European Centre for a Modern Ukraine

The European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECFMU) is an organisation based in Brussels and operating internationally. It describes itself as "an advocate for enhancing EU-Ukraine relations". It has been described as "an operation controlled by Yanukovych" (Viktor Yanukovych, president of Ukraine from February 2010 until February 2014) and tied to Yanukovich's Party of Regions. In 2012 it had contracts with the American lobbying firms Mercury, who received $560,000 over 2 years, and the Podesta Group, who received $900,000 over 2 years. However, the source of the funding remains unclear since ECFMU listed its budget for the financial year ending in November 2012 as only 10,000 euros.