President Petro Poroshenko repeatedly announced his intent to fight corruption, and even promised to “burn it out with hot iron,” just like his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych did once. Head of the Odesa Oblast State Administration Mikheil Saakashvili, well known for his PR skills, took upon himself implementation of his boss’s appeal. Odesa hosted an anti-corruption forum on December 6, which was attended by politicians, officials, and journalists.
Not long ago, the media wrote a lot about the scandal at a meeting of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB)’s faction, which occurred when a group of legislators accused some leaders of the faction and the nation’s leadership of corruption and organizing information provocations. The accusers included, among others, Viktor Chumak, Serhii Leshchenko, Yehor Firsov, Olha Bohomolets, and Natalia Novak, while some of the accused were Petro Poroshenko, Arsenii Yatseniuk, Ihor Kononenko, and Oleksandr Tretiakov... Immediately, a group dedicated to combating corruption in government was established in the parliament, known as the Anti-Corruption Platform, and most of its members also attended the event in Odesa.
Saakashvili opened the forum by saying: “Corruption means specific names, specific cases, and specific numbers.” He then displayed a scheme with Prime Minister Yatseniuk shown at its head. According to the Odesa Oblast State Administration’s head, the corruption schemes set the state back annually by five billion dollars, while those embezzling public money steal another 120 billion hryvnias every year. He blamed Rinat Akhmetov, Ihor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, Mykola Martynenko, and Andrii Ivanchuk for it.
“There is a strong feeling that the Odesa Anti-Corruption Forum is a targeted attack on specific people rather than a sign of a systematic assault on corruption,” member of the 1st-4th and 6th convocations of the Verkhovna Rada Taras Stetskiv commented for The Day. “Saakashvili effectively acts on instructions of the president of Ukraine when he attacks Yatseniuk and his inner circle. Ahead of the arrival of US Vice President Joe Biden, they are creating some information background to increase the likelihood of Yatseniuk’s resignation and Saakashvili’s appointment as prime minister. I see no grounds for any other take on it. The event saw several problematic people named in a selective manner. Why did they fail to mention other names, then, including those appearing in investigative journalism pieces? In particular, such people are present in the PPB and the Opposition Bloc, and the latter is somehow being gradually forgotten at all by anti-corruption crusaders.”
The list of participants of the Odesa meeting also sends certain signals, for it included head of the Odesa customs department Yulia Marushevska, executive director of the International Renaissance Foundation Doctor Yevhen Bystrytsky, deputy chairman of the Odesa Oblast State Administration Maria Haidar, journalist Yurii Butusov, Deputy Prosecutor General David Sakvarelidze, MPs Mustafa Nayyem, Serhii Leshchenko, and Viktor Chumak, advisor to the governor of Odesa region Oleksandr Borovyk, businessman Yevhen Chychvarkin, former Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia Giorgi Vashadze, and journalist Sevgil Musayeva-Borovyk.
“I see the individuals listed, except maybe some of them, as members of the Leonid Kuchma-George Soros-Poroshenko group,” member of the 2nd and 3rd Radas Oleksandr Yeliashkevych commented for The Day. “It is not for nothing that no one of them has ever mentioned Kuchma or his son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk, even though they mentioned many oligarchs and politicians.”
Meanwhile, Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NAB) Artem Sytnyk already said that Saakashvili’s claims of corruption at state enterprises might constitute grounds for criminal prosecution. Also, the director of the NAB said that the anti-corruption forum in Odesa was attended by his deputy Gizo Uglava.
“When will we hear from them about Kostiantyn Hryhoryshyn and his dealings in transformers and energy? When about Oleh Svynarchuk-Hladkovsky and Roman Romanov who stole billions from Ukroboronprom? When about Yurii Boiko and his regional power distributors? When about Kostiantyn Zhevaho and other ‘businessmen’ who have stolen bank refinance funding? When about Pinchuk and his 600 million hryvnias in debt to Naftohaz? When about Volodymyr Hroisman controlling Ukrposhta’s cash flows? The list may go on, if you want,” Oleksandr Dubinsky asks on Facebook; he is the anchor of Hroshi investigation program on the 1+1 TV channel.
