Akhmetov will calm Donbass?

On May 19, the owner of the largest Ukrainian industrial holding SKM made a statement on the Ukraine television channel "Ukraine"

The emergency statement of Rinat Akhmetov appeared right in the middle of the movie that the audience watched. The richest Ukrainian (Forbes estimates his fortune at $ 15 billion) called on the workers of their enterprises to reach a “preventive strike against separatism” and emphasized that categorically against the so -called “Donetsk People’s Republic”

Rinat Akhmetov/ Photo: Irina Alexandrova, RIA-News

Akhmetov’s business interests are metallurgy and fuel and energy sector. His group of SKM controls more than a hundred industrial enterprises in the Donetsk region. In Donetsk himself, Akhmetov uses the glory of a strong business executive who “put in order” Donbass and gives it to the inhabitants of workplaces. Therefore, the statement of a businessman, who has long kept neutrality, can seriously speed up Kiev for several weeks of the beating “anti -terrorist operation”.

“This rally will begin tomorrow at noon with a beep, which will sound at all enterprises of Donbass. In support of the world! Against bloodshed! ”, Akhmetov said. And he called on all motorists to give a beep every noon every day until the world was restored in the Donbass. The businessman also noted that about 50 thousand people were going to go to the Mir rally in Mariupol, but the organizers abandoned their plans, because they received threats to the shooting from the separatists.

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“This rally will begin tomorrow at noon with a beep, which will sound at all enterprises of Donbass. In support of the world! Against bloodshed! ”, Akhmetov said. And he called on all motorists to give a beep every noon every day until the world was restored in the Donbass

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The owner of the SKM is counting on the national support of his action, because "people are tired of living in fear, tired of living in terror, tired of going out and falling under bullets." “In cities, banditry and looting. They go to Donbass with machine guns and grenade launchers. Is this a peaceful life? Is this a strong economy? Is this a worthy salary? No! And that is why people wanted to go to the march of peace, ”Akhmetov emphasized in his video message.

Already today, the protesters responded to the call of the most authoritative person of the Donetsk region. In Donetsk, several thousand people took to the streets. In support of the march around the city for a short time, an air alarm was turned on.

There were similar protests before. For example, last Friday, workers of steel and coal industry entered the streets of Mariupol in protective suits and began to clear the barricades created by the separatists. The order in the second largest city in Donbass is slowly restored, eyewitnesses say. In particular, workers are already participating in the city patrols together with the police.

Dolls and puppeteers

Akhmetov’s relationship with separatists and leaders of the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics is difficult to regard somehow definitely. On the one hand, the businessman always called for the world and the United Ukraine, on the other hand, he constantly reminded the authorities in Kyiv of the need to hear the Voice of Donbass. In addition, it is well known in Ukraine that deputies from the Party of Regions controlled by Akhmetov at the very beginning of protests actively supported the separatists, including the “People’s Governor” of Donbass Pavel Gubarev. Gubarev himself, in an interview with the Russian media, claimed that “Akhmetov’s money” received at least two -thirds of the DPR activists.

But then something went wrong. The DPR leaders who proclaimed the independence of the region began to openly “run” on an authoritative businessman in the region, demanding from him “or pay taxes” to the new authorities, or “get out of the Donbass”. In response, Akhmetov announced the creation of the so -called “folk squads” created on the model of volunteer battalions formed by the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region Igor Kolomoisky. Like the Kolomoisky Dnipro battalion, Akhmetov’s armed detachments will have to help Kyiv deal with the separatists.

Experts in Kyiv say that Akhmetov decided to put an end to separatism in the region after it became clear that the armed militias were really demanding the independence of Donbass, while Akhmetov set a different goal for them - to achieve consent to the country's federalization. The plans of the “dolls” and “puppeteers” dispersed.

The situation reached the boiling point yesterday, May 19, when the terrorists captured the Donetsk railway. In fact, they managed to paralyze the transportation of goods produced by SKM enterprises. At the butt stations, the movement of trucks was stopped. This is probably what the “owner of the Donbass” was angry.

