How To Watch (And Understand) Ukraine’s Presidential Election

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV – March 29, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/how-to-watch-(and-understand)-ukraine-presidential-election/29849578.html) The choice is stark. Stay the slow and not-quite-steady course with a deeply unpopular but seasoned leader who knows the ropes and has taken Ukraine westward despite foot-dragging on reforms and a failure […]

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Ukraine’s largest lender PrivatBank investigated for diverting $1.8bn of IMF funds

International Monetary Fund Logo Over Ukraine Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – August 24, 2015) PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest lender partly owned by controversial oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, is under criminal investigation by the authorities for fraudulently diverting around what was then about $1.8bn, the bank has confirmed. “We are aware of the existence of criminal proceedings. PrivatBank fully cooperates with the investigators […]

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NEWSWATCH Chatham House: Ukraine’s Oligarch Gambit

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

Writing for Chatham House in the aftermath of Igor Kolomoisky’s dismissal as regional governor, Orysia Lutsevych considers the impact of Ukrainian oligarchs and efforts to address their role. The grip the oligarchs have on Ukraine’s economy could further undermine the country’s integrity. Attacking their vested interests is dangerous but preserving the current state of affairs is even riskier.   According to […]

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NEWSLINK Newsweek: Mystery of Ukraine’s Richest Man and a Series of Unlikely Suicides

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

Feuding oligarchs are battling to retain or increase their influence in the new order, and their lieutenants are turning up dead. Melnychuk was a prosecutor in the southern port town of Odessa, governed by Kolomoisky ally Ihor Palytsia. He is just one of at least eight officials appointed by the Yanukovych regime, ousted by pro-democracy protesters in February last year, […]

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Interfax: Russian investigator says Ukrainian tycoon [Ihor Kolomoyskyy] “up to his elbows in blood”

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Interfax – July 2, 2014) The Basmannyy court of Moscow on 2 July issued a warrant for the arrest of a Ukrainian billionaire and Dnipropetrovsk Region governor, Ihor Kolomoyskyy, at the request of the Investigations Committee of Russia, Interfax news agency reported the same day. Kolomoyskyy, who resides in Ukraine, is accused of committing four serious crimes. The spokesman of […]

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