Luc MICHEL for PCN-NCP INFO / 2014 03 03 / with RT – lucmichel.net – PCN -SPO /
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“It’s still a long way to “DEMOCRACY” ….President Oleksandr Turchynov appointed one biljonaire taking over from another … Are there only biljonaires in Ukraine at the top. What is the system called : Biljonairecrazy. No wonder that the government runs out of money”
– A reader of the Kyiv Post today.
This sunday, the desesperate move of the fascist junta of Kiev to take back control on the east reveals the true nature of the so-called maidan … The 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 popular uuprising of the pro-russian east makes this illegall move of Kiev without effects.
IGOR KOLOMOYSKY, UKRAINE’S THIRD-WEALTHIEST MAN
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.
SERGEY TARUTA, AMONG THE TOP-10 WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN UKRAINE
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 by the junta. “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,”(sic) he said.
ON WHICH SIDE ARE THE OLIGARCHS ?
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. NOTE that the chief of the junta Arseni Iatseniouk is the happy owner of similar residence located … a few hundreds meters of the Yanukovich’s opulent residence.
“IS THAT WHAT THE PEOPLE DIED FOR AT THE MAIDAN?” (KIEV MEDIAS)
The feeling is palpable in many comments in Ukrainian media of the west side.
“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, comments RT. “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. In Kharkov ten days ago, the ‘congress of the Eastern region”, with 3000 governors, regional deputies, mayors, decided of “self-administration”… 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. The exemple of the Republic of Crimea and its referendum on autonomy will be contagious on the east.
Luc MICHEL
Photomontage de John Heartfield : “Der Sinn des Hitler-Grußes“, Titelbild der Arbeiter Illustrierten Zeitung (AIZ, 16. Oktober 1932, DHM, Berlin)
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