Ukraine loses one of its best friends
Morgan Williams, the leader of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, championed Ukraine and the fiercely independent journalism of the Kyiv Post under Brian Bonner.
Morgan Williams, president of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, speaks at the meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor in Kyiv on June 26, 2019
Morgan Williams, president of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, speaks at the meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor in Kyiv on June 26, 2019. (Photo by Oleg Petrasiuk)
Morgan Williams worked right up to the end of his life, as I knew and feared he would. But I think the Kansan wouldn’t have wanted it any differently. He wouldn't think of retiring when I talked to him about it.
He hosted a webinar on June 4 with Swedish economist Anders Aslund, participated in an event on Thursday, was texting at least one of my friends on Friday, and died on Saturday at the age of 84. He was with his wife Lynda at their California home and leaves four children, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Williams was – it is so hard to write about this great man in the past tense – the long-time president and CEO of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, a 200-plus-strong organization of businesses devoted to Ukraine.
He embodied the organization. And he was my friend. For many years, he was one of the biggest champions of the Kyiv Post, which was Ukraine’s top English-language newspaper. I led it from 2008 to 2021 before the entire team and I got fired for our fiercely independent journalism. He bought advertising, actively participated in our events, promoted our website in his daily newsletter – and helped save my job in 2011. A staple of his promotion was a full-page advertisement timed for American Independence Day, thanking all America’s ambassadors to Ukraine. The Kyiv Post brand continues without a print version and without much else.
Williams and I shared two big things in life: A connection to Kansas and a love for Ukraine. Williams was born and raised in Ottawa, Kansas, a small town less than 50 miles from Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, where I spent five formative childhood years from 1970 to 1975.
Williams was a Republican, and I am a Democrat. But we still got along—thanks to our common bond with Ukraine. He was once close to the late U.S. Sen. Bob Dole (1923-2021) of Kansas, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 1996. Dole was so powerful at one time that those in his orbit, including Williams, maintained influence in Washington, D.C., by simply invoking the association.
Morgan never lived to see the rule of law, a real fight against corruption, or a healthy investment climate for Ukraine. Yet he persevered, and Ukraine has many devoted investors—foreigners and Ukrainians alike. However, it is not enough to create an economy yet where everyone can prosper or earn a decent living on par with European standards.
He first came to Ukraine in 1992, he told me in an interview published on July 4, 2014, shortly after Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine. He did not align with other business associations—such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—which opposed tough sanctions on Russia.
“America should do the right thing,” said Williams, who also was the director of government affairs for the Washington, D.C. office of the SigmaBlezyer private equity fund. “When you have one country that went in and stole Crimea and has a deliberate policy of destabilizing Ukraine and other countries and have their mercenaries in Ukraine, the best thing in the long run is to support democracy, free enterprise, self-rule, and territorial integrity. You see what happened when business supported (Adolf) Hitler and (Benito) Mussolini.”
Up to the end, Williams criticized the U.S. as being “slow and behind the curve’’ in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s war – now in its 11th year.
I became Williams’ staunch supporter much earlier, in 2011, after then-publisher Mohammad Zahoor fired me for publishing an interview on April 15, 2011, with Mykola Prysyazhnuk, a corrupt agricultural minister under President Viktor Yanukovych, Kremlin’s stooge president from 2010-2014. Both fled criminal charges and went to Russia after the EuroMaidan Revolution.
On the day I got fired, a powerful delegation of U.S. members of Congress was visiting Kyiv. Williams put us in touch with their representatives, who invited us to a meeting with them on a Saturday in the InterContinental Hotel to tell them what happened. They issued a strong statement the next Monday on my behalf. Here it is in its entirety:
Visiting U.S. Senators Encourage Democratic Reform, Express Concern About Press Freedom
April 18, 2011
A delegation of United States Senators led by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, including Senator Jeff Sessions, Senator Mike Crapo and Senator Ron Johnson visited Kyiv April 16-18. During their visit the delegation met with Foreign Minister Gryshchenko, Chief of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Lyovochkin, opposition leaders Yuliya Tymoshenko and Arseniy Yatseniuk and representatives of civil society. Throughout their meetings the Senators expressed their sympathies to the victims and all those affected by the tragic accident at Chornobyl 25 years ago this month.
They emphasized that they want Ukraine to succeed. In order to do so Ukraine must move ahead rapidly with reforms, including economic, judicial and anti-corruption measures. These will attract foreign capital and spur vitally needed economic growth. The Senators expressed their concerns to Ukrainian officials about the deteriorating investment climate and raised a number of specific examples of where American firms including those working in the grain sector are not receiving fair treatment.
The delegation also met with the senior editorial staff of the Kyiv Post and were briefed on recent developments that led to the firing of chief editor Brian Bonner and the subsequent strike by most of the Kyiv Post staff. They have expressed their serious concern to the government that Bonner’s firing undercuts the freedom of the press. A vibrant, unfettered press is critical to the success of democracy.
Both the President’s press service and some media outlets quoted Senator Jeff Sessions without checking with him. The quotes contained inaccuracies. The Senator strongly encouraged democratic reform and economic growth based on a strong rule of law here in Ukraine.
But there was so much more to him – and many people who can offer testimonials about his importance in their lives and to Ukraine. For instance, he had an extensive private collection of exhibited Holodomor photos.
Here are some coverage highlights of Morgan, including from the old Kyiv Post. My friend, you kept a sign behind you in webinars that said: “There’s no place like home – Ottawa, Kansas.” Now you’re home again. RIP, my beloved fellow Kansan. We’ll meet up again down the road.
Morgan Williams video statement in 2022
U.S.-Ukraine Business Council charges ahead in its 26th year
Zelensky honors Morgan Williams with Yaroslav the Wise award
Expats To Watch: Ukraine’s security vaults to No. 1 on business agenda
Morgan Williams: What Ukraine must do to prosper
Agribusiness losses mount amid damaging ‘Great Grain Robbery’