Heorhy Tuka, a well-known volunteer helping Ukraine's army, was on July 22 appointed governor of Luhansk Oblast, a key region at the forefront of Ukraine's war with Russia.
Like recently appointed Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili, Tuka, a 51-year old native of Kyiv, is an outsider to Ukraine’s bureaucratic system. Many expect Tuka, who was an activist in the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, to reform the region’s government and crack down on corruption in the war zone.
The move follows previous Luhansk Oblast Governor Hennady Moskal’s appointment as head of Zakarpattia Oblast in the wake of armed clashes between police and activists of the Right Sector nationalist group in that region.
As governor and head of the oblast’s civilian-military administration, Tuka will have direct influence on the nation’s war effort. The southern part of Luhansk Oblast, which borders Russia on the east, has been occupied by combined Russian-separatist forces, and a pseudo-government set up there that calls itself the “Luhansk People’s Republic.”
Tuka will have to tackle urgent problems such as pervasive corruption and smuggling in the war zone, as well as raise funds to reconstruct destroyed buildings and accommodate internally displaced people, Taras Berezovets, head of political consulting firm Berta Communications, told the Kyiv Post. He will also have to combat the impact of Russian television propaganda, which is still highly influential in the region, and prevent Russian-separatist terrorist attacks.
Presenting Tuka as the new governor during a visit to Luhansk Oblast on July 22, Ukrainian President Petro Porohshenko said Tuka was part of a “new generation” in Ukrainian politics, and hinted that some might not be happy with his appointment.
“I’ve made my choice, and some say that my choice is very risky and that that’s not the way it should be done in our system, but I believe there’s a new generation,” Poroshenko said. “… I’m sure you don’t like the word ‘politics’ but this is a new kind of politics that’s close to the people. Heorhy, you have the president’s full support.”
Berezovets said the appointment was likely influenced by public opinion, which is highly favorable to volunteers helping the military. Poroshenko’s people usually meet with experts and journalists before such appointments, he said.
Yury Kasyanov, another well-known volunteer helping the army, said by phone that Tuka would have to “either adapt to the system and abandon his principles” or “clash with the system – which is unlikely.”
“An unreformed system will just digest him,” Kasyanov added.
He argued that the authorities must launch a thorough overhaul of the entire bureaucratic system, not just change the people at the top.
Kasyanov also said Poroshenko aimed to boost his own ratings by appointing Tuka.
“The president takes under his wing other well-known people’s ratings to compensate for losses to his image due to a lack of reforms, decreasing living standards, and increasing discontent,” he said.
Tuka, a graduate of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, used to work in the telecommunications industry.
Previously he wrote on Facebook that he had owned a firm that supplied mobile communications equipment. He also used to live in Egypt and took part in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.
Subsequently Tuka participated in Ukraine’s EuroMaidan Revolution and was injured in clashes with riot police on Feb. 18, 2014.
In March 2014 he founded Narodny Tyl (the People’s Home Front), a volunteer group that helps the Ukrainian army. He later co-founded Ukraine – a United Country, a party that received 0.12 percent in the Oct. 26, 2014 parliamentary election.
Tuka also runs Mirotvorets (Peacemaker), an Internet project that publishes the personal data of Kremlin-backed separatists.
Berezovets said Tuka had not been implicated in any corruption scandals, while Kasyanov described him as “an honest, reasonable and hard-working man.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Oleg Sukhov can be reached at [email protected].
