Ukrainian Power Struggle

[Zippyjuan]

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world...gion-1.2153052

Kolomoisky actually hired his own militia to help fight against the Russian backed separatists but he also sent some of those same forces to try to take over one of the country's largest energy companies.

Ukraine power struggle ousts ‘oligarch’ from key region

Two officials arrested and handcuffed in front of TV cameras during cabinet meeting

Ukraine’s president has removed a powerful “oligarch” as governor of a major eastern region, in a show of authority that could escalate a dangerous power struggle and undermine Kiev’s fight with Russian-backed separatists.

Petro Poroshenko accepted Ihor Kolomoisky’s unexpected resignation, after days of rising tension that saw the governor accused of sending gunmen to occupy the Kiev offices of energy firms over which his influence was threatened.

Ukraine’s security service (SBU) also said they suspected senior aides of Mr Kolomoisky in Dnipropetrovsk of having links to a criminal gang, which is accused of involvement in smuggling and the recent murder of an SBU officer.

Mr Kolomoisky’s resignation began a dramatic day in Ukrainian politics, as it was followed hours later by the televised arrests, during a cabinet meeting, of the head of Ukraine’s emergency service civil defence and rescue body, Sergiy Bochkovsky on suspicion of corruption.

His deputy, Vasyl Stoyetsky, was also arrested. Both men were handcuffed by the police and taken away. Mr Bochkovsky was suspected of buying fuel at an artificially high price, said a representative of the interior ministry, who did not identify himself.

The arrests were not reported to be linked to the resignation earlier of Mr Kolomoisky, who took control of Dnipropetrovsk region last year and ensured it did not fall to pro-Moscow militants, who seized swathes of nearby Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.

Critics said Mr Kolomoisky (52) used the same shady tactics in politics as helped him accumulate his fortune, and warned that the armed unit he formed to defend Dnipropetrovsk could turn on the state if it threatened his businesses.

Conflict arose this month, when Ukraine’s pro-western parliament passed a law on shareholder rights that reduced Kolomoisky’s influence over two state-controlled energy firms.

Last Thursday, masked men apparently loyal to Kolomoisky seized one of those company’s headquarters in Kiev, while outside the oligarch harangued journalists and claimed he was defending the firm from Russian “saboteurs”.

Poroshenko said Kolomoisky would be “reprimanded”, but on Sunday gunmen also took control of the other energy firm’s offices in the capital.

More at link.

[Zippyjuan]

http://fortune.com/2015/03/25/ukrain...olled-militia/

Ukraine's President fires billionaire governor who bankrolled militia

Intense power struggle could mark watershed moment in battle with corruption – or the start of a new phase of political instability for Russia to exploit.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko Wednesday fired one of the country’s most powerful oligarchs as governor of a key region in central Ukraine, in a power struggle that may become one of the defining moments in the country’s post-Soviet history.

Poroshenko said he had “granted a request by Ihor Kolomoysky” to be relieved as governor of Dnipropetrovsk, in what appeared to be a face-saving gesture after an explosive row between them over one of the country’s most important companies.

The row erupted after Poroshenko passed a new law allowing the state to take back its rights as majority owner of oil refiner Ukrnafta. State officials trying to enter Ukrnafta’s offices after the bill passed were blocked by Kolomoysky’s armed security guards, leading the president to warn that he wouldn’t tolerate any ‘pocket armies’.

The bill could redress a number of scandals where state-owned companies have been manipulated by well-connected tycoons over the years. Poroshenko’s supporters say it will tame the oligarchs and reduce corruption. Kolomoysky’s supporters say it will just be used to benefit other private interests.

Kolomoysky is a uniquely important and highly controversial figure in the fissile politics of Ukraine, being owner of the country’s largest bank, Privat, and of an influential TV channel. He lent crucial support first to the Orange Revolution in 2005 and then to Poroshenko in the aftermath of the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych last year.

Poroshenko parachuted him into the governorship of Dnipropetrovsk last year in order to stabilize the situation after Russia annexed Crimea and sponsored revolts by separatists in the country’s industrial heartland in the east. He is believed to have bankrolled at least one battalion of militia fighting the separatists and their Russian backers out of his personal fortune.

Facing defeat on the battlefield, and a severe economic crisis, Poroshenko has to strike a balance between keeping the most powerful tycoons loyal, and carrying out the kind of reforms that the International Monetary Fund and others are insisting on in return for bailing it out. Those reforms center on reducing corruption and improving the judicial system–two issues that have plagued Ukraine since its independence from the Soviet Union, and which were also the key demands of the protesters who ousted Yanukovych.

[Brian4Liberty]

First this...

