Editor’s Note: Every week Kyiv Post journalist Oleg Sukhov picks a winner and loser in Ukraine’s drive to transform itself into a rule-of-law, European-style democracy.
Reformer of the week – Laura Kovesi
Liviu Dragnea, Romania’s most powerful politician, was sent to jail on May 27 as a result of an unprecedented anti-corruption drive by Laura Kovesi, ex-head of Romania’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate, or DNA.
Dragnea was found guilty and sentenced to three and a half years in prison in June 2018 following an abuse of office case opened by the DNA. His appeal against the sentence was rejected by the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Romanian supreme court, on May 27, 2019, and he was imprisoned. In 2016, Dragnea had also been given a suspended sentence for electoral fraud.
Kovesi, a top candidate for the job of the European Union’s public prosecutor, is also an inspiration for neighboring Ukraine, which has not yet achieved similar success in fighting graft.
The Liga.net news site reported in April that members of Zelenskiy’s team had said off the record that he was interested in appointing Kovesi as Ukraine’s prosecutor general. However, Zelenskiy has not confirmed this on the record.
Kovesi, who headed the DNA from 2013 until 2018, has brought about a genuine anti-corruption revolution, inspiring the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine in 2015. The DNA has shared its experience with the NABU.
Under Kovesi’s leadership, the DNA has successfully prosecuted dozens of mayors, five members of parliament, two ex-ministers, an ex-prime minister, as well as hundreds of former judges and prosecutors.
Anti-reformer of the week – Ihor Kolomoisky
Billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky has made numerous controversial statements in recent interviews.
Kolomoisky, who returned to Ukraine from a self-imposed exile on May 16, has been acting as if he is kingmaker in charge of the Ukrainian government, giving advice to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on appointments and other issues.
Kolomoisky has been accused of backing Zelenskiy, although they deny being political allies. The two had direct business ties and Zelenskiy has appointed Kolomoisky’s lawyer, Andriy Bohdan, as the head of the Presidential Administration.
In a May 27 interview with the Financial Times, Kolomoisky urged the Ukrainian government to default on its debt to the International Monetary Fund.
Kolomoisky has also backed two discredited top officials – Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko.
Kolomoisky told Ukrainska Pravda in a May 27 interview that Avakov satisfies everyone and will most likely remain interior minister. Kolomoisky said in a May 10 interview with RBC, a Russian-owned news outlet, that Zelenskiy should keep Lutsenko as prosecutor general.
Kolomoisky also told Ukrainska Pravda in a May 23 interview he was consulting on a new political project involving several controversial politicians – Odesa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov, Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes, lawmaker Vitaly Khomutynnyk and businessman Pavlo Fuks. All of them face corruption accusations and deny them.
Meanwhile, Kolomoisky’s PrivatBank was nationalized when it was found to have an over $5.5-billion gap in its ledger, allegedly moved out by Kolomoisky and his business partner Gennadiy Bogolyubov, via fraudulent schemes. The $5.5 billion gap was filled with Ukrainian taxpayers’ money after the bank was nationalized. The Kyiv District Administrative Court ruled in April that the nationalization of PrivatBank was illegal.
Oleksandr Lazorko, an ally of Kolomoisky and ex-CEO of of state-owned oil pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta, has recently been removed from the Interior Ministry’s wanted list. The ministry charged Lazorko with embezzlement in 2015, opening several cases against him.
Kolomoisky and Lazorko deny all accusations of wrongdoing.
