The newly self-elected Ukrainian government is reorganizing all institutions of power, dissolving the special riot police, naming its cronies to key political posts. But perhaps the most indicative of the true character of the new regime is the naming of new Governors to head the major political divisions of regions of Ukraine. They include dual Israeli-Ukrainian nationals and notorious billionaire gangsters.

The non-elected or provisional Ukrainian government headed by 39-year old Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has made key regional appointments as Governors in the industrial pro-Russian eastern Ukraine.

The Prime Minister has named three billionaires, including Ukraine’s richest, to head the key political regional or advisory posts.

Ihor Kolomoisky, a metals, banking and media baron worth between $3 and $6 billion, will be governor of his native region Dnipropetrovsk. He built his billions as a crony of convicted fraudster, ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko. He is an Ukrainian-Israeli business oligarch of Jewish descent with a dual Ukrainian-Israeli citizenship although dual citizenship is not recognized by Ukraine. Until now he has controlled his business empire from Switzerland. He is the leading partner of the Privat Group.

Serhiy Taruta, the country’s 16th-richest man, was put in charge of the strategic coal mining region of Donetsk. Serhiy Taruta is a Ukrainian businessman, chairman of Industrial Union of Donbas, and President of FC Metalurh Donetsk. According to Forbes magazine, he ranks among the 500 richest people in the world, with his estimated wealth being around 2 billion US dollars.

Most eyebrow-raising is the role of Ukraine’s richest man, billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, former money backer of Yanukovych. Akhmetov, whose SCM Group controls nearly half of the country’s coal, steel, ore and thermoelectricity sectors is listed as the 47th richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of US 15.4 billion. He allegedly won his billions through ties to organized crime in the 1990’s. According to Wikipedia, Akhmetov was a former ‘enforcer’ and ‘leader’ of Akhat Bragin’s ‘Tatar’ clan or mafia, responsible for the use of “mafia methods to push aside the ‘red directors’ of the Industrial Union of the Donbass.”

The new “interim” Cabinet of Arseniy Yatsenyuk fits into a similar pattern of oligarchs, gangsters and corruption. It includes Andriy V. Parubiy as new Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine. Parubiy led the anti-government riots. His mooted deputy at National Security is neo-nazi Right Sector (Pravyi Sektor) leader, Dmytro Yarosh. Pravyi Sektor is estimated to number 5,000 and were involved in the most extreme violence at Maidan Square and allegedly did the sniper killings of police and demonstrators that led to the coup on February 22. Among the members of the Pravi Sektor is the hard-core Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO), reported tied to NATO and used for their “dirty wars” in Chechnya, Georgia and elsewhere since 1991. Haaretz, Israel’s oldest newspaper, reports that Right Sector distributed translations of Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Maidan Square.

In 1991 on Ukrainian independence from Russia, new National Security and Defense Council head Parubiy founded the neo-Nazi Social-National Party of Ukraine together with Oleh Tyahnybok, the leader of Svoboda, who is now a People’s Deputy in the new Ukrainian parlament. Yarosh also heads the neo-nazi Stepan Bandera Tryzub organization since 2005. On their website, Yarosh issued an appeal to Dokka Umarov, the Chechen terrorist guerrilla leader associated with Al-Qaeda, for support of Ukraine. Svoboda is an extreme far-right party, basically fascist and anti-semitic. Its previous name, the Social-National Party of Ukraine says much. Svoboda Party has six major cabinet ministries in the government of Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Tyahinybok, its head, has given speeches in the past deriding “kikes” and in 2005 wrote a letter to the president calling for an investigation into “organised Jewry and criminality in Ukraine”.

Among the key posts, the Svoboda Party now controls the General Prosecutor’s Office. Deputy Prime Minister, Oleksandr Sych, is from Svoboda and will have key economic responsibilities. As well Svoboda controls the Ecology Ministry and the important Agriculture Ministry. Ukraine’s corn harvest is in danger because of the chaos. The country is the third largest corn exporter in the world. The Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, was accused of illegal privatization of land and abuse of power and was under criminal investigation by the previous government, which forced him to flee to Italy. Rounding out a new circle of corruption, Yuriy Prodan is Energy Minister, a post that raised many eyebrows in Ukraine because he is tied to Privat Group of controversial billionaire Igor Kolomoisky. As well, Oleksandr Shlapak, new Finance Minister a former deputy head of Kolomoisky’s PrivatBank, is also a representative of the Kolomoisky group.

The interim government, worried about Russian efforts to destabilize or seize regions in eastern Ukraine after effectively taking control of the Crimean peninsula in the south, is recruiting the country’s wealthy businessmen, known as the oligarchs, to serve as governors of the eastern provinces.

The strategy, which Ukrainian news media are attributing to Yulia V. Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and party leader, is recognition that the oligarchs represent the country’s industrial and business elite, and exercise great influence over thousands of workers in the east, which is largely ethnically Russian.

