In Ukraine, The Card Have Been Reshuffled.
Ukraine is in the midst of a transition from one oligarchy to another. The new Ukrainian government is facing a catastrophic economic and social situation. The recent oligarchy, rooted in the country’s twenty-year history, has brought poverty, fear, and bitterness. It can be argued that nothing has changed with the coming to power in “ Madan”.
In Donetsk, near Lenin Square, there is the luxurious Donbass Hotel, which resembles a palace. A hotel where the cost of a night’s stay is equal to a month’s salary of a local employee.
The country’s richest man had little connection to the collapsed government of Viktor Yanukovych and little support for it. Now, however, he cautiously supports the interim government that emerged from the recent uprising in Kiev. In addition to the hotel, this rich man also owns many other properties. He even owns the Shakhtar football club, mines, a steel plant and dozens of other industrial plants. The country’s wealthy groups, which include the Ukrainian financial oligarchs, have also settled around the Don River, where valuable mines are located. The importance and industrial value of the two regions of Donetsk and Luhansk are not related to today, as they were considered industrial and mining areas of the country during the former Soviet era.
Although only 95 of the 230 mines in the Donbass region were officially operating twenty years ago, they still generate a quarter of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. During this time, the country lost seven million of its population. After the country gained independence in the fall of 1991, economic needs and the chaotic market conditions caused by the closure of state-owned mines forced the people of the region to dig their coal to survive and earn a living. “You only have to dig a meter deep to find coal,” Torres, a miner, told journalists. The mines, which are dug in houses and usually have roofs made of ordinary wood, have a high accident and death rate. Poor miners risk their lives for a loaf of bread to brighten their families’ empty tables. Since Yanukovych came to power in 2010, the illegal mining network and structure have been organized.
“The extracted coal is sold at a cheap price to the owners of legal mines, and they sell it to the government at the current price,” says Anatolia Kimesen, leader of the Independent Union of Mine Workers. This means that the main profit goes to the wealthy owners of official and legal mines. In addition to this huge profit, the rich also receive government subsidies. The government pays industrial subsidies to the owners to keep the mines open and to show false statistics about the level of productivity of the mines. Of course, it is obvious that a large part of these subsidies go to the pockets of those who stand by the government and the regime. According to mining experts, ten percent of the country’s total coal is the result of the round-the-clock work of independent mine workers who illegally do whatever they can to make ends meet. Great success has also been achieved by “Alexander Yanukovych”, the eldest son of the ousted president, who, under the shadow of his father’s power, was able to control state-owned mines in fierce competition with private mines and pocket a huge amount of capital.
The Fluidity Between Government & Business
“Vladimir Ishchenko,” head of the Center for Social Research in Kyiv, says without any pretense after the provisional government came to power: “Revolution?” No! “The only thing that has changed is the reshuffling of the cards.” He adds, “This government also supports the same values as the previous one: economic liberalism and personal windfall wealth. That’s why I say, not every rebellion is a revolution.” The likelihood that the movement known as the “Maidan Movement” can do something to serve the public interest, and especially improve the living conditions of the poor in society, is slim. These changes are so insignificant that they cannot be called a revolution. Perhaps the most serious candidate for the presidency on May 25 is the famous businessman and chocolate king, Petro Poroshenko,” who is the richest man in the country. While the sound of explosions and gunfire instilled fear in the hearts of the demonstrators in Independence Square and those supporting Maidan, while on November 22, 2013, freedom-loving souls fell to the ground, in the sturdy and hidden basements away from the eyes of the demonstrators, relationships were established between wealthy merchants and the power brokers who held the fate of the country in their hands.
In the past twenty years, the Republic of Ukraine has witnessed a significant transformation known as “pluralistic oligarchy.” After the collapse of the Soviet Union, with the announcement of the privatization of mines and factories, a number of wealthy individuals purchased these mines without actually paying anything for them. In this way, they acquired windfall wealth and financial power in the country. These same individuals gradually took control of the country’s political affairs and called themselves politicians. In this way, oil and gas traders were able to become ministers or be appointed to the heads of key institutions. One of these tycoons who amassed great wealth in the gas industry is former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a well-known figure from the era known as the Orange Revolution in 2004. Western governments, in 2011 when her government fell and she was imprisoned, made her an unbelievable martyr.
Job opportunities are created in government organizations and private business affairs. Other wealthy and powerful capitalist traders are content to orchestrate and puppet from behind the scenes. They provide the financial resources for the candidates’ election campaigns so that when they come to power, they will safeguard their interests. This method was established by “Leonid Kuchma” in the years 1994-2005. A system that is constantly changing and closely related to the competitions and interests of capital owners, or their cooperation and separation from each other.
Young Igarashi
In close proximity to the “Donbas” palace, in a beautiful building complex housing the two companies “Metinost” and “D Tek,” a neon sign shines, displaying the name of the “Mako” company. This company was established by the Yanukovych family in Switzerland to export Ukrainian coal to the West. The owner of this company, who is the son of the former president, quietly and without any difficulty turned off the sign a few days after his father’s fall. This means that the relationship between the presidential office and the mentioned export company is strong enough to be free from any danger.
