Poroshenko appoints media mogul as Presidential Administration head

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced on June 10 his first political appointments. Media mogul Borys Lozhkin will head the Presidential Administration, while news anchor Sviatoslav Tseholko will serve as his press secretary. Poroshenko confidante Hennadii Zubko will serve as first deputy head of the Presidential Administration and Oleh Rafalskyi will remain as deputy head of the Presidential Administration. Serhii Berezenko will lead the State Affairs Administration, which handles the president’s security.

Zenon Zawada: The one weakness that observers cited in Poroshenko was his lack of a political team, yet he could prove them wrong with these appointments, which are drawn from his circle of associates. (Poroshenko bought a media company with Lozhkin in 2011 and later sold his shares to him.) Not only have they earned his trust, but some have demonstrated strong managerial skills. In particular, Lozhkin is as self-made as one can get in Ukraine, having spent the 22 years of Ukrainian independence slowly piecing together his media empire, which includes news magazines, tabloids and stakes in radio and television networks. In 2013, he sold a large chunk of his media holdings, including the Forbes-Ukraina magazine, for an estimated $400-$500 million. From the point of view of administering, Lozhkin will serve Poroshenko well in regulating information flows and offering his experienced counsel.

EuroMaidan leaders have already begun to voice their disappointment with these appointments as they’re establishment figures. Lozhkin’s tabloids have mocked Ukrainian values and political movements, even the EuroMaidan. Zubko has a handful of scandals under his belt, though that’s typical for Ukrainian MPs. Berezenko was an advisor to former Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi, a figure synonymous with corruption. Meanwhile, the decision to keep a Yanukovych administration figure in Rafalskiy is causing particular outrage.

With the first appointments, doubt is beginning to emerge regarding the new government’s commitment to major, structural reforms. Poroshenko’s political partner, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, selected as his top advisor Ihor Nikonov, an aggressive real estate developer with close ties to the oligarchy. Therefore, we believe among Poroshenko’s main goals is to renew the equilibrium in the Ukrainian oligarchy, particularly in Kyiv, that had been disrupted by the voracious appetites of the Yanukovych administration and Donbas clan. We also see Poroshenko adopting the tactic of former President Leonid Kuchma in aiming to establish a balance between the competing oligarch clans.

Needless to say, that won’t be enough to satisfy the EuroMaidan leaders, who are interested in radical measures that would enable a middle class to emerge in Ukraine. Pro-EU politicians, such as those from Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party, have already begun to criticize the path taken by the new government. We see potential for Tymoshenko to revive her political career. Another pro-EU force, the Radical Party led by populist firebrand Oleh Lyashko, has declared its opposition to Klitschko in the Kyiv City Council. Indeed, we expect Poroshenko and Klitschko to be dealing with widespread criticism and mounting political adversity in legislative bodies no later than autumn.

Moreover, we think the conservative approach taken so far by Poroshenko and Klitschko has the potential to worsen the performance of their respective political parties (if Poroshenko launches a party at all) in the early parliamentary elections expected in autumn. Together with a renewed pro-Russian force (formed out of the wreckage of the Party of Regions), the parliament has the potential to become a minefield for Poroshenko if he doesn’t undertake major, structural reforms immediately.