By Oleg Sukhov
Ex-National
Police Chief Khatia Dekanoidze (L) and Yulia Marushevska, ex-head of Odesa
Oblast's customs. Photo by Kostyantyn Chernichkin
Yulia Marushevska, the head of Odesa Oblast’s customs,
and National Police Chief Khatia Dekanoidze resigned on Nov. 14 just days after
their ally, Mikheil Saakashvili, the former governor of Odesa Oblast, stepped down.
Marushevska, a
EuroMaidan Revolution activist, has headed the region’s customs since last
October.
She attributed
her resignation to what she sees as sabotage by President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman of her efforts to make customs
clearance in Odesa more transparent and graft-free.
Spokespeople for
Groysman and Poroshenko did not respond to requests for comment.
“We have
exhausted all tools for carrying out reforms, and that’s why I’m resigning,”
Marushevska said at a news briefing.
Marushevska told
the Kyiv Post on Nov. 14 that continuing to be the chief of Odesa Oblast’s
customs “doesn’t make any sense.”
“The current
government doesn’t want anything to be done,” she said. “Pressure (on
reformers) continues, and there is no hope whatsoever that we will be able to
continue this (customs) project.”
She said that
“making a choice between (State Fiscal Service head Roman) Nasirov and the
customs reform we are proposing, the prime minister and the president are
opting for Nasirov and the preservation of corruption schemes.”
Nasirov, who has clashed with Marushevska and threatened to fire her, previously denied accusations of sabotage.
Marushevska told
the Kyiv Post on Nov. 7 that her team had held a transparent competition for
jobs at a new customs terminal and drafted legislation to launch it. However,
Nasirov and Groysman have failed to pass a necessary Cabinet decree, authorize
changes to customs software and build the terminal’s building, she said.
Khatia
Dekanoidze, who also resigned on Nov. 14, has been head of National Police
since last November and was in charge of police reform. Dekanoidze worked under
Saakashvili in Georgia as head of the country’s Police Academy.
Dekanoidze
listed her achievements in terms of police reform at a news briefing and said
she had laid the foundation of a Western-style police force. But she added that
she had not had enough powers to carry out a more radical reform.
“I’ll be frank
and say that we have failed to root out corruption in our (law enforcement)
bodies,” she said. “…Unfortunately my authority and will were not enough for
radical change. My function has been accomplished, and that’s why I’m
resigning.”
She also said
that the police reform would only work if the courts and prosecution service
were reformed and urged all politicians to stop interfering with the National
Police.
“Appointments in
law enforcement agencies must not be negotiated with politicians,” she said.
Dekanoidze’s
exit was preceded by that of other Georgian-born police reformers. These
include ex-Deputy Interior Minister Ekaterina Zguladze-Glucksmann, as well as Grigory Grigalashvili, ex-head of the
National Police’s internal security department, and Odesa Oblast Police Chief
Giorgi Lortkipanidze.
The moves come
as Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is accused of derailing the vetting of the police by protecting controversial officials accused of corruption and ousting
civil society representatives from the vetting process. He denies the
accusations.
“Today, when
Khatia Dekanoidze resigned, the last hope for continuation of police reforms
died,” the AutoMaidan car-based protest group said in a statement calling for
Avakov’s dismissal. “Avakov, who is the longest-serving minister, not only
completely failed in his main task – reforming his ministry and cleansing it
from corruption – but also did his best to block this reform and preserve the
old corrupt system… Keeping Avakov in his job is dangerous for the country and,
unless further cleansed and reformed, Avakov’s National Police will turn into a
Yanukovych-style monster.”
Dekanoidze’s
ally Saakashvili last week announced plans to create a new political party and come to power.
Marushevska said
that she supported Saakashvili’s plans to set up a new party and that she
wanted to be “useful” for his drive to replace the current political elite. She
did not specify, however, whether she would join the party.
Earlier this
year about 20 top reformers quit government jobs. These include ex-Deputy Prosecutor General Davit
Sakvarelidze, a Saakashvili ally, as well as Sasha Borovik and Maria Gaidar,
who resigned as deputies of Saakashvili in May.
Though Borovik
and Gaidar said then they would stay on as aides, Marushevska said they had
effectively not worked in the region since May.
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