Taras Kozak

In 1993-2003 Kozak worked in the State Tax Administration and in 2003-2010 he worked in the State Customs Service.[3][4] In 2005 he was a member of political party Russko-Ukrainskiy Soyuz that ran for parliament as part of the Natalia Vitrenko Bloc.[5] In 2010 he became a deputy in the Lviv Oblast council[3]

As a nonpartisan candidate he took part in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[1] In constituency 122 centred around the city Yavoriv in Lviv Oblast he was not elected to parliament because he finished second with 36.55% of the vote (winner Vasyl Pazynyak of Fatherland scored 55.87%).[6]

In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Kozak became a people's deputy representing Opposition Bloc (he was number 14 on its election list).[1][3][7] And after the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election for Opposition Platform — For Life (this time as number 10 of its election list).[1][8]

Taras Kozak is a member of political organization "Ukrainskiy vybor" led by Viktor Medvedchuk.[9]

In 2018 Kozak voted against the Law on Recognition of Ukrainian Sovereignty over the Occupied Territories of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.[10]

At the end of 2018 Kozak official acquired several important Ukrainian television media such as NewsOne (Ukraine) (from Yevhen Muraev)[11] and 112 Ukraine.[12] In June 2019 Kozak also bought television channel ZIK (Ukraine).[13] After acquiring of ZIK by Kozak, journalists en masse left the company in protest.[14] After the acquisition of ZIK TV channel, the CEO left and most of the other employees resigned.[15][16] The reason was the person of the new owner. The activities and rhetoric of the deputy, the party and the media holding are considered to be very biased and pro-Russian.[17][18] In July 2019, employees of the ZIK TV channel, a number of newspapers, NGOs and institutions, a coalition of NGOs "Reanimation Package of Reforms" (more than 70 organizations), as well as public figures, journalists and public opinion leaders called on the state to take measures to prevent monopolization of media space by pro-Russian forces.[19]

Kozak took part in a fraudulent scheme to sell anthracite from the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic under the guise of coal from South Africa.[20]

In a 2020 electronic declaration, Kozak hid his wife's oil business in Russia.[21] The People's Deputy is also involved in the case of tax evasion by Tedis company.[22]

On 2 February 2021 the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine imposed sanctions on Kozak.[2] The reason for the sanctions against Kozak were an investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine that found that coal supply schemes from the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic helped finance terrorism.[23] As part of these sanctions the television channel owned by him (NewsOne, 112 Ukraine and ZIK) were forbidden to broadcast in Ukraine.[2] The channels were immediately shut down but continued to livestream their content on the internet.[2] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that banning the channels had been a difficult decision and that Ukraine supported freedom of speech but not "propaganda financed by the aggressor country."[2] Adviser of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak stated in Ukrainian media that the channels were “quite actively and often openly used as tools of foreign propaganda in Ukraine.”[2] In a joint statement 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZiK commented on their banning: "We regard this decision...as a political reprisal against objectionable media."[2] Russian Senator for United Russia Aleksey Pushkov claimed that "By shutting down opposition television channels, Zelensky acknowledged his inability to withstand political competition."[2] In a written statement the spokesperson of EU's Foreign Affairs High Representative Josep Borrell stated "while Ukraine's efforts to protect its territorial integrity and national security, as well as to defend itself from information manipulation are legitimate" it added that "any measures taken should be proportional to the aim".[24] The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine released a statement on 3 February 2020 that stated "The United States supports Ukraine’s efforts yesterday to counter Russia’s malign influence, in line with Ukrainian law, in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity."[25]

In 2002 Kozak was awarded Order of Merit, 3rd degree.[26]

• "For life", for Rabinovych, for Medvedchuk. For FSB! («За життя», за Рабіновича, за Медведчука. За ФСБ!). Argumentua. 12 October 2018.