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Ukraine builds criminal case against oligarch Rinat Akhmetov

Ukraine builds criminal case against

BY  Anton Linnik, Vladimir Dergachov

Translation: MillennialMonitor.com

Ukraine’s central government is under pressure from Europe to gain control the   nation’s resources as it builds a criminal case around the country’s richest oligarch Rinat Akhmetov who owns the mines of Donetsk Oblast.

 What is behind the rumors about the criminal case against the “master of Donbass”

Yegor Firsov made a sensational statement that a criminal case is being built against Rinat Akhmetov. The oligarch’s spokesman denied the report. 

Ukrainian political analysts say that such a message is the people’s choice – a kind of warning to the country’s richest man, whose name is associated with massive miners protests in the city center.

Between Rinat Akhmetov  and Ukrainian government war erupted.

Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the financing of terrorism and separatism oligarch, said in a broadcaston  “Shuster LIVE» MP from the “Block Poroshenko” Yegor Firsov.

The press service of the country’s richest man denied this information.

“People’s Deputy Yegor Firsov, on the authority of the legislature deliberately introduced viewers astray. This is a deliberate disinformation of society and slander. Such actions by people’s deputy Yegor Firsov is provocative and unacceptable, “- said the official comments to the spokesperson Akhmetov, Elena Dovzhenko.

According to her, the prosecutor general’s office and the SBU really questioned Rinat Akhmetov, but only as a witness.

Protests on Khreschatyk

Political analysts also say that such a statement was made by the representative of the pro-government party is not just.

“Akhmetov has officially been warned,” – said director of the Center for Applied Political Studies “Penta” Volodymyr Fesenko.

This is due to mass meetings of miners in the center of Kiev from 22 to 24 April. Then from 2.5 thousand. Up to 4 thousand. People blocked the streets of the city, and broke through a police cordon near the presidential administration, demanding not to close unprofitable mines in the east of the country and improve the lives of miners.

Along the way, the protesters demanded the resignation of   the Minister of Energy and Mines Vladimir Demchishin. They met representatives of the government, and most Prime Minister Yatsenyuk instructed to develop a program of reforming the coal industry.

On Wednesday, the Verkhovna Rada parliament allocated about 400 million USD for repayment of debts to the miners that helped dramatically reduce the degree of confrontation. The money, as officially reported to have been found through savings on the restructuring of the industry.

Mass protests forced the country’s leadership to make some loud statements. For example, the National Security Council Secretary Alexander Turchinov said that will not allow using the miners to extract money from the budget.

“The most money in the country has always gone to  the coal industry. And most of these funds were stolen by the same “Donetsk” and exported to offshore. Billions were exported, found themselves in the pockets of those who stood behind these articles of the state budget. Of course, there was no modernization of mines or improvement of working conditions,”  he said.

Vladimir Demchishin was forced to interrupt his trip to the United States, and the SBU opened a criminal investigation into the financing of the protests in Kiev.

Negative reviews about the miners could be found in social networks. Bloggers filled unflattering pictures of miners, some of which the townspeople learned “titushek” who tried to prevent the “Maidan” at the beginning of last year.

Moreover, in contrast to the officials, who did not name specific names of the guilty, political analysts attributed rallies to Rinat Akhmetov.

“The protesters were brought by bus from Zaporozhye. But what in Zaporozhye mine? “- Asks Vladimir Fesenko.

In the “opposition bloc” information about proplachennyh denied promotions, and itself a political force left the courtroom on Thursday the Verkhovna Rada of the reluctance of the government to make concessions to the miners.

The fate Igor Kolomoysky

Confrontation Rinat Akhmetov and the Ukrainian government in the person of Vladimir Demchishin may be associated with the future redistribution of the energy market in the country, the director of the Kiev Institute of Global Strategies Vadim Karasev.

Today the industry is controlled by enterprises of the country’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. 

“There is no clear understanding of the reform of the coal industry, and some businesses Akhmetov may transfer to other businesses,” – he explains concern oligarch.

