Former Ukrainian foreign minister believes new oligarch law will alienate Kiev from EU and NATO

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – September 24, 2021) A law limiting the power of the oligarchs passed by the Ukrainian parliament is insufficient and will alienate Kiev from the European Union and NATO, the former head of the Ukrainian foreign ministry, Pavlo Klimkin said Thursday.

“The passage of the ‘anti-oligarchic’ law takes us away from the EU and NATO, and quite significantly. I am all for limiting the influence of the oligarchs. We are not the first to fight them. The Americans passed the Sherman Act at the end of the 19th century. And it aimed to eliminate the monopolies of the barons. Such a decision, of course, could not have been made without the American judicial system, “wrote Klimkin on his Facebook page.

However, according to Klimkin, the law passed Thursday does not introduce anything from the civilized arsenal of limiting the influence of the oligarchs: neither improving the justice system, nor fighting corruption, nor effective work of regulatory bodies.

In his opinion, the law does not work for Ukraine’s foreign policy and European aspirations.

“It can work for domestic (politics): when it comes to controlling the mass media or fixing games with the oligarchs. And this setback will soon become fairly obvious: both at home and for our Western partners. That is to say, the meaning of this law is to handcuff an important part of domestic politics, putting, so to speak, the handbrake. And it will also move us away from the EU and NATO, which want to see systemic changes in Ukraine, ”the ex-minister said.

Earlier Thursday, Ukraine’s parliament passed a bill on oligarchs, proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, under which a special register would be created. Those defined as oligarchs would be prohibited from funding political parties or engaging in the privatization of public property, and senior officials would have to declare any agreements with those designated as such.