately engage in harassment, but I don't give a damn about that either. And they know it. I personally told many of them. I wrote to them who they really are.

- Listing the artists you have produced, you did not mention Yana Solomko, who, after the Russian invasion began, released a video in Moscow on the eve of February 23, calling on Russians to return home with victory.

- I have never been a producer of Yana Solomko. She participated as one of the contestants in my project American Chance. Later, I think in 2018, I tried to arrange an interview with her for one of my radio programs. We started corresponding, and I found out that she was in Moscow. But since March 2014, I realized that I have nothing to talk about with those who continue to visit the occupying country. Therefore, the interview with Solomko did not take place.

- You have had a lot of successful author's TV projects throughout your TV life. Did it happen that you invested a lot, but didn't get the result you expected?

- I lost money on the program American Chance. The idea was to select girls who would become part of a musical group that would become popular far beyond Ukraine. Auditions were held in six Ukrainian cities, and the final part of the show was filmed in Hollywood. However, the circumstances were such that I, as a producer, invested in the project and created a TV show, while other partners decided not to invest in the GLAM girl band created on the project. And another sponsor backed out at the last minute.

However, as a responsible person, I still completed this project on time. And it cost me a painful shortfall. Now, in retirement, I could really use that money. I could have bought so many drones for the soldiers in the Kherson sector! But what happened was what happened. Money has never been the main factor in my life.

- Is it a few tens of thousands in foreign currency?

- A large number of tens of thousands. That's why I had a tense relationship with my wife for some time. Because she was also a financial director, whose advice I ignored... But you know, all these troubles were compensated for by one thing: I was satisfied, even proud, because it was a unique job. The Russians tried to repeat the program with a boys' group in the same places where we filmed. I got a call from the CTS channel, which was preparing this product, when I told them how we did it: the timing, conditions, cost - they said it was unrealistic. But we did it.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!