Home > Rule by oligarchs: Kiev appoints billionaires to govern east (video)
Rule by oligarchs: Kiev appoints billionaires to govern east (video)
by Open-Publishing - Friday 7 March 2014The self-proclaimed government in Kiev has appointed two of Ukraine’s richest men to govern large industrial regions in the defiant east. One of the reasons for the Maidan protest was the influence the rich have on politics in the country.
The appointments of new governors of Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk
Regions are among 18 made on Sunday by Kiev, which is struggling
to consolidate power after the coup which ousted President
Yanukovich last month.
The newly-appointed Dnepropetrovsk governor is Igor Kolomoysky,
Ukraine’s third-wealthiest man, with an estimated fortune of $2.4
billion. He co-owns the informal commercial group Privat, which
includes Ukraine’s largest bank Privatbank, which Kolomoysky
heads, as well as assets in the oil, ferroalloys and food
industries, agriculture and transport.
A former ally of Yulia Tymoshenko, Kolomoysky reportedly had a
falling out with her and refused to finance her election campaign
in 2010, which the ex-prime minister subsequently lost to
Yanukovich. Kolomoysky was reported to be a principal sponsor of
the UDAR party, which is one of the three fueling the street
campaign to oust Yanukovich. Kolomoysky has a dual
Ukrainian-Israeli citizenship and controls his business empire
from Switzerland.
The new governor of Donetsk Region is Sergey Taruta, who is
estimated to worth around $2 billion, putting him among the
top-10 wealthiest people in Ukraine. He heads ISD, one of the
biggest mining and smelting companies in the world, and also own
Donetsk-based Metallurg Football Club.
Not a stranger to politics, he used to sponsor Viktor Yushchenko,
who came to power in Ukraine after the Orange Revolution of 2004.
Among his personal habits is a reputed love for luxurious jewelry
and ostentatious gold statues, reports RT’s Peter Oliver.
The appointments will have “a positive effect on the regional
aspect,” believes Vladimir Groisman, who was appointed
vice-president for regional development in the self-installed
government.
“They are well-known and wealthy people. They had a choice –
they could by a plane ticket or fly their own plane and go to
another country and wait for the developments there. Or they
could take responsibility. I respect their choice,” he said.
Among the accusations mounted on Yanukovich by protesting crowds
in Kiev was the charge that he used his presidential power to
take over assets of Ukrainian businessmen and make an illegal
fortune for himself and his allies. Some Ukraine observers
suggested that the oligarchs, threatened by presidential greed,
financed the Maidan protests, seeing them as leverage on the
government.
After his ouster, photos from Yanukovich’s opulent residence of
gilded furniture and a private zoo in suburban Kiev made
headlines worldwide. There is little doubt that many of those who
sought to topple him for being corruptly enriched would eye the
appointment of affluent businessmen to offices of power with a
deal of suspicion.
The feeling is palpable in many comments in Ukrainian media.
“That’s good news. I’m tired of those businessmen in
power,” said one sarcastic commenter at the site of the
Ukrainskaya Pravda a leading online news service.
“It’s OK. The oligarchs have been controlling the regions
anyway. I think they will provide order, because only they have
the authority, unlike some middle-rank appointees,” soothes
another one.
“Are they handing out fiefs? I’m sick of it. Is that what the
people died for at the Maidan?” another commenter says.
There is also the regional aspect, which Groisman mentioned. The
better-developed industrial east of Ukraine depends on business
ties with Russia and would be hurt badly by the EU association
agreement, which the new government wants to sign as soon as
possible. Mistrust towards Kiev is growing in the east, with
several regions already declaring they would not be taking orders
from the capital.
The defiant regions seek greater autonomy from the central
authorities. Having the right to elect their own governors as
opposed to have them appointed in Kiev, is one of the demands
regularly voiced at the protest rallies in eastern and southern
Ukraine.