“I never whitewashed Yatseniuk and has written a lot about corruption in the Cabinet of Ministers,” blogger Serhii Ivanov commented for The Day. “But I emphasize that we have a coalition government, so not only the prime minister is responsible for his choice of ministers, but all political parties that have delegated them to the Cabinet as well. That is, the question of responsibility must be approached in a differentiated and comprehensive manner. Furthermore, if there are accusations, why no one sees indictments? If Saakashvili makes such assessments, where is his reasonable evidence? It is obvious that Saakashvili runs down his own credibility in this affair. For example, he accuses Martynenko, but somehow does not mention Kononenko. In fact, it is not about fighting corruption, but rather about one political group absorbing another. This is a political hostile merger.”
During the forum in Odesa, some participants tried to analyze the modern history of Ukraine as well. According to the participants, Musayeva-Borovyk, in particular, said in her speech at the forum that the architect of the clan-oligarchic system is businessman Akhmetov.
“It was an absolutely deliberate distortion of reality,” Yeliashkevych stressed. “We all know perfectly well that the true ‘godfather’ of Ukrainian corruption and creator of the clan-oligarchic system in Ukraine was Kuchma. Everything else derived from it. It is with great regret that I observe some journalists’ attempts to manipulate citizens’ consciousness. Meanwhile, the transformation of Ukrainska Pravda, which is now represented by Musayeva-Borovyk, and whence Leshchenko and Nayyem came, is a crying shame that happened in public view. They have totally forgotten about Georgy Gongadze by now, and the role of Kuchma in general as well. Furthermore, they now serve as support staff for this family.”
COMMENTARY
Serhii SHCHERBYNA, journalist, project manager of Insider
Who, in your opinion, was the target audience of this forum, and what was its purpose? What will be its political implications, if any?
“The Odesa forum will definitely be used against Yatseniuk. In fact, the leader of the PPB faction has already said that the Cabinet must respond to Saakashvili’s allegations of corruption. But it seems to me that this is more like a forum for the presentation of a new political party, which can include both the ‘Georgian team’ and the ‘anti-corruption platform’ within the PPB.”
Who, or what, in your opinion, is behind this public confrontation between the prime minister’s team and the president’s inner circle? And how, in your forecast, will it unfold in the future?
“I think that this public confrontation is a direct clash between the president and the prime minister, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The reason is simple: they are fighting over financial flows, or rather what is left of them. As far as I know from sources in the Presidential Administration (PA) and in the Cabinet of Ministers, the final decision on dismissing the government has not been taken yet, but some kind of reshuffle is inevitable.
“In the future, there are two and a half possible scenarios. The first of them will see Yatseniuk keeping his office, the coalition will stay intact as well, but we will see a continuation of both public and backstage confrontation between the president and the prime minister. The second scenario is an attempt to dismiss Yatseniuk, which will make the coalition to fall apart, and there will be the prospect of early parliamentary election then, which would result in both current prime minister and president losing their posts. The ‘half scenario’ will involve Yatseniuk replaced by Hroisman, while the speaker’s position will go to a People’s Front MP, probably Andrii Parubii. But this scenario is very problematic since it will be hard to find votes in the coalition as well as outside it for such a reshuffle. Most likely, in my view, we will see the first option implemented.”
You remarked in a comment on Facebook that at least part of the arrows in “Saakashvili’s scheme” point to wrong individuals... This is an interesting point. Like the fact that at least one name was not mentioned by any of the present, I mean that of Pinchuk... But to take a broader view of the effort to combat top-level corruption and oligarchs, what is needed to de-oligarchize Ukraine today, from your experience? Should we attack named persons (where will it take us?), or fight monopolies, after all, and why?
“Saakashvili ‘forgot’ to indicate in his presentation the president and his inner circle, who are milking cash flows as well. Besides Pinchuk, Hryhoryshyn was also somehow overlooked at the forum, for example. Although, we should have probably expected it, since, according to sources in the Cabinet and the PA, he has been involved with Saakashvili’s promotion. But, in fact, the problem is not in the names. The problem is the lack of a level playing field. The so-called de-oligarchization, which high officials are so fond of talking about, looks more like a regular redistribution of the loot. Ukraine, in my opinion, should privatize fully most ‘corruption-generating’ state enterprises (Ukrhazvydobuvannia, Tsentrenerho, Odesa Port Plant, etc.) and set clear rules for all players, who should be equal and pay taxes. Fighting names will just bring another repeat of everything that we have repeatedly experienced.”
