The Party of Regions will run in local elections under a new platform

Photo: rian.com.ua

Donors of the Party of Regions are creating a new political project called the Industrial Party. Young and unknown in public politics individuals that are the managers of large enterprises in the southeastern oblasts of Ukraine will become the new party’s face. According to information that Capital has, the main task of the new political force is victory in the local elections scheduled for the fall of 2015.

Serious business

Top managers of large companies in the southeastern oblasts of Ukraine are working on forming the Industrial Party as a new political project. The party has already been registered in the State Registry. As a source of Capital close to the inner circle of this political force informed the process of drafting a concept of the project’s development and development its program and statute is under way.

Rostyslav Shurma is listed on the website of the Ministry of Justice as the chairman of the Industrial Party. The son of the former people’s deputy of the SDPU (u) Ihor Shurma is the General Director of ZaporizhStal, which is owned by the Metinvest ore mining company managed jointly by SCM and Smart-Holding. Yuriy Zinchenko, Enver Tskitishvili, Olekdandr Bohdanov, Vasyl Fedin, Ivan Bashkir and Mikhail Changli are also members of the party’s policy council. They all own different companies that are part of SCM, Smart-holding and Ukrinvest. These structures are controlled by Rinat Akhmetov, Vadym Novynskiy and Borys Kolesnykov. Kolesnykov is currently the head of PoR, while Akhmetov and Novynskiy are named by experts its most influential figures. Noteworthy is that the overwhelming majority of managers of the new party are middle-aged people that earlier were never involved in public politics.

The leaders of the Industrial Party refused to comment on questions regarding the creation of the party explaining that “so far it is too early to speak about something concrete”. However, Capital’s interlocutors in the companies, whose top managers joined the new political project, hinted that some of them were simply “told they were in the party already”.

Also, a source of Capital in the inner circle of one of the managers of the Industrial Party said that the political forces are planning to position themselves as defenders of the interests of Ukrainian industry and the regions, where it is most powerful. This is precisely what motivated the founders of the party to name it as such.

People’s deputy Vyacheslav Lukyanov (For Peace and Stability), who earlier was a member of the PoR faction, presupposed that the Industrial Party will emphasize the development of domestic industry, creation of new jobs and raising the standard of living of Ukrainians in its campaign. He also believes that the slogans for the support of Ukrainian rural areas will be used. “They can speak about industrialization of villages,” predicted Lukyanov.

Lukyanov also presumes that the newly created political force will call for stopping bloodshed and establishing peace in Ukraine. He also believes in the electoral success of the Industrial Party. “Serious individuals get down to business. They have all the possibilities of success. Now, as in football, let the game show its class,” Lukyanovy told the publication.

Wager on the future

Vice Chairman of the PoR faction Yuriy Voropayev does not believe that the force with the name Industrial Party will be a serious rival to his political force. “On the contrary, I welcome the introduction of this political project. So much dirt and calumny was poured on the Party of Regions. For this reason, I believe it is a good thing that the south-eastern part of Ukraine will be represented by another party,” he told Capital.

He is convinced that the Industrial Party has good prospects. “The electorate will vote first and foremost for new faces and secondly for the fact that they have no connection with the current leadership of Ukraine,” the deputy noted.

At the same time, Voropayev, who is unofficially considered the “personal advocate of Rinat Akhmetov and his family could not confirm or deny to Capital information that Akhmetov, Novynskiy and Kolesnykov financially or otherwise support the Industrial Party.

Voropayev does not rule out the possibility that the new party will run in the early parliamentary elections. “The only possibility for the leaders of the party in this campaign is to run in the first-past-the-post constituencies and develop a new brand,” former people’s deputy and member of the PoR Taras Chornovol told Capital.

At the same time, one individual close to the leadership of the party made it clear to Capital that the wager is on local elections 2015. Lukyanov says this is a more rational move: “The chances in the 2015 elections will be higher. Everything depends on how the party will develop and whether it will be able to meet the challenges of time and convince voters”.

Political analyst Kostyantyn Bondarenko also presumes that the Industrial Party was formed for the future election race. “This is a wager not on the current political situation, but rather on its future development,” the expert said.

A source of Capital inside the new party said the main wager will be placed on the local elections. He noted that if the decentralization of authorities announced by President Poroshenko will take place, the influence of the local authorities in the oblast and regional councils will increase. So, this means a wager will be made that a new party will administer in the regions.