Goalkeeper Oleg Bilyk spoke about the reasons why his contract with Oleksandriya was terminated ahead of schedule.
Oleg Bilyk (photo: Y. Yuryev)- Oleg, on whose initiative did the early termination of your contract with Alexandria take place?
- This is a personal decision of the general director of the club, Ivan Kuzmenko. No matter how much I talked with the coaches, everyone said that they would like me to stay and compete with the new goalkeeper Nikita Shevchenko. None of the coaches even thought that this would happen.
I met with Ivan Kuzmenko two or three times. Each time he had different reasons why he wanted to break the contract with me.
The first reason is character. Then he told me: "I don't see that we can achieve any goals with you." He later stated that the club could not support two highly paid goalkeepers. Although I had one of the smallest salaries in Alexandria. It is clear that these are some personal grievances. But I don't even know why.
- Did you communicate with the new head coach of Oleksandria Ruslan Rotan?
— Yes, I got a call from the club on December 19 and they said that I needed to talk about terminating the contract. I arrived two days later in Alexandria. On December 21, Ruslan Rotan also arrived there, they showed him the base.
I immediately met with Ruslan Petrovich and talked. He promised to talk about my situation with the management, but he never managed to resolve anything. Rotan wanted me to stay.
I also talked with his assistants - Vladimir Yezersky, Evgeny Gres. Everyone wanted me to stay in the team and compete with Shevchenko for a place in the roster. I am well acquainted with Rotan and Yezersky, I was motivated to play under their guidance. But it happened differently.
- Have you ever thought that parting with you is the work of Nikita Shevchenko's agent, Vadim Shabliy?
“I can’t say anything about this. This is their business. Time will tell whether this decision was correct or not.
- Does Alexandria still have a financial debt to you?
- In this regard, "Alexandria" treated me ugly. If the initiative to terminate the contract came from the club, then I should have been compensated.
Now there is a war, I understand everything. I offered to pay me 50% of the amount that remained until the end of the contract. They didn't agree. I was told that if I refused to break the agreement, then I would sit in a double.
I received the debts for the previous months, yesterday I was paid off. But for the remaining six months under the contract, I will not be paid anything. I didn't want to waste my time, to sue the club in order to get those pennies that I received in Alexandria. It will be on their conscience.
- Why, in your opinion, Oleksandriya dismissed head coach Yuri Guru?
- Nobody knows this. As far as I know, none of the directors even talked to him. Perhaps it was the same as in the case with me - the general director of "Alexandria" Ivan Kuzmenko made a decision and simply put the Guru before the fact. It is better to ask Ivan Sergeevich about this.
Yuri Vladimirovich personally did not have time to say goodbye to any of the football players, he only wrote to the team telegram chat that he was glad to work with us. This is also a lesson for him.
— What options do you have for continuing your career?
- There is an option, it has already been decided by 99.9%. I won't name the club yet. I can say that this is a Ukrainian Premier League team. One of these days you will know everything.
Andrey Kaplun
