Ambitious goals

- You have thirty-four titles. What does the president of Ukraine’s most decorated team feel?
- First, I am happy! I am satisfied, I want to congratulate everyone on the championship, on winning the Cup. I think the team and the club did a great job. We deservedly won the championship gold and the Cup. Many thanks to the manager Paulo Fonseca, the coaching staff, and the entire team of the Shakhtar football club, and most importantly - to our fans.

- You said that you have a dream for the champions to become known in the last round. The last game against Dynamo decided nothing - Shakhtar were already the champions in it. Do you feel any pity?
- No, I don’t. I can’t say that I got upset about that. I agree to such exceptions. We became the champions early. There is a lot of work behind this. Just look how many points the team have lost. Many points less than last season. And the fact that we appeared in the match against Dynamo Kyiv as the champions of Ukraine and that the coaching staff had the opportunity to try young talents in business is very good. If someone thinks that the league is weak, let them first try to win it. For us, it’s doubly difficult. Because we play all games away. It’s very difficult.

- Paulo Fonseca has won the title for the third time. Nevertheless, in the May heat he put on a coat with dragonflies. Probably, this league season did not seem tranquil to him?
- Probably, for him that’s a dear gift, he believed in it and at least this gift brought him good luck and success to the team. That’s why it’s very good. Let him walk in this coat in both June and July. The main thing is that it brings good luck to our team.

- How can the coaching success of Paulo Fonseca be explained?
- Three league titles, three cups, and a super cup. Seven trophies in three years - at least it deserves great respect.

- They say that your major rivals Dynamo have got weaker. Does it upset you?
- Dynamo are a very strong team. With very strong youngsters, who have already gained vast experience. They have a very strong and experienced club president, I mean my colleague Ihor Surkis, who does a great lot for his club. It’s very difficult to play against them, we are just stronger. I believe that we have a very strong, bright team, with huge potential. And I hope that we will continue winning, claiming trophies and defeating Dynamo Kyiv.

- What final is more pleasant for you to watch: when Shakhtar defeat Dynamo or when Shakhtar defeat Inhulets?
- First, we beat Dynamo Kyiv a bit earlier. As for Inhulets, I want to give them a huge compliment. They have a very charismatic president. I do not know him personally, but he’s a very charismatic, outstanding president, who clearly loves his team and puts a great deal of heart into it. As a result - in the Cup final, we nevertheless unexpectedly met with Inhulets. I want to convey to my counterpart many thanks for his love of football. They have a very nice head coach. The young, modest, ambitious, professional, a very pleasant person. Well done, guys. I want to thank so much the players, the coaching staff, the fans of Inhulets for this plot. We didn’t find it easy. We took this team very seriously. They gave some great interviews, scaring us with the fact that they ordered champagne, a bucket or two buckets. I remember when they showed at the beginning the frame featuring the president sitting, with his leg almost breaking his chin due to being nervous. He was nervous. I remember myself being like that, I see myself that way. I get nervous too, I worry too. Frankly, I wanted to win that game, but I had a fellow feeling towards Inhulets. We scored goals, but I didn’t even want them to. I wanted to win the Cup and see the outstanding, spectacular play of my team. But at the same time, they caused a liking in my heart.

- Does the Champions League primarily mean prestige or money to you?
- Money won’t go amiss. The club always needs it, this is also part of the club’s success. In the post-Soviet countries, the clubs are always unprofitable. I have always invested in mine all the time. If we compare the club’s operational revenue with that earned in the Champions League, then we have a small minus. But if we include the club investment, and this is also important - buying bright talents for big amounts, and selling them much dearer, then it will look like our club is profitable. We want to be profitable, we want to be successful. We want to deliver some bright, beautiful performance, to win trophies, and to earn money.

- For performance in European competitions last season, Shakhtar earned a solid sum of 46.6 million euros. Is this money enough to become a profitable club?
- Operations wise, it will be unprofitable. But with investment activities, it will be profitable.

- How much money should Shakhtar earn on transfers per year?
- We must see. But you see, we sold Fred last year and that’s enough for us to get profitable.

