{"id":115874,"date":"2020-05-01T19:41:53","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T16:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=115874"},"modified":"2020-05-01T19:42:12","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T16:42:12","slug":"akhmetov-and-zelenskyi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/akhmetov-and-zelenskyi","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBest friend of all Presidents\u201d Akhmetov and Zelenskyi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s becoming clear that Kolomoyskyi is losing his grip on Zelenskyi, instead the \u201cbest friend of all Ukrainian presidents\u201d \u2013 Ukraine\u2019s richest oligarch, Rinat Akhmetov is drawing nearer to him. A year after Zelenskyi was elected President, Ukrainian media \u201cUkrainska Pravda\u201d puts a spotlight on the changing behind-the-scenes politics. UCMC picks the highlights, read on. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volodymyr Zelenskyi, surrounded by various expert groups, presented himself to the wide audience in the role of a \u201cmediator\u201d. In the context of President\u2019s relations with the oligarchs, this role model reminds of Leonid Kuchma\u2019s times. \u201cAt the table with the oligarchs Zelenskyi did not see himself as a player, like Poroshenko did, but rather as a croupier. Same as Leonid Danylovych (Kuchma) once did, he takes no part in the game but is watching to make sure that everyone plays by the rules and no one pulls marked aces out of their sleeves,\u201d \u201cUkrainska Pravda\u201d proceeds.        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyi\u2019s attempt to balance between the two biggest moguls of the country \u2013 Kolomoyskyi and Akhmetov, is the key trend of the President\u2019s policies ahead of his first anniversary in office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akhmetov in 2019: losing everything.\u00a0<\/strong>Last year it seemed like Rinat Ahmetov had lost everything and his political influence had come to an end. At the presidential elections neither his formal candidate Oleksandr Vilkul, nor his informal favorites Petro Poroshenko and Oleh Lyashko were able to win over Zelenskyi. At the parliamentary elections his party \u201cOpposition Bloc\u201d and Lyashko\u2019s party\u00a0failed to overcome<\/a>\u00a0the five per cent threshold. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, in the Parliament, the richest Ukrainian is supported by just a few independent MPs of \u201cOpposition Bloc\u201d elected in single-mandate districts, led by Akhmetov\u2019s business partner Vadym Novynskyi. There are several more MPs from \u201cBatkivshyna\u201d (Fatherland) faction, including Serhiy Taruta and Mykhailo Volynets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, at the start of the new political season Akmetov did not have the power that would correspond to the scale of his interests. However it did not last long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you are the President of Ukraine, Akhmetov needs you\u201d. <\/strong>\u201cIf you are the President of Ukraine, Akhmetov needs you, and if you are the President of Ukraine, you need Akhmetov,\u201d \u201cUkrainska Pravda\u201d quotes an aphorism by its unnamed source, a veteran of Ukrainian politics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In quite a short space of time, Rinat Akhmetov, as many times before, became indispensable to the Office of the President. Back in June 2019, when making an appearance on 1+1 TV channel, Zelenskyi said that he would be convincing the oligarchs to help the country. In his interview to \u201cUkrainska Pravda\u201d last summer the President said that he had a meeting with Akhmetov. Back then the oligarch\u2019s charity foundation\u00a0bought 200 ambulance cars<\/a>\u00a0that were sent in the regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Akhmetov\u2019s cautiousness and a proven record of keeping his promises to the authorities that earned him credits with the Office of the President. As soon as there is a need, he is already there, landing a hand. You need a plane to fly to Wuhan? Take\u00a0\u201cShaktar\u2019s\u201d plane<\/a>. You need assistance in fighting coronavirus? Here\u2019s\u00a0UAH 300 million<\/a>\u00a0(approx. USD 11,1 million). \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akhmetov\u2019s media resources. <\/strong>Akhmetov\u2019s media resources \u2013 \u201cUkraina\u201d TV channel and \u201cUkraina 24\u201d news channel are worthy of a special mention. They cover the official agenda in a detailed and quite balanced manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearance of top officials from the Office of the President, Cabinet of Ministers and the Parliament on \u201cUkraina\u201d channel is being agreed by the deputy head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko, responsible for media relations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telling is the fact that Volodymyr Zelenskyi is no more a guest of TV shows on 1+1 channel owned by Kolomoyskyi, where he presented himself and his team during the election campaign. Zelenskyi now prefers Savik Shuster\u2019s \u201cSvoboda Slova\u201d (Freedom of Speech) TV show on \u201cUkraina\u201d channel, where he\u2019s made feel comfortable.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a media channel is what Zelenskyi needs in the context of a possible war with Kolomoyskyi. The war has all chances to become systematic after the banking law is passed. Instead, Akhmetov is not just getting the approval of the President and his team, but also some kind of influence that is not yet fully obvious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government appointments from within Akhmetov\u2019s orbit. <\/strong>After Honcharuk\u2019s government resigned, Denys Shmyhal was appointed the new Prime Minister, he is a former top manager at Akhmetov\u2019s DTEK company. Nevertheless, Zelenskyi does not consider him to be \u201cAkhmetov\u2019s person\u201d. No one knows if this link from the past will matter in future.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Minister of Energy Olha Buslavets was among the experts who once drafted the government order that granted a discount on gas purchase from \u201cNaftogaz\u201d to Akhmetov\u2019s \u201cDTEK Skhidenergo\u201d. Besides, the head of the parliamentary energy committee Andriy Herus reminded that the directorate of the Ministry earlier headed by Buslavets, endorsed the notorious \u201cRotterdam+\u201d formula during the presidency of Poroshenko.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appointment may actually be Zelenskyi\u2019s first move in the role of the oligarch\u2019s croupier. He appointed \u201cAkhmetov\u2019s person\u201d despite Kolomoyskyi\u2019s vivid defiance. Meanwhile the temporary appointment is a chance to bargain away the Minister\u2019s seat during the behind-the-scenes talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To remind, the order on importing electrical energy from Russia that would create an alternative to Akhmetov\u2019s monopoly in the heat and electrical energy sector, was revoked.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volodymyr Zelenskyi is gradually starting to balance the oligarchs, making ad-hoc alliances. In short, the President is trying to take up the role of an arbiter, balancing and directing power, an approach similar to Kuchma\u2019s multi-vector policy.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s becoming clear that Kolomoyskyi is losing his grip on Zelenskyi, instead the \u201cbest friend of all Ukrainian presidents\u201d \u2013 Ukraine\u2019s richest oligarch, Rinat Akhmetov is drawing nearer to him. A year after Zelenskyi was elected President, Ukrainian media \u201cUkrainska Pravda\u201d puts a spotlight on the changing behind-the-scenes politics. UCMC picks the highlights, read on.  […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":115875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[699],"tags":[],"section":[743],"form":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cBest friend of all Presidents\u201d Akhmetov and Zelenskyi | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s becoming clear that Kolomoyskyi is losing his grip on Zelenskyi, instead the \u201cbest friend of all Ukrainian presidents\u201d \u2013 Ukraine\u2019s richest oligarch, | Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/akhmetov-and-zelenskyi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cBest friend of all 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