Shake-up in Donetske follows attack on PM (07/28/96)

Shake-up in Donetske follows attack on PM

by Marta Kolomayets
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma dismissed Volodymyr Shcherban as head of the Donetske Regional Administration on July 18, fueling rumors of an ongoing clan war between the country's top two industrial regions, Donetske and Dnipropetrovske.

The dismissal of the influential Donetske boss came just two days after the failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who, until his appointment to this top government post, served as the Dnipropetrovske Regional Administration chairman.

Mr. Lazarenko said that the terrorist act was linked to one thing only: forcing the cancellation of his journey to the Donetske region. He added that he believes criminals opposed to his shake-up of the Ukrainian coal industry had tried to kill him. He also openly accused the Donetske regional bosses, headed by Mr. Shcherban, of using criminal methods to hinder his efforts at bringing order to the coal industry.

[Ukrainian government authorities on July 19 offered a reward of 15 billion karbovantsi (nearly $86,000 U.S.) for information on those responsible for the bomb blast that nearly killed Mr. Lazarenko. The prime minister escaped without injury, and is attending to official duties, including a state visit to Bulgaria and a working visit to the United States on July 25-26, during which he was to attend an executive meeting of the International Monetary Fund and discuss the release of the next tranche of a stand-by credit to Ukraine. He was to meet also with U.S. corporate leaders and bankers.]

It was on Mr. Lazarenko's initiative that the procurator and the Security Services minister in the Donetske region were dismissed after the bomb scare on July 16, and it was on the recommendation of the Cabinet of Ministers that Mr. Shcherban was relieved of his duties.

First Deputy Prime Minister Vasyl Durdynets, reporting on the findings of his special commission, which reviewed the situation in the Donetske region, said "the regional state administration has absolutely lost control of the situation in the region," and this has raised serious concerns.

"No attempt was made by the regional administration to prevent the miners' illegal actions" (for example, they blocked the railways and highways during their strikes), said Mr. Durdynets, who blamed Mr. Shcherban for accusing the government of inactivity, instead of helping to stop the strikes.

President Kuchma's July 18 decree dismissing Mr. Shcherban faults the Donetske regional leader for "serious shortcomings in ensuring the socio-economic development of the region."

Some government leaders consider one of these shortcomings to be Mr. Shcherban's inability, or unwillingness, to halt the coal miners' strikes that have been paralyzing the region since February, and intensifying in July.

Eastern Economist reported recently that a number of processes involving the concentration of capital in the Donetske region have exacerbated the conflict between the Donetske and Dnipropetrovske rival groups. These include the planned merger of the two giant metallurgical plants in the city of Mariupil in the Donetske region. Financial-industrial groups in Donetske are vying for power with the Dnipropetrovske clan, which, according to political observers, holds power in the government.

In a recent interview with the Donetske newspaper Zhyzn (Life), Mr. Shcherban said, "We have been made culprits for the shortcomings which have accumulated for decades, for being actively involved in the problems in the coal industry." He added that he thought the government was indeed ineffective and late in trying to deal with the miners' concerns.

However, he did underscore that he would continue to work to resolve the problems in the region and urge miners "to halt strikes and abide by government decisions," adding that he is ready to assist his successor in the regional administration.

"This is going to be assistance not to an individual but to the entire population of the region, including the people who cast 1.5 million votes for me in the elections," he said.

Mr. Shcherban, 46, who was elected a deputy from the Donetske region to the Ukrainian Parliament in 1994, will now work in the Supreme Council on a permanent basis. (Since the adoption of the new Ukrainian Constitution, any Parliament deputy who works as a government official, or holds a professional post, must choose where he wants to work.)

President Kuchma wasted no time in naming a new Donetske Regional Administration head, issuing a decree appointing Serhiy Polyakov, who had been the minister of the coal industry.

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