Vadym NOVYNSKY: “Most definitely, we will not agree to a coalition with the Petro Poroshenko Bloc... We need a snap election”

Opposition Bloc MP Vadym Novynsky has returned to Ukraine. He revealed to  The Day by phone details of the case which saw him summoned for questioning by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ukraine:

“The summons relates to the investigation of a case concerning a company (the Amstor supermarket chain) of which I am the ultimate beneficiary. After the events in the Verkhovna Rada, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov called me and said: ‘It is about two or three technical issues relating to the investigation into the Amstor supermarket chain case. You will be a witness in the case.’ Instead, they turned it all into a show, even though they could serve the summons on me as discreetly as they had done before: when summonses from the Prosecutor General’s Office came to the committee I serve on, I answered all investigator’s calls as a disciplined citizen, never trying to hide behind my status as an MP.”

What cases prompted the PGO to summon you before?

“The cases of Metropolitan Volodymyr’s death, the Euromaidan massacre, and the Sukholuchia game reserve.”

What will your next steps be?

“I will visit the MIA, get my summons, go to the investigator and give testimony. I am not going to flee Ukraine.

“It all is a government-staged spectacle, aimed to show that they target not only the so-called ‘patriots.’”

What do you think about reasons behind Hennadii Korban’s arrest? You meant him when speaking about “patriots,” did not you?

“Yes, I did. I do not think that his case has to do with fighting corruption. I have known him for a long time. He would not do what he stands accused of. Korban poured a lot of criticism on the president, and it may be the real cause.”

The preparations for the second round of mayoral elections in several cities, including Dnipropetrovsk, are ongoing. The information space is full of reports that the government is helping Oleksandr Vilkul.

“I do not think so. The authorities and the PPB are now fighting the Opposition Bloc in a ‘no holds barred’ manner. A typical example is the election in Mariupol, where all representatives of the governing coalition united to block the vote, successfully preventing it from going ahead.”

But you cannot deny that there are questions about Dnipropetrovsk election commissions, which seem to have been stacked with Vilkul loyalists, and the use of administrative resource. It seems that Poroshenko is trying to help your mayoral candidate win the office.

“Then we can say that by his latest actions [summonses for MPs and the arrest of Korban. – Author], Poroshenko is helping Borys Filatov to become the mayor of Dnipropetrovsk, just as they helped Hennadii Kernes to become the mayor of Kharkiv when they refused to put the Opposition Bloc on the electoral list, although he would win all the same.”

MPs are actively discussing possible creation of a broad coalition with the participation of the Opposition Bloc before this year’s end. Will you join it?

“Most definitely, we will not agree to a coalition with the PPB. We need a snap election and then we will build a coalition based on the vote’s results. Why? Because the reforms promised by this government have failed to materialize. Meanwhile, the economic situation is deteriorating by the day.”