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Ukrainian tycoon Igor Kolomoisky has new political project in mind, expert says

After being resigned by president Poroshenko Kolomoisky will start working intensively to correct his mistakes and apparently launch a new political project, an analyst says

Igor Kolomoisky EPA/MYKHAYLO MARKIV

Igor Kolomoisky

© EPA/MYKHAYLO MARKIV

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Poroshenko dismisses Dnipropetrovsk Governor Kolomoisky

KIEV, March 27 /TASS/. Ukrainian experts have doubts that tycoon Igor Kolomoisky, the former governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, is going to retire from politics.

Andrey Zolotaryov, the head of the Third Sector analytical center, said on Friday that Kolomoisky’s remarks about leaving politics should not be taken seriously.

"We should see what he is going to do," the expert went on to say.

"Kolomoisky has not given up his plans. He will start working intensively to correct his mistakes. Kolomoisky will apparently launch a new political project at a rally (in Dnepropetrovsk) on Saturday, March 28," Zolotaryov told a news conference on Friday when asked by TASS whether the resigned governor could continue his political career.

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On March 25, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accepted Kolomoisky’s resignation.

"I could not part with my business past. I remain a businessman in heart rather than a bureaucrat," the ex-governor said later in a comment on his decision.

"I am not planning to play politics. Perhaps, I am going to be engaged in public activities and will continue doing business to the benefit of Ukraine," Kolomoisky added.

The standoff between the oligarch and President Poroshenko that was in the spotlight over the past few days seems to have ended peacefully at least on the surface. The conflict broke out after Ukrtransnafta’s Supervisory Council dismissed the oligarch’s protege Alexander Lazorenko as the head of the company’s board of directors while the Ukrainian parliament had passed a law on joint-stock societies that was depriving Kolomoisky of control over Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s biggest oil producer. After that, a group of submachine-gunners led by Kolomoisky seized Ukrtransnafta’s building and held it for several hours. Valentin Nalivaychenko, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), accused the employees of the Dnipropetrovsk governor’s administration of supporting criminal gangs while Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged to put an end to private "pocket companies" in Ukraine.

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Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko

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