Four years ago, on May 20, 2014, 400 Donetsk residents gathered at Donbas Arena for the Voice of Donbas protest against the pro-Russia separatists that was organized by Rinat Akhmetov and his company, System Capital Management. Many of the protesters were dressed in the football jersey of Shakhtar Donetsk, which is owned by Mr. Akhmetov.
During the protest, a broadcast statement from May 19 was screened that called on Donetsk residents to take part in daily protests against the separatists, saying that “people are tired of living in fear and terror… Across all of Donbas there are millions ready to join in.”
Following the protest, Mr. Akhmetov issued a rare statement, which was posted on the SCM website on May 21. He thanked the numbers of protesters who did show up, despite the threat of violence and armed intimidation by the pro-Russia separatists. “Cars were smashed… In short, they acted as savages,” he said. “But I am deeply certain that you cannot feed people on guns nor can you ever build a strong economy without good jobs and salaries.” Mr. Akmetov said the people will need to “fight, fight and fight again” for its own happiness, its present and its future.
The so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” continues to deceive the people of the Donbas, he said. “They are imposters who have taken the entire Donbas hostage and are terrorizing it… But that bunch of imposters terrorizing Donbas… I believe they will be kicked out of here very soon.”
Mr. Akhmetov warned that the leaders of these so-called people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk are leading to the collapse of the Donbas, bringing poverty and hunger, not jobs and prosperity. “We, the Donbas, and the DPR have different roads to go!”
In an interview with TRK Ukraine Channel, Mr. Akhmetov outlined four scenarios for the Donbas: the first kept the status quo with centralized power in Kyiv, which he said had already run out of steam and is not right for the future; the second scenario is the DPR/LPR, which no one will recognize, and the Donbas economy based on coal, steel, energy, engineering, chemical industry and agriculture, would face heavy sanctions, halting production, resulting in unemployment and poverty; the third was for the Donbas joining Russia, which Mr. Akhmetov opposed, for the same reasons as the second scenario – crippling sanctions; and the fourth scenario, was to amend the Constitution and decentralize the government, where regional government is elected, not appointed, and the local authorities are made responsible to the people for the present and future. “I strongly believe that Donbas can be happy only in the united Ukraine,” he said.
Source: “The voice of Donbas will sound stronger,” and “A happy Donbas in a united Ukraine,” TRK Channel and System Capital Management, The Ukrainian Weekly, May 25, 2014.