Owner of the SCM Corporation and the richest Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov urged workers of his enterprises to go on a warning strike against separatism and emphasized his strong stance against the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), we learned from his emergency statement broadcast by Ukraina TV channel that had to interrupt the film being shown at the time. “I want to tell everybody: we are not to be intimidated or stopped by anyone, including those who call themselves some ‘Donetsk republic.’ Who had heard of it before?” He asked rhetorically. “Who knows the names of the DPR’s leaders? What have they done for the Donbas?”
The Russian and even Ukrainian blogosphere met this step by Akhmetov with ironic “lectures,” pointing out that the industrialist “got smart enough to make a show of strength at last, but was too late to the party.” However, people generally support the content of his statement, but are in no hurry to believe that Akhmetov turned into a selfless patriot, noting in their online postings that a possible alliance with the oligarch against a common enemy should be only a “situational” one. The public is of the opinion that as soon as the DPR terrorists are done, Ukraine will have to investigate activities of loyalists, too. Now is not the time for it, though, as the overarching objective is keeping the country whole!
For her part, MP Inna Bohoslovska treats Akhmetov’s video appeal as the oligarch’s attempt to garner some public support for himself. She believes that ongoing developments in Ukraine are sowing the seeds of a new social rebellion, so every elite group hopes to gain support among the population to save it from facing an angry crowd on its own during a new revolution. “In the 23 years since the nation’s independence, all of Ukraine except the Donbas and Crimea has experienced two bourgeois-democratic revolutions. Therefore, there is a rebellion brewing in the Donbas, which is likely to erupt even stronger in the fall. In this situation, the Party of Regions, Akhmetov and his business partners have to find at least some support among the citizenry,” Bohoslovska added.
However, political analyst Maksym Rozumny is sure that Akhmetov’s statement is a signal of coming stabilization in the Donbas. “It looks like governments of Ukraine, Russia, the US, and the EU have reached an agreement, thus providing certain guarantees to Akhmetov. Accordingly, he runs no great risk expressing his opinion now,” the expert said. After all, Rozumny noted, the oligarch did not, in fact, say anything new. What was new was his transition from words to deeds. “By his example, he shows that he believes in what he says [a happy Donbas in a united Ukraine. – Author], and will fully support this position,” the expert stressed.
According to Rozumny, the signal from Akhmetov is a really serious development in any case. “Knowing the psychology of the Donbas people, I cannot even imagine Akhmetov changing his mind now. I think he has thoroughly prepared for this move,” the expert said.
Leader of the terrorist organization DPR Denys Pushylin’s threats to “nationalize” Donbas industry are, in Rozumny’s opinion, no more than a public relations support for Akhmetov’s signal, making it even more momentous. The political analyst does not believe in Pushylin being an independent player. According to him, all these unobstructed victories by the DPR were won via agreement with the “Donetsk elites” as part of their tug-of-war with the central government over control of the Donbas. “Akhmetov and those whom he represents have received certain guarantees. They have won this tug-of-war,” Rozumny maintained.
Do Akhmetov’s and the Donbas population’s interests coincide? They do in the short term, but it is hardly true in the long term perspective, the political analyst stressed. “They relate as the interest of a wolf in its hunting ground and the interest of herbivores who live and graze in that same area,” the expert explained ironically.