The ultra-wealthy industrialists wield such power in Ukraine that they form what amounts to a shadow government, with empires of steel and coal, telecoms and media, and armies of workers. Persuading some to serve as governors in the east was a small victory for the new government in Kiev. What had been the country’s largest political party, the Party of Regions, led by former President Viktor F. Yanukovych, had its base in the east, but now few representatives are in the government in Kiev.

Mr. Kolomoysky, a steel, airline and media tycoon, accepted the position of governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, an area on the fracture line between east and west in Ukraine. Ukrainian news media reported that Vadim Novinsky, the owner of Smart Holding Company, who Forbes magazine estimated last year had a net worth of $1.9 billion, is under consideration as Kiev’s representative to Crimea, though his duties would be unclear, since the peninsula is already solidly under Russian control.

Охватившая майдан революция вывела на руководящие посты в государстве людей, репутация у которых не просто сомнительная — подмоченная. Блок националистов и неофашистов, замешанных в коррупционных скандалах, уголовных делах, пьянстве, киднепинге, подставах и лицемерии, не гнушаются использовать деньги любого происхождения в своих интересах.

Александр Турчинов живет в новом жилом комплексе клубного типа в Соломенском районе, где на каждом этаже находится по одной квартире. Квадратный метр жилья тут стоит $2600, вокруг — прогулочные зоны, VIP-спортзал, лифты с деревянной отделкой и зеркалами.

Olexander Turchynov — the interim president of Ukraine

Olexander Turchynov following the dismissal of former leader Viktor Yanukovych, is a member of one of the strife-torn nation’s tiniest minority groups: He is a Baptist. Not only that, but Turchynov is reportedly a pastor — in a country overwhelmingly dominated by Ukrainian Orthodox members and Eastern Rite Catholics. The Religion News Service (RNS) suggested that Turchynov’s Baptist faith could potentially serve as a bridge between the gulf that separates the nation’s Ukrainian majority and Russian minority.

The deputy leader of Fatherland, Olexander Turchynov maintains very close ties with Yulia Tymoshenko, the controversial former prime minister who was jailed under the old regime. A 50-year-old from Dnipropetrovsk, many see his appointment as a move paving the way back to the political top spot for the recently released one-time gas-sector oligarch, Tymoshenko.

Turchynov had a prominent role in the Euromaidan protests and was placed under investigation by the security services of the former president Viktor Yanukovych for his involvement in organising the protesters’ «self-defence units». However, despite this, Turchynov was not popular with the crowd on Independence Square, known as the maidan. He attracted criticism from demonstrators when he told them that they had achieved their goals and should «go home» following Yanukovych’s departure.

Turchynov has a long political career and has previously held positions including head of Ukraine’s domestic security service [SBU], acting prime minister and deputy prime minister. WikiLeaks documents suggest that during his role as security service chief in 2005 he destroyed documents that allegedly implicated Tymoshenko as having links to organised crime — allegations she has always denied.

Arseniy Yatseniuk — Prime Minister

The appointment of Arseniy Yatseniuk as prime minister was not a surprise. He was offered the job by overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych, but turned it down. The 39-year-old career politician and former businessman has held a number of top posts before: head of the National Bank of Ukraine, foreign minister and Verkhovna Rada speaker.

Yatseniuk is notoriously difficult to get along with. His leadership of the Batkivshchyna Party in recent years, while Tymoshenko was in prison, has earned him much criticism and has alienated many party members.

Oleksandr Sych — Vice Prime Minister

Oleksandr Sych, 49, was appointed deputy prime minister. This Svoboda Party member from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast had a swift rise since his party made it to parliament. He has made some highly controversial moves in parliament since his election.

One of his legal initiatives was an attempt to ban all abortions, even for pregnancies that occurred during rape, an idea that caused a massive outcry among human rights groups. He also famously recommended women to “lead the kind of lifestyle to avoid the risk of rape, including one from drinking alcohol and being in controversial company.”

Vitaliy Yarema — First Vice Prime Minister

Born in 1963 Vitaliy Yarema is a highly respected former general and Kyiv city police chief. A member of anti-corruption committee in parliament, he will be responsible for coordinating law enforcers and restoring peace in the nation, a task that Yatseniuk said was number one for the government.

Arsen Avakov — Minister of Internal Affairs

Arsen Avakov, 50, was confirmed as Interior Minister. A former head of the Kharkiv regional council and former head of Yushchenko’s presidential campaign in Kharkiv, he was accused of illegal privatization of land and abuse of power and was under criminal investigation by the previous government, which forced him to flee to Italy. His fellow party members said the case was politically motivated. Avakov has also founded and run a big business and a bank. He is one of the most authoritative members of Batkivshchyna at the moment, who emerged during the revolution.

Oleksandr Shlapak — Minister of Finance

The Finance Ministry was taken over by Russian-born, Lviv-educated Oleksandr Shlapak. A former deputy head of PrivatBank, he is also a representative of the Kolomoisky group in the new Cabinet. In his previous government incarnations, he has served as President Leonid Kuchma’s economy minister and deputy head of the President Yushchenko’s secretariat, among other. Shlapak was one of the witnesses for prosecution during the Tymoshenko trial, which sent her to jail for seven years.