Fox is owned by an Australian- Rupert Murdoch.

And now a thread about an oligarch criminal who is responsible for massive death and destruction in Ukraine? Wow.

Where's Hollywood and Natural Citizen? I suspect you guys may have the depth of knowledge about the real story in Ukraine to comment...

(07-19-2014) So you guys think Igor Kolomoisky shot down the plane?

[Brian4Liberty]

Poroshenko has to strike a balance between keeping the most powerful tycoons loyal, and carrying out the kind of reforms that the International Monetary Fund and others are insisting on in return for bailing it out.

It seems that Kolomoisky has outlived his usefulness in the Ukraine to the TPTB. Time to call off a dog of war?

[Brian4Liberty]

This guy is possibly the single biggest reason for much of the bloodshed in Ukraine.

An oligarch who was given his own region, and given the thumbs up from everyone involved to fund and arm a militia and send them to attack neighbors.

Ukraine's Secret Weapon: Feisty Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky
New Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Takes on Pro-Russia Separatists, but Critics Worry About Growing Power of Oligarchs

http://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraines...sky-1403886665

[Brian4Liberty]

Not interesting enough? Not being reported anywhere else?

Would it be juicier if Joe Biden's son (Hunter Biden) and a John Kerry connected banker (Devon Archer) both were on the Kolomoisky payroll?

A multibillionaire, Kolomoyskyi is rated as the second or third richest person in Ukraine (after Rinat Akhmetov and/or Viktor Pinchuk) since 2006.[12][13] and 377th richest person in the world by the Forbes (as of 2011).[9] In March 2015 The Economist listed his net worth as $1.36 billion.[10] Kolomoyskyi is the leading partner of the Privat Group and a de facto chairman of the FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
...
Through PrivatBank he controls Aerosvit Airlines, Dniproavia and Donbassaero.[20] Through the asset management company Mansvell Enterprises Limited, he controls Skyways Express, City Airline, and Cimber Sterling aviation companies.[21] He also has media interests in the 1+1 Media Group, which operates eight Ukrainian TV channels.

Part of his vast business empire is Burisma Holdings Ldt, Ukraine’s largest private gas firm. Shortly after Russia annexed Crimea, while U. S. Vice-President Joe Biden was engaged in diplomatic talks with Ukraine, Burisma announced that Hunter Biden joined the board of the company.
...
Kolomyski has used Privat's "quasi-military forces" to enforce hostile takeovers of companies, sending a team of "hired rowdies armed with baseball bats, iron bars, gas and rubber bullet pistols and chainsaws" to forcibly take over a Kremenchuk steel plant in 2006,[26] and has used "a mix of phony court orders (often involving corrupt judges and/or registrars) and strong-arm tactics" to replace directors on the boards of companies he purchases stakes in.[27] Kolomyski was criticized by Mr Justice Mann in a court case in London involving an attempted hostile takeover of an oil company, with the judge stating that Kolomyski had "a reputation of having sought to take control of a company at gunpoint in Ukraine" and that there were "strong grounds for doubting the honesty of Mr Kolomoisky"
...
In March 2015, after the dismissal of Oleksandr Lazorko, who was a protege of Kolomoysky, as a chief executive of UkrTransNafta, Ukraine's state-owned oil pipeline operator, men reported to be Kolomoyskyi's personal militia raided the UkrTransNafta's headquarters to expel the new government-appointed chief from the office. While Lazorko was in charge the state-owned pipelines had been delivering oil to an Kolomoisky-owned refinery in preference to competitors.
...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ihor_Kolomoyskyi

[silverhandorder]

He outlived his usefulness. Biden and state dept personally got involved to protect Poroshenko.

[Brian4Liberty]

Meanwhile, Graham, McCain and Rubio cackle on about Ukraine and Putin, who is supposedly rebuilding the Soviet Empire (LOL, not very successful if that's what he is up to).

What ever happened to "follow the money"? Who benefits? The money trail ends at Kolomoyskyi. Apparently following the money isn't really all that important.

[Natural Citizen]

Relevant reading - China-Russia working on joint anti-graft drive

Also watch France and Germany.

Aside - UK stuns Europe by sending troops to Ukraine

[Brian4Liberty]

This guy is possibly the single biggest reason for much of the bloodshed in Ukraine.

An oligarch who was given his own region, and given the thumbs up from everyone involved to fund and arm a militia and send them to attack neighbors.

Not interesting enough? Not being reported anywhere else?

Would it be juicier if Joe Biden's son (Hunter Biden) and a John Kerry connected banker (Devon Archer) both were on the Kolomoisky payroll?

Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian oligarch...