Ukraine parliament dismisses ecology minister

Ukraine’s parliament voted on July 2 to dismiss Igor Shevchenko as the minister of ecology and natural resources. He is the first minister to be dismissed from the Cabinet that emerged in December 2014. The motion earned 235 out of 226 needed votes, with the effort being led by the People’s Front faction, led by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko, the faction head.

In show-trial style, Shevchenko was viciously attacked by his political rivals for vacationing in France during the weeklong fire at a gasoline storage depot outside of Kyiv. When Yatsenyuk accused him of failing to take charge, Shevchenko insisted he handled the response. He also pointed out that he visited the depot during the disaster after being in France for only three days.

Shevchenko’s return flight was exploited for another scandal when it was revealed by Liashko to have been on a jet allegedly owned by Oleksandr Onishchenko, a businessman MP. In response, Shevchenko said he wanted to return as soon as possible and took the jet of his longtime friend, Onishchenko, which was indeed rented. When attacked for flying on a charter flight to France, Shevchenko explained that he paid for it from his personal wealth earned from working as a lawyer prior to becoming minister.

During the scandal that dragged on for weeks, Shevchenko retaliated by alleging Yatsenyuk was engaged in corruption, including requiring that he appoint officials with close ties to the Yanukovych clan. Meanwhile, his enemies accused Shevchenko of having corrupt business ties to Onishchenko.

Zenon Zawada: Unfortunately, Shevchenko’s dismissal was part of politics as usual. Competing political parties have been itching to gain access to his lucrative ministry, which is in charge of awarding valuable rents to mine and extract resources. Meanwhile, various MPs – particularly with Yatsenyuk’s party – had been seeking to avenge Onishchenko, who had influence on the ministry through Shevchenko.

When they found the opportune scandal to attack him, his political enemies pounced like a pack of hyenas. Even the Fatherland parliamentary faction turned on Shevchenko, after sponsoring his nomination in December.

With this scandal, Ukraine’s politicians are showing the public, both domestically and abroad, that they haven’t changed their approach to politics, which are still rife with power struggles for access to resources and revenue streams. This is especially reckless during a time of war, when a military draft threatens to take thousands of civilians to the front lines each month. We don’t rule out pre-term parliamentary elections with a year’s time as public discontent mounts.