Pavlo Zhebrivsky, Ukraine's newly appointed governor of war-torn Donetsk Oblast, has revealed ambitious plans to "regain full control of the occupied regions."
Zhebrivsky faces a Herculean task in bringing stability to the turbulent region, where Russian-separatist forces continue to launch almost daily attacks in their bid to claim more territory. Yet it is Zhebrivsky’s blend of political and military experience that convinced President Petro Poroshenko that he was the man for the job.
He’s already come out swinging by calling for a blockade of Russian- occupied territories and vowing to win back the hearts and minds of Ukrainian residents under separatist control.
Zhebrivsky, the embattled region’s third governor in less than a year, sat down with the Kyiv Post to explain his three-point strategy.
“The first point is that militarily we need to have a strong and powerful army to fulfil both defensive and attacking strategies.
“The second element is keeping order in the non-occupied territories and creating open and fair economic markets.
“The third point is creating infrastructure projects in the non-occupied territories and re-building the region.”
Together these elements would lead to “total victory,” he said. “Economic developments in Donetsk, through agricultural and infrastructure improvements, for instance, are absolutely key to winning the war as much as any military action,” Zhebrivsky said. “It is very much like in Northern Ireland where economic improvements brought peace. This is my philosophy.”
Zhebrivsky’s comments to the Kyiv Post build on remarks the new governor made in his first press conference a day earlier, in which he said that a key aspect of his role would be “balancing the military and civil aspects of governance.”
Zhebrivsky said martial law would not be necessary in the Donetsk Oblast, and that a partial blockade would be more feasible than the full economic blockade – including of food and humanitarian aid – suggested by some politicians in Kyiv. The option of a “smart,” partial blockade, remained on the table, he said.
“I am waiting for the details on this legislation from Kyiv, but it is likely that businesses registered in Ukraine will be stopped from trading with the occupied territories,” Zhebrivsky said. “Actually, the blockade is not in itself vital to our overall aims. It is tactical and part of a general strategy for victory.”
Responding to criticism that any economic blockade could lead to hardship for vulnerable citizens, Zhebrivsky said that the Ukrainian government would coordinate humanitarian aid in the region.
As governor, he said, he would be “focused on internally displaced persons and the most vulnerable members of society.” He also spoke out against what he called the “monopolization of humanitarian aid” in the region.
“Any monopoly style of behavior in humanitarian affairs in this region is not acceptable,” Zhebrivsky said.
While he said he did not intend to target any specific individuals in his crackdown on monopolies, he lamented the fact that many businessmen who “get big PR from the issue of humanitarian aid” did not pay a sufficient amount of taxes in the past. He also called for regional monopolies to be investigated.
“I would like oligarchs to start to pay much more in taxes,” he said. “In the case of (billionaire) Rinat Akhmetov and other oligarchs, they should be subject to new anti-monopoly and anti-trust laws because they, among others, have created vertically integrated enterprises, which prevent medium-sized businesses from developing in the Donetsk region.”
Zhebrivsky, whose previous role was investigating corruption in the General Prosecutor’s Office, which included examining the business affairs of Akhmetov, said that it was not up to him to decide if Akhmetov was corrupt but that any such judgement must be “up to the courts.” Akhmetov’s spokesperson declined to comment.
“The law must be obeyed in such affairs and this applies to everyone, including Akhmetov. He is not exempt from Ukrainian law,” said Zhebrivsky. “My economic philosophy for the region is quite simple: Business is good, oligarchs are bad.”
Zhebrivsky, who recently served as a military intelligence officer, said he would be changing his team in the state government administration office and on the local level, where there will be changes in local town’s government, which he labeled “inefficient.”
One of his first steps will be to tour the region. “My command staff must be patriotic and efficient. Both are necessary to run a good administration on behalf of the citizens. The people of Donetsk deserve good governance once and for all,” he said.
Adam Nathan is a freelance journalists. Kyiv Post staff writer Allison Quinn contributed to this report.
