Ukrainian oligarchs are turning away from the government, – Bloomberg

In the struggle for the future of Ukraine, oligarchs are turning away from the government.

This was written by the Bloomberg.

"Yanukovych, who ignored the opinion of hundreds of thousands of voters after the failure to sign the agreement on free trade with the EU in Russia’s favor, now lost the support of the richest people in the state," – the publication said.

As noted by Bloomberg, the newspaper owned by Ukrainian billionaire Viktor Pinchuk gave reporters a temporary office for covering protesters’ fight for the overthrow of the President Viktor Yanukovych.

In turn, the newspaper writes, the former economy minister and the owner of the largest confectionery corporation in Ukraine Petro Poroshenko sided with the demonstrators on Maidan Nezalezhnosti.

Also they mention the "Inter" channel owned by the oligarch Firtash which "showed videos that refute claims by the government that the protesters provoked the conflict in which hundreds of people were injured."

"After the support of Yanukovych and increasing their wealth, the oligarchs are now facing downgrade and loss of lucrative Western markets" – the Bloomberg article states.

"The risk for tycoons is that the violent crackdown may signal that Ukraine is implementing a model of neighboring Belarus and its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko" – analyst Tim Ash said.

The newspaper also reported that on December 2, "System Capital Management" said that the company was founded on "basic European values" such as the right to private property, freedom of peaceful assembly and unacceptability of "any violence". However, the owner "refused the request for an interview."

Firtash and Victor Pinchuk did not comment on the situation too. The billionaire and owner of DCH Oleksandr Yaroslavsky said via email that he supports close ties of Ukraine with the EU, U.S. and Russia.

Source – Ukrainska Pravda