In 2010, Yanukovych, who had been employed as the godfather of the “Donetsk” group since the 1990s, decided to distance himself from the capitalists and power holders who supported him, or even rid himself of them. For this reason, he appointed people he trusted in sensitive positions; family members. This action of his, placing key positions in the hands of himself and his family, astonished Ukraine’s financial powers. The assignment of key positions to those whom the president trusted continued until it reached the point of changing the head of the central bank. Serhiy Arbuzov, the head of one of the private banks owned by the president, was appointed as the head of the central bank. Arbuzov was briefly the Prime Minister of Ukraine on January 28, when Mykola Azarov was dismissed, during the height of the crisis. The President also relied on “Vitaly Zakharchenko,” a friend of his son, who was appointed as the head of the national tax service in 2011. Of course, he had also been appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2010. With his rise to power, the efforts of his favoured capitalists to gain more influence increased. Among them was “Dmitry Firtash,” who held a monopoly on gas imports from Russia and had previously dominated the country’s chemical industries and banking sector. “Zakharchenko” fled to Russia while “Firtash” was arrested in Vienna on March 13.
The “thousand families” of power paved the way for the rise of the “young oligarchs,” whose shining star was Serhiy Kretchenko. This young man (born in 1985) is the owner of the Ukrainian gas company, which, according to statistics announced in 2012, owns 18 percent of the country’s liquefied gas and has annual sales of more than 0 billion. In 2012, Kretchenko bought the Odessa oil refinery along with the football club of his hometown, Metalist Kharkiv. The rapid rise of such people is due, first of all, to his relationship with the son of the country’s prosecutor general, who is a member of the “thousand families.” When Kretchenko bought the oil refinery, he was competing with the country’s third richest and most powerful man, Igor Kolomoisky, who also has influence in the oil and gas market. According to journalist Anna Babinets, this was not a real competition because Kratchenko enjoyed the unwavering support of the regime.
Territorial Integrity
After the fall of the previous government and family, Kretchenko fled to Russia with his father and son, Sejonka. On March 2, his economic rival, Kolomoizh, was appointed governor of the Dnipro-Petrosk region by the new authorities. On the same day, the king of the Ukrainian metal industry, Serhiy Taruta, owner of the large ISD company, became governor of Donetsk. He is the one who financed the movement that became known as the Orange Revolution and has always been careful to hide his political role. “Taruta and Akhmetov have never been on friendly terms. But after many conflicts and challenges, they finally decided to take control of the region together,” says Valentin Kukorsky, a professor of political science at Donetsk University. Therefore, it is unacceptable that Akhmetov did not agree to the appointment of his rival as governor. The two have long fought against each other; Akhmetov raised the prices of his goods in order to bring Taruta to his knees and take control of his company.
One of the advantages of the oligarchic system is that it has protected the country from the influence of Russian capital, but the idea that the economy, and especially the economy in Donbass, could have continued without the presence of Russian capital is nothing more than a fantasy. All its industrial processes and processes are adjusted to be in harmony with the Russian economic and market system and, as a rule, do not comply with the standards of the European Union countries. Our oligarchs know very well that in the end they can only play the role of a bridge between Russia and the European Union. For example, Akhmetov’s assets are rooted in Donbass, but their lines of communication also connect to Russia, Belgium, Italy and England. Here he is at the head of influential companies that also interfere in politics from behind the scenes, and this is the same policy that the Russian mafia or oligarchs taught him and other Ukrainian capitalists.
Taruta is of Greek descent, who lived on the shores of the Sea of Azov. His hometown of Mariupol is the headquarters of Akhmetov’s industrial group. He owns iron and steel plants. He also owns the Azovmach locomotive and wagon factory, which sells all of its products to Russia. A few days after his appointment as governor, Taruta traveled to the Mariupol region to meet with regional industrialists and businessmen. “The meeting was fruitful, and none of the participants wanted Ukraine to disintegrate,” said Nikolai Tokarshi, one of the participants. The narrator of this quote is the editor of the most influential local newspaper, which is owned by Akhmetov. He was also elected as a member of parliament by the people of Donetsk, as an independent candidate who supports the interests and programs of the oligarchs. It is clear that in order to satisfy a readership that is too emotional and restless in the face of Russian threats, the newspaper is spending its time defending the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine. This very act of the newspaper shows that “Akhmetov” has joined the new regime in Kiev and joined them to support its own interests.