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Experts in Kyiv say that Akhmetov decided to put an end to separatism in the region after it became clear that the armed militias really demand the independence of Donbass, while Akhmetov set a different goal for them - to achieve consent to the federalization of the country

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“Akhmetov’s deep motivation - to maintain your business, assets and territory in the Donbass. The supermotional night statement once again proves: Akhmetov is not going to lose his power in eastern Ukraine, ”says political scientist Vadim Karasev. - The oligarch entered the political advance and actually takes everything into his own hands, because he was tired both from the weakness of the Kyiv authorities, and from the arrogance of self -proclaimed “leaders of the Donetsk People’s Republic”.

The non -factory deputy of the BP Inna The Theological has a different opinion. “Akhmetov’s video message is worth despair. He is trying to rely on his employees, because he can no longer rely on the inhabitants of the region. If he does not hold this last barricade, in the fall he will simply be swept away, ”the politician says.

And from the deputy from the Party of Regions Anna German a different opinion. She believes that Akhmetov intervened due to the fact that the situation became critical. “A few more days, and the chance to resolve the situation could be lost. It seems to me that now we are in time, ”she emphasizes.

Caught for the elections

Apparently, the separatists have many problems. Recently, “The Minister of Defense of the DPR Igor Girkin recorded a video message in which he complained about the passive residents of the region: they, they say, had recently asked for weapons, and when the separatists found it, it turned out that there was no one to provide him with. In Kyiv, this statement was clearly regarded: the ranks of the militants - the “terrorists” were careful, they could not wait for reinforcements from among the civilians, and therefore it will be possible to deal with them soon.

But they are not going to give up. In the area of ​​Gorlovka, Donetsk region, a group of unknown armed persons attacked the industrial department of the Transammiaca State Pedagogical University. Several cars were stolen from the enterprise. In Lugansk, meanwhile, the leadership of the self -proclaimed “Lugansk People's Republic” decided to close the territorial election commissions in the elections of the President of Ukraine in the region.

A video of separatists appeared on the Internet, which reports the seizure of the precinct election commission in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk. And in Makeevka, the militants have already abducted the director of the Logistic Center of several food companies Sergei Ivanov for going to bring to the “march of peace” employees of his enterprises.

On the sidelines of the Verkhovna Rada, The New Times said that Kyiv hopes to have time to finish the ATO in the Donbass during this week so that the presidential elections scheduled for Sunday can be held there without problems. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has already stated that he “believed” Akhmetov. “We’ll clarify the disagreements, and put it off the machine guns,” he promised joyfully.

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On the sidelines of the Verkhovna Rada, The New Times said that Kyiv hopes to have time to finish the ATO in the Donbass during this week, so that the presidential election outlined on Sunday can be held there without problems

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The Central Election Commission of Ukraine recognizes that the situation on the eve of the election is critical: more than half of the district election commission in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions are captured or are under the threat of seizure. However, Kyiv still has time to rectify the situation.

The editor -in -chief of the Donbass News of Donbass, Alexei Matsuka, believes that Akhmetov really never lost control of the region, and after the official declaration of the DPR war, stabilization in the region will come in a week. “At the right moments, Rinat Leonidovich turned his head from what was happening, but held his hand on the pulse. Now he again turned to face the region, opened his eyes and began to act. It seems to me that Akhmetov stabilizes Donbass in a week, ”the journalist states.

Political scientist Mikhail Basarab summarizes: “The prospect of large -scale deployment of a separatist campaign in eastern Ukraine actually comes to naught. Obviously, the position of ordinary residents of Donbass, who did not massively support the actions of the separatists, also contributed to this. Akhmetov caught this trend and realized that further silence would subsequently result in accusations of aiding terrorists. After all, the ATO in the Donbass will eventually end and subsequently will restore the full control of Kyiv over the situation, ”the expert states.