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 – Oleksandr Danylyuk
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept. 30 accepted the resignation of Oleksandr Danylyuk, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Danylyuk, who was seen as one of the top reformers in Zelensky’s administration, said on Oct. 1 that his opposition to the potential cancellation of PrivatBank’s nationalization was one of the reasons for his dismissal.
On Sept. 20, Danylyuk took part in “Freedom of Speech,” a political talk show on Ukrainian television, where he criticized oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky’s attempts to get back PrivatBank, which the tycoon owned before it was nationalized in 2016, or receive a compensation for it.
Kolomoisky is a former business associate of Zelensky. The president used to produce shows for the oligarch’s TV channel.
Kolomoisky’s ties to Zelensky have led many to question whether the oligarch will receive his coveted compensation now that Zelensky is president. Danylyuk, while being an associate of Zelensky since his presidential campaign, has been one of the top officials at the forefront of the PrivatBank nationalization process in 2016.
The state-owned PrivatBank is now suing its former owner for fraud. After the bank was nationalized, a $5.5 billion hole was discovered in its books, allegedly due to fraudulent insider lending.
Anti-reformer of the week – Oksana Blazhyvska
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept. 30 appointed to the High Council of Justice a daughter of a top prosecutor who served ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. This decision, as well as Zelensky’s refusal to replace the whole discredited High Council of Justice, cast doubt on the future of Ukraine’s judicial reform.
Zelensky’s appointment of Oksana Blazhyvska to the judiciary’s top governing body has triggered indignation among anti-corruption activists. She is a daughter of Yevhen Blazhyvsky, an ex-deputy of Yanukovych’s infamous Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka.
Moreover, Blazhyvska has violated professional ethics and integrity standards, and her assets do not match her income, according to the AutoMaidan anti-corruption watchdog, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the DEJURE legal think tank and Transparency International Ukraine.
Blazhyvska and the Presidential Office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Oksana Blazhyvska became a judge of the Kyiv Commercial Court in 2010, getting a career boost immediately after her father became a deputy of Pshonka. Her sister, Natalia Blazhyvska, also got a career boost after that and is currently a justice of the Supreme Court.
Two other candidates for the High Council of Justice have been identified by several anti-corruption watchdogs as not meeting integrity standards. They did not respond to requests for comment.
Anzhelika Krusyan, a former prosecutor, has links to Serhiy Kivalov, a former ally of Yanukovych. She is a top executive at Kivalov’s Odesa Legal Academy, and her assets do not match her income, according to anti-corruption watchdogs.
Another candidate, Judge Mykhailo Kobal, has issued questionable rulings, including those in favor of Yanukovych’s Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk, the watchdogs said. The High Council of Justice has found that he violated procedural norms.
