The resignation of Governor Ihor Kolomoisky has disturbed and even upset many residents of Dnipropetrovsk region. Over the previous year, while he was in service and the war was unfolding in the Donbas, the Dnipropetrovsk region located close to the frontline has remained an island of well-being. In spite of the problems common for entire Ukraine, pensions and benefits were paid out in time in the oblast, the educational institutions, hospitals, boiler houses, and power plants have been operating in a normal regime. And the Dnipropetrovsk oblast has become the most successful in terms of economic and financial indices.
Since зast spring the volunteer battalions formed by the Kolomoisky team have been fighting against the Donbas separatists and provided the security on the eastern borders. In addition to this, a powerful volunteer movement has unfolded in Dnipropetrovsk and it has been organizing provision and medical treatment for the wounded servicemen in the ATO area. The state of affairs has been so stable that it was rumored that the governor who rarely appeared in public was in fact recreating in Switzerland. Neither reports about three foreign passports, nor the foul language used by the governor near the capital office of Ukrtransnafta have been able to shatter the reputation of all-mighty Kolomoisky.
The alarming waiting began to soar in the air of Dnipropetrovsk after President Poroshenko’s critical remarks and especially after the statements made by the SBU Head Nalyvaichenko regarding the leadership of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration. But no one could have expected that the denouement would be so near.
Kolomoisky’s resignation has caused no less stir among the residents of Dnipropetrovsk than Brezhnev’s death, Lazarenko’s escape abroad, or Tymoshenko’s arrest. Already in the morning the Dnipropetrovsk residents became concerned about the life of the oblast “after Kolomoisky.” The residents of the city have been discussing such questions as “Won’t separatists come to the city?” and “What will be with Privatbank”? Besides, the residents of the oblast center have been actively inquiring, when the announced people’s assembly will take place at the main square of the city where Kolomoisky is supposed to deliver a speech.
Some clarity has been brought by one of the deputies of the ex-governor, Sviatoslav Oliinyk. “On Saturday our team will say good bye. We are inviting everyone to the meeting for the unity of our country. We will try to organize a worthy concert. We are waiting not only for the residents of Dnipropetrovsk to come, but also the guests from other regions and other countries. Friends and brothers-in-arms, come please. I don’t want to comment on the decision about the resignation so far. The history will clear the air. One thing is important now: Dnipropetrovsk must remain a peaceful, protected, and Ukrainian city,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Judging by everything, Kolomoisky’s team is greatly disappointed with the policy of the capital leadership. “If Kolomoisky is fired (and if it is followed by commentaries of liar Nalyvaichenko) and the rest of the oligarchs will remain untouched, this will look really bad,” Oliinyk wrote in another post. “And if ‘everyone is equal before law’ and all the governmental structure will have to be cleared from oligarchs, they will have to be clinched with everyone, which is bad as well. But if not everyone is equal before the law, the situation is absolutely bad. It will be a blind alley.” Another deputy Hennadii Korban, Kolomoisky’s right-hand man, refused to answer the questions of The Day’s journalist regarding the resignation. “I don’t comment on this question. Let’s wait for the official statements,” he was polite on the phone and sounded tired.
“Dnipropetrovsk is a region close to the frontline, which leaves an imprint on the methods used to solve many questions. If Kolomoisky’s team hadn’t taken harsh measures, the oblast would have been seized by separatists by now,” says political scientist Vladyslav Romanov. He considers that the sad incident in Volnovakha, attacks on the offices of governmental institutions have drawn a specific line under the period after Maidan, when armed groups were operating in the country. “The president understands that new rules of behavior must be developed, especially in the sphere of business. We cannot live on with this luggage,” the political scientist said. Besides, the question about the paramilitary formations has been broached very seriously before Ukraine’s leadership in the European Union.
