Conflict between Ukraine gov’t and Kolomoisky entourage intensifies

A regional court ruled on Nov. 2 to detain for two months Mykhaylo Koshliak, a close associate to Borys Filatov, a candidate for Dnipropetrovsk mayor who will face a runoff on Nov. 15. He was arrested as a suspect in the murder of an officer of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) committed in March. Koshliak has also been identified by news reports as the head of security for the Privat Group that is led by Igor Kolomoisky. The Prosecutor General’s Office couldn’t arrest everyone suspected in the crimes allegedly committed by the Kolomoisky entourage, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin told a Nov. 2 press conference, as reported by the liga.net news site. “Unfortunately, some managed to escape,” Shokin said. “This is an enormous ramified organized crime group that acted not only in Dnipropetrovsk, but in Donetsk and other regions of Ukraine.”

SBU Head Vasyl Hrytsak said at the same press conference that he has received threats in response to the campaign to arrest members of the Kolomoisky entourage that was launched this weekend. He said criminal charges are being brought under the organized crime statute because of the suspected involvement of funds from the Country Defense Fund, which was directed by Hennadiy Korban, a close associate to Kolomoisky who was arrested on Oct. 31. He alleged that commanders of volunteer battalions sponsored by Kolomoisky were denied access to military hardware when they refused to engage in business raids.

Two gunshots were fired at Shokin’s office at about 10:30 p.m. Nov. 2, reported the pravda.com.ua news site, citing an anonymous source in the Prosecutor General’s Office. The information was confirmed by an SBU spokesperson. Shokin was not injured, the report said. Earlier that day, Shokin told a press conference that he received threats in relation to arrests made of key figures in the entourage of Kolomoisky, among Ukraine’s biggest oligarchs.

Zenon Zawada: This is the first criminal investigation since the EuroMaidan that can realistically lead to the arrest and conviction of influential corrupt officials. For that perspective, it’s a positive development. The problem is that Poroshenko is targeting the Kolomoisky entourage without having targeted the Yanukovych entourage. Yuriy Lutsenko, a close advisor to the president and head of the Poroshenko Bloc’s parliamentary faction, echoed our recommendations and called for a simultaneous “package of punishment” to avoid fomenting distrust among the public.

Prosecuting crimes as serious as murder and kidnapping is a positive step for an otherwise extremely unpopular Shokin, with an increasing number of MPs calling for his resignation. But criminal charges being brought merely against the entourage of the president’s biggest enemy, Kolomoisky, feeds public suspicions of justice being pursued very selectively. The same approach was pursued by the failed president, Viktor Yanukovych, whose presidency ended in disaster.

Meanwhile, reports of violence being threatened and possibly used in retaliation for the arrests is a troubling development. With an especially sensitive election approaching for Dnipropetrovsk mayor on Nov. 15, the potential for more violence and destabilization is growing. That’s not good for Ukraine not only in light of the Russian aggression, but attempts to draw closer to the EU, which has its own intensifying problems with violent conflict.