Viktor Yanukovych Donetsk during 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, when he referred to the electorate of his opponent Viktor Yushchenko as "goats that make our lives difficult" ("эти козлы, которые нам мешают жить"). Later, during the TV debates with Yushchenko he explained, "I called goats the traitors. According to the Bible, the goat is a traitor, and there are also rams, sheep." After his February 2014 escape to Russia, during his 28 February press-conference in Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovych said, "Ukraine is our strategic partner" (misspeaking and confusing Ukraine with Russia). During the same press-conference he also broke a pen in an emotional outburst, while
Oleksandr Yanukovych contracts than any other businessmen since the beginning of 2012. Forbes.ua reported in February 2014 that in January 2014, for example, his businesses won 50% of all state tenders. In early 2014, his personal assets were claimed to be over $500 million. The Ukrainian Bank of Development was founded in 1995 and controlled by Valentyna Arbuzova. Reports allege that since 2011, Yanukovych purchased stock in the bank to achieve 100% ownership. In 2014, investigations by anti-corruption organizations into the bank and potential bribery charges against Yanukovych were launched. These included an order to freeze Swiss assets of both Yanukovych and