Konstantin Grigorishin, the founder and financer of the International Swimming League, has had further personal sanctions imposed by him by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The new sanctions freeze all of Grigorishin’s assets in the country, which is expected to lead to their nationalization, and prevents him from transferring capital abroad, doing business in the country, and travelling across Ukraine territory.
In 2022, one company owned by Grigorishin, Zaporozhtransformator, was nationalized. Prior to the sanctions, Grigorishin still held stakes in the regional power distribution companies in Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Ternopil, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava and Sumy.
Grigorishin, a Soviet-born Russian and Ukrainian citizen, had his Cypriot ‘golden passport’ revoked last summer. He obtained a Cyprus passport in 2011 and received Ukrainian citizenship in 2018.
After war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, Grigorishin initially said that it wouldn’t impact funding of future seasons of the league, though ultimately it was blamed for the lack of owed payments and the discontinuation of the ISL. At least one ISL team still has not received ‘solidarity’ payments or prize money of over half-a-million dollars from the 2021 season.
Grigorishin’s wealth is largely tied to the Ukrainian economy, and in some regards to the relationship between Russia and Ukraine: in 2014, he helped negotiate a deal to import coal and electricity from Russia to Ukraine.
Grigorishin has been locked in a number of battles between Russia and Ukraine, including being accused of paying taxes to a separatist group in Luhansk, most of which has been met with denials from Grigorishin.
Grigorishin was named by Ukraine’s government among a list of individuals who support Russia, including actors, dancers, scientists, and musicians.
Grigorishin, once estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of over a billion dollars, was estimated by the same publication to have a net worth of $275 million in 2021. A decade earlier, he owned a collection of paintings that insurance company Lloyd’s of London valued at around $300 million.
The ISL recently sued their lawfirm in a suit against World Aquatics for $7.2 million in damages, alleging professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things.
Senator Hiram Johnson once said, “The first casualty when war comes is truth.” His words could not be truer.
I am just sad I missed out on ISL
With the inauguration of President-elect Trump now only hours away, we’ll see a swift, fair, and productive end to the conflict in Ukraine. In so doing, the sport of swimming will be strengthened and hopefully, an ISL-like group can be formed again. Who would have thought that President Trump may directly aid the development of swimming internationally?!
NCAA on the patch to morphing into ISL. With that Longhorn booster money instead of Russian oligarch cash
Delusiony
Part of the reason we should all heed the signs a great power conflict has already begun is the US propaganda machine of onion level nonsense about foreign policy.
Perhaps ironically to the swimswam audience on such matters Russia media is more credible
“US President Donald Trump’s bid to secure a ceasefire along Ukraine’s battle lines will fail. The American plan to “stop the war” ignores Russia’s security concerns and disregards the root causes of the conflict. Meanwhile, Moscow’s conditions for peace – outlined by President Vladimir Putin in June 2024 – will remain unacceptable to Washington, as they would effectively mean Kiev’s capitulation and the West’s strategic defeat.”
https://www.rt.com/news/611112-dmitry-trenin-2025-dangerous/
Russian acts of sabotage against NATO since 2022
There are three most likely ways for the war to end (broadly speaking):
1) The U.S. withdraws support for Ukraine and other European allies are unable to fill the void (either because of internal politics or global economic instability).
2) The U.S. acquiesces to Moscow’s demands, forces Ukraine to accept them, and Russia abides by those terms
3) Trump pressures Putin personally to withdraw, we get a rocky peace for a while, and hope that Putin dies and there’s some evolution in Russia before it flares up again in 10 years.
Trump promised to end the war (in fact he promised to end it the day after he was elected, which instead resulted in increased intensity). He did… Read more »
Would tend to believe #1 and #3 will combine into the likely way #4. We each have our own take on this terrible conflict involving many Nations. It is perhaps safe to say we are exposed to a myriad of dissenting views, many of which are false narratives. It is above my paycheck and as such I will place my faith and hope in our current President to peacefully resolve loss of life from all military conflicts.
Can you confirm if Klete Keller is a beneficiary in the pardons Trump issued today? Is he in prison currently or was he already previously released? You should do a story on this.
He was never in prison: https://swimswam.com/klete-keller-avoids-jail-time-with-6-month-home-detention-sentence-for-jan-6-capitol-riot/
He also got his job back. The only real consequences for him was the hassle of it all and any public backlash.
I don’t know if he was among the individuals impacted by Trump’s pardons/clemency. I haven’t seen an official list published yet (administratively, might not be the easiest thing to compile, though I think someone higher profile like Klete would definitely make the list). Given the broadness of the pardon, I think it’s a fair assumption that he was included.
Stay in Dallas Mike
That’s bad news. We all miss ISL. Zelenskyy loves other ppls money
Zelensky loves everyone’s money. Begs and pleads for money internationally. The U.S. gives more money to Ukraine than its own citizens. What a disgrace.
The fact that can nationalize someone else’s money and business is obscene. People supporting for the money being sent to Ukraine need their heads checked.
The U.S. has sent $65.9 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded, which is almost three years.
In 2024, the US spent $6.75 trillion on domestic programs and services.
(Weapons and wars are expensive. This is a known problem. I believe folks have been bringing up this problem for a long time, but nothing seems to change, IDK why).
War being expensive is not a flaw, it’s a feature ; defense contractors and other millionaire/billionaire invest in you and your campaign because they know you’ll be sending them money through these contracts. There’s a tacit agreement that those contracts will not be ideally negociated (in the taxpayer’s interest) and fully enforced (e.g regarding quality or penalties)
The same goes for construction work, both locally and on a national scale
The easiest way to give someone money is to give them work to do and overpay (and not check if the building materials were switched for cheaper options)
Sad for the mess
No more sugar daddy!