Two of Ukraine’s influential oligarch businessmen on Saturday pledged their support to the interim government in Kiev and promised to defend the homeland against a possible Russian invasion.
Speaking with the Financial Times, billionaire Igor Kolomoisky said he had accepted an offer from Kiev to head the regional government in his native Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, where he controls a large share of industry and other businesses.
“Yes, I agreed, because the homeland is in danger,” Mr Kolomoisky, a prominent member and supporter of the country’s Jewish community, told the Financial Times.
It also emerged late on Saturday that Serhiy Taruta, a billionaire industrialist, had agreed to be governor of Donetsk in the far eastern region of the country. In an interview published in internet news site Delo.ua, he called upon citizens to unite against a potential Russian attack.
