INTERVIEW-Ukrainian mogul Firtash predicts Kyiv gov’t will fall next year
VIENNA Dec 2 Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro
Firtash said the Ukrainian government is politically bankrupt
and will probably fall early next year, in his most outspoken
criticism of the pro-Western leadership in Kyiv since it came to
power almost two years ago.
Firtash this week had to shelve a plan to return to Ukraine,
after the authorities there said if he set foot in the country
they would act on a U.S. warrant for his arrest on suspicion of
bribery and money-laundering.
Speaking to Reuters in the Austrian capital, Firtash said he
had lost faith in the ability of the government to conduct
meaningful reform, and had decided Ukraine needed a movement
which would push for political change.
“The current government is politically bankrupt. The quicker
they leave power the better for the people,” Firtash, who denies
the U.S. allegations, told Reuters in an interview.
“If the government does not fail today, then it will
probably occur in the spring. It’s impossible to continue
existing and not doing anything.”
“We need to change the situation. It’s not a matter of being
behind the scenes, we need to support a movement and give the
people of Ukraine something to believe in.”
Firtash has described the U.S. allegation against him as
purely political and has challenged the warrant in the courts.
The industrialist, who owns substantial interests in
Ukraine’s gas distribution and fertiliser industries, was a
long-standing supporter of Viktor Yanukovich, the
Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President forced to flee last year by
street protests.
Until now, Firtash has been muted in his criticism of the
new pro-Western government under President Petro Poroshenko.
If he decides to challenge Poroshenko, he will be a
formidable foe because of his wealth and the influence he still
wields in Ukrainian politics.
(Reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Writing by Christian Lowe;
Editing by Lidia Kelly)