Riaboshapka, Avakov are likely law enforcement nominees, insider says

Ruslan Riaboshapka, a 42-year-old lawyer who built his
career in the Justice Ministry, is likely to be nominated as Ukraine’s next
prosecutor general, an outgoing MP and political insider Serhiy Leshchenko said
on Aug. 27 on his Telegram channel. Riaboshapka earned his law degree from
International Solomon University in Kyiv. He began his career working in
Ukraine’s Justice Ministry, spending 12 years there. He served as deputy
director of the legal department of the Cabinet of Ministers between February
2011 and October 2013, and deputy justice minister between March and October
2014. He was a member of Ukraine’s delegation to the Group of States Against
Corruption (GRECO).

Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov, who has been
the target of public protests for years for alleged corruption, will either
remain in his post, or be appointed as a deputy prime minister or even
secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Leshchenko also
reported.

Oksana Markarova will remain as finance minister,
Ukrenergo CEO Vsevolod Kovalchuk will be nominated as energy minister and
former Concorde Capital executive director will serve as head of the
parliamentary fuel and energy committee, Leshchenko said.

Zenon Zawada: There are
so many sources naming Riaboshapka that it will be a surprise at this point if
he’s not nominated as the prosecutor general. Admittedly, Zelensky’s options
for a competent prosecutor general, not tainted by corruption, are very
limited. In the early days of his presidency, it was rumored that he would hire
a successful foreign prosecutor, such as Laura Kovesi of Romania. But that’s
not likely to happen now.

We don’t see Riaboshapka as having the political capital,
experience and overall public respect to prosecute and convict high-ranking
state officials, including former presidents and their entourages. Rather than
meting out long overdue justice in top ranks of Ukrainian governance, we see
his appointment as being a convenient subordinate who won’t overshadow the
president (similar to expected PM Oleksiy Honcharuk). This is troubling because
Ukrainians won’t find anti-corruption efforts credible if the highest officials
– who profited the most – aren’t targeted.

Speaking of top officials who profited the most,
despite Avakov’s accomplishments in the last five years (leading the launch of
the National Police and reboot of the traffic police), he has been exposed for
rampant corruption by the mass media and is largely disregarded by the public.
He is as much a member of the corrupt old guard elite as anyone and would be as
solid a candidate for lustration by the Zelensky administration as anyone.

So Avakov remaining in government is solely a concession
to billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, the chief sponsor of Zelensky’s presidential
campaign who clearly indicated in May that he wants Avakov to remain
in place. It’s safe to conclude at this point that Kolomoisky has replaced
Poroshenko as Ukraine’s most influential oligarch.

Both the expected nominations of Riaboshapka and
Avakov are a source of pessimism for Zelensky’s success. They indicate that
Zelensky’s anti-corruption campaign might not be as serious as he claims, which
means that his planned structural reforms and economic development won’t be as
dramatic as he’s been advertising them. When electing Zelensky, Ukrainians
wanted a radically different approach to politics.