 - How does the transfer process at the club work? Who makes the decision and who is responsible?
- The decision is made by the one who pays the money. And he makes himself accountable. But the whole club structure works. At least you need to see those talents, you need to watch them. And then a discussion takes place: in whom the club is ready to invest, and in whom not. We must claim wins. We have to invest a dollar, and to get three, four or five. And we must win performance quality wise. If we invested a dollar, and then we won’t be able to sell the player for a dollar, what kind of investment is that? If no one wants to buy him for one dollar, it means that performance wise he will not bring us any benefit either, therefore our objective is an effective investment activity. This is our road to success.
 
- You are not afraid of selling leaders. Are you now ready to part with those who are considered indispensable: Taison, Marlos, Ismaily?
- These players are very much needed by Shakhtar football club. These are experienced players, strong players, and without them it’s hard to imagine Shakhtar these days. But when there is a serious offer, we have a choice. If we do not let him go, it means that we, by and large, become the executioners of the player’s future. Therefore, we are ready to sell them. If there are some big, serious offers, then we are definitely ready to sell a player. Our scouts work and always offer us some other players. If we lose someone, we have to find someone to replace them. And the replacement must be stronger than the loss.
 
- What is the clausula for Ismaily and Taison, if it’s not a secret?
- This is a large amount. Enough for us.
 
- You once said that Fred would be Shakhtar's most expensive transfer - the club earned 60 million. And who is Shakhtar’s next record?
- Today, roster-wise, Shakhtar are a very strong team. We played against Dynamo, our young players appeared, they had no teamwork quality. But they immediately introduced a number of players, the coach didn’t fear that, he entrusted the players with that responsibility. And he himself has gained a lot of experience. He fielded them, and they did not disappoint him. Moreover, when he himself watched them, he probably thought: look, they are not inferior to experienced players. These players really perform at a very high level. You see that Marcos Antonio, who has already become a regular, has won their confidence. Despite the fact that he is short and puny, this player has a huge potential. Tete - I think that many fans already like him. Look at Fernando – he is also a very good player. Maycon - a misfortune happened, he got a fracture. Let's hope that he recovers as soon as possible. We bought Dodo. I also believe in him very much, he is currently on loan in Portugal, the right-back. Cipriano - did not play for us, but is also among the best young talents of Brazil. Six young Brazilian players. All of them are the Brazil U21 players. All of them are really big talents. I am convinced that a bright future will await them. Solomon is a player of Israel. He also has great talent. This suggests that within a year, two or three, our fans will be proud of our team. Which of them will be more expensive or cheaper is very difficult to predict, which of them adapts faster, and who later - we will have to wait too. I think that we are strengthened good enough, we must have patience and develop all the players we have acquired. I think there is a lot of competition at Shakhtar now. And the coach will have a headache about who to field, who not to, who to trust and who not to.
 
- Paulo Fonseca said that “everything suggests the fact that he will remain at Shakhtar for another year”. Did you talk to him about his leaving?
- Paulo is a young, ambitious, highly qualified coach. He has good ideas if the best clubs in Europe and the world get interested in him - this is also good for Paulo and for our club.
 
- If a top European club gets interested in Fonseca, are you ready to let him go?
- Yes, of course. This is our good name. Previously, if a player came to me, then I would not sell him to anyone, I would not give him away to anyone, he should have stayed with us. And when I started letting go of the players, we won a lot more in this situation. This experience is very cool. The same applies to the coaching staff. Moreover, there is a moral agreement just in case someone gets interested. Someone is interested for sure because it does not mean that no one is interested in Paulo. He is a good specialist and a decent person. He came here, another country, won three league titles and three cups, plus one super cup. This deserves a huge applause.
 
- What do you expect from Paulo Fonseca, other than titles?
- The main thing is titles and some bright, beautiful play. I do not believe in titles without spectacular performance. You can win once by chance, but you cannot win every time if you don’t deliver some bright and beautiful performance. Moreover, we have a selection of players like that.
 
- Darijo Srna told the Italian media: “When the Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov said that they would not renew my contract, it was like a blow to the face”. Why did you make that kind of decision, and why was that a surprise for Darijo?
- Firstly, no one ever hit Darijo in the face. He is a great friend of mine, he is a big captain, and he did a lot in terms of all our trophies. I did not read that interview. Maybe he believed that we would extend the deal with him, but he knew for sure that we wouldn’t. Firstly, Darijo is no longer young, he has not played for more than a year. The club fully respected the contract and respected Darijo, - we did everything to ensure that this situation did not affect his family from a financial point of view. We still need to think about the future. We have a right-back, we’ve got some issues. Today we are looking for a solution to this problem. All the same, we need to look for a solution, to find a player. If you find a player, you need to trust him. And if we find a player and entrust him with sitting in the stands and watching Darijo play, we do not solve the problem then, we just push it aside.
 
