Security agents search television studio of Kolomoisky associate

Agents with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
conducted on Feb. 5 a search of the television studio of Oleksandr Dubinsky, a
political commentator and MP with The People’s Servant party. The search was
part of an investigation of those responsible for the Jan. 15 leak of secret
recordings of a December meeting between Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk and
leading authorities, according to an SBU source cited by the pravda.com.ua news
site. SBU agents specifically looked for audio files saved on personal
computers, identifying three employees who worked with Dubinsky, including his
aide Yevhen Kuksin, the news site said on Feb. 5.

The January leak involves an audio recording, widely
believed to have been re-edited, in which Honcharuk makes several embarrassing
comments, referring to himself as having “complete” incompetence in economics
and President Zelensky as having “a very primitive understanding of economics
processes.” Dubinsky’s studio is located in the editorial offices of the 1+1
television network, which is owned and controlled by Ihor Kolomoisky. Dubinsky
has long been widely recognized as Kolomoisky’s de facto spokesman.

Zenon Zawada: This
incident confirms the Zelensky administration believes Kolomoisky to have been
behind the leak of secret recordings, with the goal of removing Honcharuk and
pressuring Zelensky. Both these leaders are standing in the way of Kolomoisky’s
goal of returning Privatbank at the state expense. The billionaire also opposes
the launch of the farmland market, the legislation for which is expected to be
approved by parliament tomorrow. He has also called for Ukraine to abandon its
cooperation with the IMF and has suggested renewing cooperation with Russia.

So Zelensky can no longer be considered beholden to
Kolomoisky, who now has shifted his political capital to Internal Affairs
Minister Arsen Avakov. In this way, Zelensky is preserving his high trust with
the public, and it’s reassuring to see that he understands the importance of
this (rather than capitulating to the oligarch’s demands and losing his
credibility). Consequently, Kolomoisky is disappointed with his “investment”
into Zelensky as his main sponsor during his election campaign. We expect the
boorish, reckless Kolomoisky to engage in more desperate and vicious measures
to pursue his goals of protecting, recovering and expanding his wealth.

This also signifies that several groups have
emerged within The People’s Servant parliamentary faction that are openly
hostile to each other. The group led by Dubinsky is loyal to Kolomoisky and
consists of at least two dozen MPs.