Zelensky divides oversight of crisis situation with top businessmen

Ukrainian President
Zelensky asked the nation’s biggest businessmen during the Mar. 16 meeting to
assume oversight and provision of the region where they have the most assets
and resources during the coronavirus crisis, the pravda.com.ua news site
reported on Mar. 23. When billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky pointed out that his bank
accounts are blocked (in relation to various lawsuits), Zelensky reportedly
pled for their help “not only with money, but with people,” the news site said.
He said, ‘In every region there are large enterprises with professional
managers who can help the local government in their place.” As a result, Kharkiv
businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky decided to create his own crisis office,
despite one having being created by the local regional administration head,
Oleksiy Kucher, who is supposed to be the president’s local representative. A
public war of words emerged between the two.

 

Zelensky’s proposal
was “quite an unexpected mechanism” in dealing with the coronavirus situation
in the country, the pravda.com.ua news site said. “The readiness to openly
gather the oligarchs on Bankova can indicate either the audacity of the new
president, or the extreme difficulty of the situation in which the country has
found itself in,” the news site said. Zelensky also asked them to donate a
combined UAH 12-13 bln for a special fund for medicine and medical supplies.
“One of the meeting’s participants said the discussion with Zelensky made quite
a depressing impression on him because he didn’t see some understandable plan
of how the government plans to handle the situation,” the news site said.

 

The businessmen
agreed to the following distribution of oversight:

Rinat Akhmetov (SCM
Holdings, estimated wealth USD 8 bln) – Ukrainian controlled Donetsk and
Luhansk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv

Ihor Kolomoisky
(Privat Group, USD 2.6 bln) – Volyn, Zaporizhia

Yuriy Kosyuk (MHP,
USD 1.1 bln) – Cherkasy, Vinnytsia

Ihor Palytsia
(Ukrnafta) – Ternopil, Volyn

Victor Pinchuk
(EastOne Group, USD 1.4 bln) – Dnipropetrovsk

Andrey Stavnitser (TransInvestService) – Odesa

Andriy Vereveskyy
(Kernel Group, USD 1.4 bln) – Kirovohrad, Poltava

Oleksandr
Yaroslavsky (DCH Holding, USD 680 mln) – Kharkiv

 

Zenon Zawada: Zelensky has drawn criticism with
this measure for attempting to shift the burden from the government onto
business in dealing with the crisis. Yet we see his requests for assistance to
be positive. They are a simple acknowledgement of the fact that Ukraine’s
biggest businessmen have as many resources as the government that need to be
tapped, if not more so.

 

We’re seeing in
Ukraine and the U.S. that the virus response will inevitably be exploited by
politicians for political gain. In Kharkiv, for instance, Mayor Hennadiy Kernes
has decided to challenge the president on a series of anti-crisis measures,
aiming to draw the public support of those who are disappointed with Zelensky.
We expect this situation to continue. But so far, the Zelensky administration
seems to be making the most of what limited resources and abilities it has,
more or less.