On December 22, 2008, I solemnly opened this monument.
It is installed in the park on Krasnoarmeiskaya (Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya) street, 115–121. The monument is a granite pedestal on which stands a symbolic tree of life with an opening in the middle in the form of a feather. In front of it there is the figure of a young man in a long coat. According to one of the sculptors of the monument, Yuriy Kozeratsky, the idea of the monument was to create a collective image of a determined, frank person whose convictions cannot be changed. He also noted that when creating the figure of a journalist, the sculptors were guided by the portrait of Gongadze, but did not set a goal to achieve complete similarity.
A tree 7 meters high and a figure 3 meters high are made of bronze. The total height of the monument with the pedestal is 8.5 meters.
After the opening of the monument, I decided to take the initiative and invited the Kyiv newlyweds to visit this monument on their wedding day and include this tradition in their wedding programs
Every Saturday I gave gifts (cameras) to all the newlyweds who came to this place, and also offered them to use my personal Rolls-Royce car.
I did my best to personally come on Saturdays and give gifts, take pictures with the newlyweds, and together we laid flowers at the monument.
It was pleasure to me to see happy couples who were supposed to give Kyiv beautiful children and grandchildren. I gave them symbolic gifts, but most importantly, I gave them my soul, heart and love.
It was important for me, when congratulating the newlyweds, to pay attention to the preservation of the memory of an outstanding journalist who paid with his life for Ukrainians to obtain freedom of speech and a free state. Hopefully I succeeded in that.