Pavlo Petrenko — Minister of Justice

Pavlo Petrenko, the 34-year-old new justice minister, is a Yatseniuk loyalist who used to head the legal department in his Front Zmin party, which merged with Batkivshchyna in 2012. He has worked in the state Oschadbank, and worked as deputy of Kyiv regional council and Verkhovna Rada.

One of the most controversial appointees took over the energy ministry, which supervises the sector where multi-billion fortunes have been made in Ukraine since independence, through highly corrupt schemes and at the expense of the people.

Pavlo Sheremeta — Minister of Economy

The new Economy Minister is 42-year-old Pavlo Sheremeta, the Lviv-born and western-educated founder of Kyiv-Mohyla Business School who has recently headed the Kyiv School of Economics. As a part of a Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, he advised the government of Malaysia in 2008-2011 on economic development.

Serhiy Kvit — Minister of Education and Sciense

New Education Minister Serhiy Kvit, 48, has worked as President of Kyiv-Mohyla University since 2007. The school is considered one of the best in Ukraine, but has not developed much in 2007. Kvit has been a member of right-wing organizations in Ukraine, and an ardent enemy of previous Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk.

He supported EuroMaidan from the early days and led his schools’ students during the protests. Despite revolutionary zeal, he was not known for leading any major changed in his school, and was not the student community’s first choice for minister.

Andriy Deshchytsia — Minister of Foreign Affairs

Andriy Deshchytsia is a 50-year-old career diplomat, who most lately served as Ukraine’s representative to OSCE. He was the author of the diplomats’ statement in support of EuroMaidan in early February.

Yuriy Prodan — Minister of Energy and Coal Industry

Russian-born Yuriy Prodan, 55, had already been in this job under President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in 2007-2010. He had previously worked in Kyivenergo, the capital’s energy monopoly supplier, and played a central role in creation of the National Energy Market. Despite its name, it has become a poorly controlled state monopoly for sale of electricity. Prodan has been described by the Ukrainian media as a person close to Privat Group of controversial billionaire Igor Kolomoisky.

Yevhen Nyshchuk — Minister of Culture

The Culture Ministry will now be headed by 41-year-old Yevhen Nyshchuk, who has been dubbed as “the voice of Maidan” for his heavy presence on stage during the three months of protests. A former actor, he has no culture management experience and his candidacy was vehemently opposed by the arts community, who released a statement against his appointment, which looks like a reward for revolutionary activities.

In his inaugural speech on Maidan on Feb. 26, he said his ministry will no longer service the president and the prime minister at wreath-laying ceremonies, and that national artifacts stolen previously will be returned to the state.

Dmytro Bulatov — Ministry of Youth and Sports

Dmytro Bulatov, 35, is one of the leaders of AutoMaidan protest groups, who was kidnapped and tortured in January. Educated in Kyiv Polytechnic University, he has run a number of small businesses, including an car service, a restaurant and a consulting company. His appointment is frowned upon as it’s considered one of the “rewards” to Maidan activists.

Lyudmyla Denysova — Minister of Social Policy

New Minister for Social Issues Lyudmyla Denysova has been in governments before, and is no stranger to controversies. She served in the same job under Prime Minister Tymoshenko in 2007-2010, and has been a parliament deputy of three convocations. Chesno, a pro-transparency non-government campaign, said in 2012 that there is a “high probability” that Denysova was involved in nepotism and abused power. In particular, the State Security Service discovered Hr 60 million worth of embezzlement in her ministry, but no criminal case was ever started.

Ihor Tenyukh — Minister of Defense

Admiral Ihor Tenyukh, 55, was appointed the new acting defense minister. He had previously led Ukraine’s fleet in 2006-2010, but quit the job in March 2010, soon after the election of Viktor Yanukovych as president, citing moral reasons. On Jan. 19, at the height of EuroMaidan protests, he called on the army to not take part in clashes.

Oleh Musiy — Minister of Health

The new Health Minister is Dr. Oleh Musiy, the 48-year-old coordinator of medical services on EuroMaidan, and a highly praised candidate. Educated in Kyiv, he also received medical training in Poland, USA, Finland, Austria and Germany, and has been a member of various civic activist groups, including the public supervisory council of the Health Ministry.
When he was introduced by Yatseniuk to the Rada before the parliament vote, Dr. Musiy received a standing ovation.

Maksym Burbak — Minister of Infrastucture of Ukraine

At 38, new minister for infrastructure Maksym Burbak is almost the same age as as the prime minister, and both of them are natives of Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. He headed Yatseniuk’s Front of Change party in the region and had been his advisor in Crimea, when he was economy minister of the autonomy. Burbak has also run a number of businesses, most recently the company called Bukovyna Avto Aliance, a car trader.