Ukraine: Avakov tosses water in Saakashvili's face

Meanwhile, President Petro Poroshenko’s office has refused to publish a video recording of the incident public despite calls from both parties to do so.

The water tussle erupted during a discussion of the Odesa Portside Plant, a major state-owned chemical producer whose sale the government has postponed numerous times. It recently has been at the center of numerous corruption allegations.

After Avakov asked Saakashvili about whether he had any links to Russian businessman Dmitri Mazepin, who owns the Uralchem fertilizer company, the pair engaged in a heated exchange of insults and curse words. Avakov’s comment was apparently a veiled accusation of corruption against Saakashvili, who has repeatedly accused both Avakov and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk of profiting from graft schemes.

Both – Avakov and Saakashvili – later called on the presidential administration to publish the video footage of the National Reforms Council’s meeting.

However, Dmytro Shymkiv who is the deputy head of the presidential office, said in a TV interview that the video won’t be publicly released, because "it’s a personal matter of these two politicians.”

Shymkiv, who previously headed Microsoft in Ukraine, also said it’s up to the president to decide on whether to suspend Avakov, Saakashvili and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk from the National Reforms Council.

The incident provided a dramatic display not only of lingering suspicions of corruption at the highest levels, but also a deepening rift between Saakashvili on the one hand and Avakov and Yatsenyuk on the other.

While Saakashvili denied Avakov’s allegations after the spat on Dec. 14, Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko on Dec. 15 posted video footage purporting to show Saakashvili and Mazepin meeting in Odesa.

The footage, originally uploaded on Dec. 7, prompted a statement from Uralchem on Dec. 9 in which the company denied that such a meeting took place and called it an "orchestrated provocation.”

"Dmitri Mazepin doesn’t know Mikheil Saakashvili and the Uralchem company has no interest in buying any assets in Ukraine,” read a statement published by the Lenta.Ru news agency.

Shevchenko said that Avakov wouldn’t resign after the incident.

Avakov’s accusation against Saakashvili caused him to "break into hysterics,” the interior minister wrote on his Facebook page following the row.

He implied that Saakashvili’s statements against corruption were little more than a show.

"You need to put corrupt people in jail, not just talk about them. You need to work, not talk!” Avakov wrote.

Meanwhile, Saakashvili said during a briefing after the meeting that Avakov had claimed he was corrupt and abusing power.

"(Avakov) started telling me about (some) stolen billions – which is a favorite phrasing of Russian propagandists – and told me to ‘leave the country,’” Saakashvili was quoted as saying.

Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili to run Odessa in May. He was seen by many experts as a figure who might have success at rooting out corruption in the region. Saakashvili has been involved in an ongoing public spat with Yatsenyuk for the last several months, publicly accusing the prime minister and his associates of corruption.

At the meeting on Dec. 15, he also mentioned alleged links among Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, Mykola Martynenko, a lawmaker from the prime minister’s People’s Front party, and the Odesa Portside Plant.

Other accusations Saakashvili made during the meeting included Avakov’s alleged financing of volunteer armed groups.

The Interior Ministry denied on Dec. 15 that Avavov runs or finances private paramilitary groups.

"He (Avakov) dared to make absolutely direct threats against me. This is a man who exercises practical control over paramilitary units," Saakashvili was quoted as saying.

"Then Yatsenyuk called me a visiting performer,” Saakashvili said, adding that he has no plans to leave Ukraine and "won’t give them a chance to keep robbing the country.”

Poroshenko, who was present at the meeting, hasn’t commented on the situation so far.

However, his spokesman Svyatoslav Tseholko has scolded Avakov and Saakashvili for the water-throwing and arguing. "Such street-style clashes shame the country,” Tseholko said in a Facebook post.

Tseholko was not available for further comment.

Political analyst Vitaly Bala of the Situations Modeling Agency believes it would be good for Poroshenko to suspend both Avakov and Saakashvili pending an investigation into the matter.

He also said the accusations made by Saakashvili should be considered by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

"It could be a good test for them – whether they manage to find out the truth or not,” Bala told the Kyiv Post. "Even though the situation is a shame and doesn’t do any good for the country’s image, it’s a good thing, because it shows that a clean-up in the highest (political) echelons can start.”

Taras Berezovets, head of the Berta Communications consulting company, was less forgiving, however. According to him, no one – not even a political figure like Saakashvili – should directly accuse a prime minister without concrete facts.

"It’s time either to show documents or resign,” Berezovets said.

 

(kyivpost.com)