The Economist: Ukraine's Politicians, If you think, don't drive
03/28/2002 | Broker
http://www.economist.com/World/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1059211
Ukraine's politicians
If you think, don't drive
Mar 28th 2002 | KIEV
From The Economist print edition
Ukraine's top politicians have a lot of car crashes. Sinister?
AS THE head of Ukraine's biggest arms-exporting company, Valery Malev knew a lot about armoured vehicles. Had he been driving one to work on March 6th, he might have survived, and Ukrainian politicians investigating President Leonid Kuchma's role in the alleged sale of $100m-worth of weapons to Iraq might have learned some awkward secrets. But Mr Malev's journey was cut short—like those of so many other prominent Ukraine politicians—by a car crash. His Audi smashed head-on into a heavy truck and he died without regaining consciousness.
Some Ukrainians are convinced that the car accidents that beset their political elite, especially people opposed to the powers-that-be, are those powers' way of bumping off inconvenient rivals. That is possible, but it is also true that Ukrainian bigwigs' habits of driving at very high speeds on slippery cobbled streets, often against the direction of traffic, and in a country where road manners are fairly rudimentary, are a recipe for disaster.
Mr Malev's secrets may yet come out before this weekend's elections (toward which an opposition coalition had been sputtering, only to hit potholes dug by presidential hangers-on). The head of a parliamentary commission investigating Mr Kuchma's doings, Alexander Zhyr, says he has a recording of Mr Malev discussing the Iraqi arms deal with Mr Kuchma. Mr Kuchma says the accusation is “dog shit”.
Taras Chornovil, an opposition politician whose father, Vyacheslav Chornovil, a top Ukrainian dissident, died in a collision with a truck in 1999, says he is convinced both incidents were staged by the same dirty-tricks team. Police say Mr Malev's death looks like an accident, though they also say they are checking for poison. Mr Malev's passenger, who miraculously survived, has given an account that suggests suicide, with an alert and healthy Mr Malev suddenly and inexplicably steering into the oncoming juggernaut.
Ukraine's politicians
If you think, don't drive
Mar 28th 2002 | KIEV
From The Economist print edition
Ukraine's top politicians have a lot of car crashes. Sinister?
AS THE head of Ukraine's biggest arms-exporting company, Valery Malev knew a lot about armoured vehicles. Had he been driving one to work on March 6th, he might have survived, and Ukrainian politicians investigating President Leonid Kuchma's role in the alleged sale of $100m-worth of weapons to Iraq might have learned some awkward secrets. But Mr Malev's journey was cut short—like those of so many other prominent Ukraine politicians—by a car crash. His Audi smashed head-on into a heavy truck and he died without regaining consciousness.
Some Ukrainians are convinced that the car accidents that beset their political elite, especially people opposed to the powers-that-be, are those powers' way of bumping off inconvenient rivals. That is possible, but it is also true that Ukrainian bigwigs' habits of driving at very high speeds on slippery cobbled streets, often against the direction of traffic, and in a country where road manners are fairly rudimentary, are a recipe for disaster.
Mr Malev's secrets may yet come out before this weekend's elections (toward which an opposition coalition had been sputtering, only to hit potholes dug by presidential hangers-on). The head of a parliamentary commission investigating Mr Kuchma's doings, Alexander Zhyr, says he has a recording of Mr Malev discussing the Iraqi arms deal with Mr Kuchma. Mr Kuchma says the accusation is “dog shit”.
Taras Chornovil, an opposition politician whose father, Vyacheslav Chornovil, a top Ukrainian dissident, died in a collision with a truck in 1999, says he is convinced both incidents were staged by the same dirty-tricks team. Police say Mr Malev's death looks like an accident, though they also say they are checking for poison. Mr Malev's passenger, who miraculously survived, has given an account that suggests suicide, with an alert and healthy Mr Malev suddenly and inexplicably steering into the oncoming juggernaut.