In addition, the Ukrainian authorities controlling “Energy” (an intermediary between producers and suppliers of electricity), refuse to raise tariffs and are even taking steps to reduce them.

“This care management Akhmetov,” – says an expert on international affairs, political consultant Alexander Paly. He adds that the current behavior of the oligarch – it is actually blackmail.

But winning the government and the president,  Rinat Akhmetov does not succeed, said Vladimir Fesenko.

“This is evidenced by the experience of the more powerful oligarch Igor Kolomoysky who eventually was forced to make concessions, “- he explains.

The confrontation between the ex-governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region and president of Petro Poroshenko was observed due to the reluctance of the oligarch to lose control of the company “Ukrtransnafta” (a majority stake owned by the state), which created problems with other companies in the oil industry Kolomoysky .

But after a personal meeting with President Poroshenko,  oligarch Kolomoysky  resigned and announced policy commitment to Poroshenko.

“Akhmetov is now in a weaker  position because he could not protect their region from the appearance of the self-proclaimed republic”, –
said Fesenko.

So if he will not go to the world with the government, he may face problems in business. And the first “bells” sounded this week.

Group of people’s deputies introduced legislation in the Verkhovna Rada to nationalize the oligarch-owned food chain “Brusnichka.”

According to co-author of the bill Igor Lutsenko, it is through the logistics of these networks is the lion’s share of the self-proclaimed republics of smuggling LC, DNI, the Crimea to Ukraine under the control of the territory and vice versa. In the network itself denied the allegations.

Due to the host

In Ukrainian media and within the self-proclaimed republics are rumors about the involvement of Rinat Akhmetov to the DNR and LC. In the spring, at the beginning of the uprising in the Donbass, the oligarch did come to Donetsk, guaranteed to take his people that will stay with them in the case of the storming of the regional administration.

Officially, from the very beginning “master of Donbass”, as well as leadership of the Party of Regions, has taken a tough stance: for decentralization in the region, but in the peace dialogue and against armed struggle with Kiev.

In “Metinvest” deny agreement with the breakaway republics and emphasize that all businesses pay their taxes to the Ukrainian budget. Spring in an interview with “satellites and mayhem,” the former prime DNR Alexander Boroday explicitly stated that Mariupol has not been taken by troops of the separatists only because between them and Akhmetov actually existed agreement.

DNR Ukrainian oligarch left port, he had the opportunity to export the products of their enterprises, and instead delivered a DNR products.

Since last summer Humanitarian Fund Akhmetov Donbass actively supplying humanitarian aid, and local residents reported that in contrast to the content of Russian humanitarian aid convoys of the oligarch are not stolen and reaches the goal.

These “gray” schemes are used quite often in the case of territories outside the formal jurisdiction. For example, a steel mill Moldova Transnistria pays taxes, as marking the unrecognized republic of products not exported.

Approximately the same “gray” schemes in the Donbass coal actively take out the rest of the territory of Ukraine.

In the case of the DNI and the LC with respect to these schemes are beneficial to all parties: the residents of the unrecognized territories do not die of hunger, the oligarch keeps production and Kiev loses tax flows.

However, the same money is actually going to pay for military operations, which causes regular mutual resentment on both sides.

Any concrete evidence of direct political influence of the oligarchs on the militia is not, and the Ukrainian press is to operate only indirect evidence.

In the Donbas from the start speculation about the close ties the head of DNR Alexander Zakharchenko with structures Akhmetov.

Ukrainian news The Insider in September last year drew a scheme whereby firms Zaharchenko allegedly associated with the “regionalization” of Sergei Kyi, close to Akhmetov.

Kremlin-connected sources “Gazety.Ru” and interlocutors in the self-proclaimed republics said that representatives of Moscow have been negotiating with the Ukrainian oligarchs.

Some of the “masters of Donbass” could serve as a “bridge” for negotiations with Kiev republics. But in any case since last spring republican structure controls the Russian leadership, not the former elite – and the oligarchs “regionals”.

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