Ukraine government covering for unlicensed coal trade, MP alleges

Unlicensed trade of coal from the occupied territory of Ukraine’s Donbas region is occurring under the cover of Yuriy Artiukhov, the first deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), alleged MP Tetiana Chornovol at a June 8 press conference. More than 12,000 railcars of unlicensed coal has been transported in the last four months from occupied Donbas, estimated Chornovol, a member of the national security and defense parliamentary committee. She’s a member of the People’s Front party led by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Among the companies transporting the unlicensed coal – and covered by Artiukhov – are those allegedly controlled by the Yanukovych family and Ruslan Dubovoy, the coal minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Among the alleged  buyers are the Yanukovych family, structures controlled by Rinat Akhmetov and structures controlled by Yuriy Ivaniushchenko. The illegal cargo passing through the Krasniy Liman railway station, which is under the guard of the SBU and Artiukhov in particular, she said.

Zenon Zawada: Another black eye for the Ukrainian government. From one angle, it’s positive that state officials feel free enough to air their corruption accusations. But that’s not good enough to outweigh the damage done in terms of image. The fact that such corruption allegations can’t be addressed behind closed doors, without inflicting damage on Ukraine’s image in the West, confirms the ongoing rivalry between the Poroshenko Bloc, led by the president, and the People’s Front, led by the prime minister. It’s doubtful that Chornovol would have made her allegations public had the SBU been under the purview of her People’s Front party.

If these claims are true, then they have embarrassing and extremely negative implications for the Ukrainian government. If such a high-ranking authority – with such high responsibility for the nation’s security and appointed only in July of last year – is engaged in corruption, then there’s little hope for the rest of the government apparatus. If the claims are not true, then the implications are the political rivalries among the pro-Western camp are destructive.