By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets, Reuters — Thursday 23 September 2021
KYIV (Reuters) — Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Thursday ordering “oligarchs” to register and stay out of politics, a day after an attempt to kill a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that officials said could have been a response to the reform. The law provides a definition for an oligarch while giving authorities the power to designate individuals who meet the criteria. Oligarchs would be forbidden from financing political parties or taking part in privatisations. Top officials including the president, the prime minister and the head of the central bank would be required to declare dealings they had with them. The law passed with 279 votes in the 450-seat parliament, and now goes to Zelenskiy for approval.
Zelenskiy’s team suggested anger over the law could be behind the attack on top aide Serhiy Shefir, whose car was sprayed with gunfire as he travelled between two villages outside the capital. Shefir was unharmed though his driver was wounded. Zelenskiy, who won a landslide election in 2019 promising to tackle corruption and curb oligarchic influence, said the law is “necessary to protect the country from powerful businessmen who have corrupted its political system for decades.” Critics from opposition parties said the law “creates huge scope for corruption,” with some comparing it to tactics used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase his powers, arguing it could be applied selectively to concentrate more power in the president’s hands.