REUTERS
Pro-Russian militants of the so-called "LPR"/"DPR," who are now claiming they will "nationalize" Ukrainian companies, had already had their watchdogs in these businesses monitoring commercial activity and receiving kickbacks, said former head of the main investigation department of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine Major-General Vasyl Vovk.
"The thing is they have been receiving the so-called official "taxes," or kickbacks and bribes, from these companies anyway. Now the militants are just trying to seize [Ukrainian billionaire and MP (Opposition Bloc) Rinat] Akhmetov's enterprises, so this cannot lead to any full-scale hostilities," he said.
Read alsoWarlords in Donbas turned to ‘smuggling kingpins' – media probeHe also noted that this process is tied with the relations between Ukrainian politician, chairman of the pro-Russian political movement Ukrainian Choice Viktor Medvedchuk and Russia.
Read alsoAkhmetov, Lyovochkin, Medvedchuk deciding fate of Opposition Bloc - journalist"We also understand whose relations are really involved. It's Medvedchuk-Russia-Ukraine relations. Russians want to legalize Medvedchuk, introduce him to Parliament, and make him a leader of a certain group. They were denied, therefore they start some other things," Vovk added, hinting at pressure imposed on Rinat Akhmetov via Russian-controlled militants.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 1, the "DPR" and "LPR" claimed they introduced the so-called external management at all Ukrainian enterprises operating in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas.