Ukraine to cancel self-governance zones, toughen economic regime in Donbas

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the National Security and Defense Council on Nov. 4 that he will submit legislation to parliament to cancel the self-governance laws for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as Donbas. “We gained this law with difficulty but thanks to it, we were able to prevent threats and mobilize the support of global partners,” he said, as reported by the Ukrayinska Pravda news site. “I am convinced that the National Security and Defense Council and the Verkhovna Rada will support our decision to cancel the law on special self-governance.” A new law will be approved when there’s a cease-fire, border demarcations performed, hostages are released and the Nov. 2 election results are cancelled, he said.

Moreover, Ukrainian government may introduce a fiercer economic regime in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions following the Nov. 2 elections in these regions that contradict Ukrainian legislation, Poroshenko told the Council. “We continue to carry a burden, not having received any money for electricity or gas,” he said. “We continue to heat Donetsk and Luhansk in conditions of freezing temperatures, though according to the law, we long ago should have disconnected heat and energy supply.” The president also said that the roadblock regime could be strengthened to restrict the movement of reconnaissance-sabotage groups. The National Security and Defense Council will also develop legal acts that will regulate economic and taxation policies in the Donbas region.

The self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic welcomes the president’s decision to cancel the self-governance laws for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said on Nov. 4 Andrei Purgin, the self-declared vice prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency. “This is the first honest step by the Kyiv government in its relations with Donbas,” he said. “The current law didn’t have anything concrete and was intentionally not enacted.” Purgin also rejected plans by the Ukrainian government to draft economic and taxation rules for the region. “The Kyiv regime insolently took the money of our people, illegally failing to allocate local taxes,” he said. “Without conscience, it isn’t paying pensions and child support. And now the traders propose trading with them, to ask of them what rightfully belongs to us.”

Support for protests is mounting in the Donetsk region and could lead to the current leadership being overthrown, said on Nov. 4 Oleksandr Kikhtenko, the head of the Donetsk state oblast administration. “I think we’ll live to the time where the residents of occupied Donbas will sweep away this small bunch of marginal types that are confiscating businesses, shooting at peaceful people and committing atrocities on these territories,” he said, adding that time is on the side of the Ukrainian government.

Zenon Zawada: Given the failure of the self-governance zones, it’s hard to imagine a new arrangement that will emerge that will satisfy both the Ukrainian government and the separatists. The cancellation of the self-governance zones could lead to escalated warfare. What remains to be seen is whether Ukraine’s Western partners will approve of such a scenario.