- Did Darijo understand this?
- I am convinced that he has already understood it. But maybe the first emotion was like that. Life is like that, there are certain emotions. Shakhtar football club is grateful to Darijo and likes Darijo. As the president of the club, I am also grateful to him and like him. And I think that I have very warm and friendly relations with him. But in this case, we are talking about what will happen tomorrow, and what will happen the day after tomorrow?
 
- You warmly parted with Rakits’kyy. Still, why did he leave?
- Yaroslav called me and said: "If you allow me, I would like to leave." But please understand, we also have Mykola Matviienko. I think he’s a huge  talent. This is the future of Shakhtar. If Yaroslav wants to leave, and I don’t let him go, I still block the way to the other players. I want to thank him for those years, trophies and his bright, spectacular play.
 
- Is Shakhtar ready to buy a central defender from Europe?
- Of course, it may happen. Anything can happen if life forces us. But it seems to me that today we have a very good defensive third. We have strong players today. Just look how we used to play and how we play now. I haven’t seen yet Bondarenko play, who we bought from Oleksandriia, plus our very strong Bondar. He is young, our Academy graduate, everyone praises him.
 
- Dynamo president Ihor Surkis constantly calls Moraes a traitor, and Shakhtar has never reacted to this.
- I don’t know what arguments Ihor Surkis has, but my thinking is simple. I have a player whose deal is about to expire. Maybe I see him at my club on certain conditions, and another club sees him with them on other terms. That’s his choice. If tomorrow he moves to Dynamo Kyiv or wherever he considers proper, how can I say that he betrayed me or Shakhtar football club. But he did not betray anyone: that’s his right, his career, the responsibility to himself and his family. Therefore, I will respect his choice and never say anything bad in my life against him.
 
- Surkis says that Moraes behind his back was negotiating with Shakhtar and promised not to move to Shakhtar.
- I never asked the players: will you go to Dynamo Kyiv or not. But I am very grateful to Moraes that he picked our club and brought us great benefits. Huge credit for these trophies goes to Moraes.
 
- As a result, Moraes helped Shakhtar to win the league title, and now he may well help the Ukraine national team. Do you like it?
- That's his choice. I want to tell you: never in my life have I discussed that with either Marlos or Moraes. If you ask how I responded to that, I will say as follows - with great respect. I know for sure that these players will greatly benefit the national team and this will make the select team look much better.
 
- Do you have any thoughts on building a new stadium?
- No way. We have the Donbass Arena stadium, and we all live dreaming that Shakhtar will return to the Donbass Arena and will play their brightest matches there.
 
- In 2017, the team and the coach asked you to return to the stadium, you took the time to think it over and did not return. Did the break get too long or did you not change the decision?
- I miss football very much. All the tragic events have begun, and I haven’t been able to return to Donetsk for six consecutive years now. I haven’t been to the stadium for five years. I would like us to be at the stadium with our fans. So that we watch it together, be proud of it, rejoice, and cry watching our team play.
 
- In his speech, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi compared Ukraine with the Iceland national football team. Would you like Zelenskyi to revive his native Kryvbas?
- Kryvbas was a very strong team. Excellent fans, the industrial, strong city. Of course, that city deserves to have a strong team that will delight the fans. And if they find some investors, it would be great and would increase competition.
 
- Ihor Kolomoiskyi has recently returned to Ukraine. What are your football expectations about that?
- Ihor Kolomoiskyi did a great lot for Ukrainian football, he has invested funds in Dnipro for many years - some 15 to 20 years. Dnipro reached the Europa League final. They have always been a very strong team, it was always difficult to play them. And they have always been well tuned to us. Those were exciting games. If Mr Kolomoyskyi starts dealing with football, the Ukrainian Championship will get a new plot. We haven’t discussed football for a long while.
 
- What are your expectations, the club president’s expectations of the new Shakhtar for the upcoming season?
- We will set the most ambitious goals: the league title, the Cup and some bright Champions League performance.