The Kyiv post has a highly interesting article about how "Oligarchs step in to save Ukraine’s sovereignty".
Quote:
Kolomoisky, whose wealth Korrespondent magazine puts at $3.5 billion, is a leader in the Jewish community in Dnipropetrovsk, which could dampen Kremlin propaganda that the EuroMaidan Revolution is an anti-Semitic movement.
His business interests include chemical production, finance, media, metallurgy, oil extraction and sports. News media reported that Kolomoisky had been providing financial support for the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform, Vitali Klitshcko’s liberal political party that holds 42 seats in parliament. However, Klitschko denied this repott.
Not everybody accepted. Desperate times aske for desperate measures, and I think that some hope to protect their status, wealth and security.
Quote:
Political observer Vitaly Portnikov reacted by calling these “wartime appointments” accepted by responsible businesspeople “in the face of aggression.”
Since the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych as president on Feb. 22, speculation has increased over the prospect of reprivatizing assets owned by the largest businesspeople who purchased them from the state at rock-bottom prices under non-transparent auctions held by the State Property Fund.
Oleksandr Bondar, the former State Property Fund chairperson who is seen as a candidate to take this position again, publicly declared his support for reprivatizing some properties.
However, as long as oligarchs hold their seats in the government administrations, the chances of reprivatization are slim.
------------------------
According to a Russian paper important news from the eastermost oblast of the Ukraine, with the largest percentage of ethnic Russians IIRC. 2010 voted 80%+ for the fugitive, so it is not unlikely that there is truth in it. Will we see another Russian invasion?
Quote:
Luhansk Oblast Council doesn't recognize new Ukraine government
March 2, 20:20 p.m. -- The Luhansk Oblast Council doesn't recognize the legitimacy of Ukraine's new government, Kommersant.ua reports. The regional council "considers illegitimate all central executive branches of power because they were formed with violation of laws," reads the statement of the council. Also, the members support the holding of a referendum on federalization that would allow regional governments to ahve more autonomy. The memmbers called on the Verkhovna Rada "to declare Russian language a second state language in Ukraine, to take immediate measures to disarm all illegal armed groups and to cease politically motivated prosecutions of police and Berkut riot-control police units," according to the statement. The council also declares support for Oblast Council chairman Valery Holenko. -- Olena Goncharova
The Luhansk Oblast contains roughly 5% of the total population, a bit more then the Crimea.
Quote:
he population is largely Russian-speaking although ethnic Ukrainians constitute a majority (58%). Among the minorities are native Russians (39%), Belarusians (0.8%), and others (1.4%). Ukrainians constitute the majority in all raions except for Stanytsia-Luhanska Raion and Krasnodon Raion, both of which are east of Luhansk. Ethnic Russians also constitute the majority in regionally significant cities, such as Krasnodon, Sverdlovsk, Krasnyi Luch and Stakhanov.
According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census more than 68.8% of the population consider themselves Russian speakers, while Ukrainian speakers were only 30%. The Russophone population predominates in the southern portion of the region and around the city of Luhansk, while the northern region is less populated, mostly agricultural and Ukrainophone.
Its population (as of 2004) of 2,461,506 million constitutes 5.13% of the overall Ukrainian population. The Luhansk Oblast rates fifth in Ukraine by the number of its inhabitants, having an average population density of 90.28 /km˛. About 87% of the population lives in urban areas, while the remaining 13% reside in agricultural areas. According to the national census, 54% of the population are Ukrainians and 42% are Russians.