Deadly Conflict
The government is relying on the ruling minority (the ruling oligarchy) to reform the state apparatus, which is severely weakened and practically non-existent. In this trust, it is trying, first of all, to involve them in defending the country against Russian threats. An attempt that, after years of constant war, would be a disastrous cooperation to preserve their common interests. Both Akhmetov and Taruta are aware of this, but nevertheless they constantly talk about peace. After the fierce and bloody clashes in the city of Donetsk on March 13, in which one demonstrator was killed, Akhmetov issued a press statement in which it was stated, among other things, that “Donbass is a responsible region” with “courageous and hardworking people” and that this violence does not make us surrender to the forces of evil violence. Throughout March, in eastern Ukraine, a stunning battle has been going on between pro-Russian separatists on the one hand and Ukrainian police and army forces on the other. Pro-Russian forces seized and occupied government buildings, sometimes retaking them after a few days when Ukrainian forces stormed them. In the March 9th storming and occupying the central government building, 300 police officers left the area instead of resisting and defending the building, while being cheered on by more than 2,000 people standing outside, most of them women and pensioners. Most of the police officers smiled at the officers who had come to remove them from their positions. Such scenes were repeated over and over again in Donetsk. “The police officers were confused and did not know whose orders to follow,” writes Donetsk blogger Denis Kazantsky. “This was despite the fact that their commander was a supporter of the former authorities and was in their service.”
There is uncertainty in the issuance of orders at all levels within the security forces. “When it comes to bribery and corruption, the newly appointed officials in the country’s justice system call us journalists and the information we have and publish our main source,” says Anna Babinets, “and the archives of documents have disappeared somewhere.”
While the Ukrainian army, according to Oleksandr Turchynov, has only 6,000 combat troops, on March 13 the country’s parliament approved a bill that would require the army to establish and organize a national guard. This unit, which will most likely be formed from the most right-wing nationalist forces such as the Right Sector unit, has little chance of finding a solution to the recent crisis. The evidence suggests that this unit will not only not solve the problem, but may even increase suspicion among people living in the east. On March 14, a violent clash broke out between activists of the “Right Unity” group and pro-Russian protesters in the city of Kharkiv, which may indicate the beginning of violence in the region.
On the Brink of Civil War
The reality is that the history of the Ukrainian people’s “revolution” is a history of missed opportunities, while the government itself seems to be collapsing. “Olympus,” the leader of the local party in Luhansk, just 30 kilometers from the Russian border, said in a press conference that he was shocked, as he was by the photos of Yanukovych’s luxurious villa. “When we were young, we learned the proverb: ‘Peace at home, war in the palace.’ But now financial and social corruption has spread throughout society.
It is obvious that the people living in the East want to unite with the people living in the West in a joint fight against the existing oligarchy, bribery and corruption. But the praise and admiration of the character of the right-wing and extreme nationalists in the East has created a deep fear in the hearts of the Russian-speaking people of the region. Meanwhile, supporters of the ousted Ukrainian president still speak of the monster of fascism and the threats of fascists. These chilling words, which concern the identity of the people, are only to frighten them, which could eventually lead to a full-scale civil war, which is not so.
Source: Le Monde Monthly, Norway – April 2014 – Postscript
It is now the early hours of Wednesday, April 16th, and worrying news has been released from eastern Ukraine, some of which I will mention to clarify the speaker’s prediction of the possibility of civil war:
According to official world news agencies, bloody clashes between Ukrainian special forces and separatists have begun today.
Deutsche Welle Radio reported on this matter:
The eastern Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk are the scene of a firefight between Ukrainian special forces and pro-Russian gunmen. Ukraine’s efforts to disarm the separatists have angered Moscow.
On Tuesday afternoon (April 15, 2019), the German news agency reported an exchange of fire between Ukrainian special forces and pro-Russian armed rebels in eastern Ukraine. According to the report, gunfire was heard near the cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. Both cities are part of the Donetsk region, where many government buildings have been occupied by pro-Russian armed rebels for several days.
Ukrainian special forces have been deployed two days before a quadrilateral conference to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine is scheduled to take place in Geneva on Thursday, with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the foreign ministers of the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
Moscow is Angry
The fighting in Eastern Ukraine has angered Russian officials. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, currently in Beijing, spoke of a violation of Ukraine’s legal values and international law. Many of its government buildings have been occupied by pro-Russian armed rebels for several days. Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, announced that Ukrainian special forces had taken control of the airport in Kramatorsk, 80 kilometers north of Donetsk, after exchanging fire with armed separatists.
Russian state television reported that at least four people had been killed in today’s clashes. Pro-Russian rebels also said one of their fighters had been wounded.
According to a report by the German news agency, government forces opened fire on rebel positions in Slavyansk early Tuesday. A spokesman for the pro-Russian separatists said several people had been injured in the attack. The rebels had been preparing to defend themselves against such an attack, the person said.
Turchinov’s Report to the Parliament
Ukraine’s interim president announced the start of a special operation to counter armed separatists at a session of the country’s parliament on Tuesday morning. “The goal of this operation is to protect citizens from terrorists who want to tear Ukraine apart,” he said.
Turchynov had given separatists occupying public and government buildings in eastern Ukraine until Monday morning to surrender their weapons and evacuate, but they ignored the ultimatum. Moscow has called on Ukraine’s interim leadership to halt its military operations in eastern Ukraine ahead of an international conference on Ukraine in Geneva, which is due to take place on Thursday.
*Abbas Shokri holds a PhD in “Communications and Journalism, is a researcher at the Norwegian News Agency, a freelance writer and translator, and a contributor to the editorial staff of Citizen in Europe.*
Abbasshokri @gmail.com
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