“Do as we say, not as we do.” That could be the catchphrase of Ukraine’s politicians.
They talk of fighting corruption while living in mansions that their official salaries could never afford. They talk of working hard but rarely turn up for work in parliament.
According to a former top aide to Deputy Prime Minister Sergiy Tigipko, they also campaign to bring salary payments out of the shadows while paying staff in envelopes. Oleksandra Kuzhel, a veteran politician and government official, made the accusations against her former boss in a newspaper interview on May 15.
“Take for example Mr. Tigipko. I can say that he paid salaries to all of us exclusively in envelopes. As he did, he appeared on the air saying that all salaries must be paid officially,” Kuzhel said.
Implying that the practice is widespread at companies and parties owned by the nation’s billionaire government officials, she was quoted by Delo business daily as adding: “They are all liars.”
Tigipko’s press service did not immediately respond to the accusations by Kuzhel, who served as deputy head of his Strong Ukraine party until it merged this year with the pro-presidential Party of Regions. Kuzhel also criticized government for failing to revamp the nation’s notoriously backward tax rules, saying: “It can’t go on, because it fosters a corrupt market paying salaries.”
And exorbitantly high pension fund tax — about 45 percent — chokes business, encouraging many employers and employees to hide income. A solution is to sharply cut these payroll taxes, which could bring more revenue by encouraging employers to come out of the shadows.
Despite holding a monopoly on political power for two years, President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration has failed to deliver. Ukraine’s opposition is talking about a reduction to 20 percent, which would be a good start.
Most Ukrainians want to pay their share of taxes if a fair system is established. If politicians are paying their own staff in envelopes, then they are aware of the problem. This would be a major step in revamping the country’s notoriously complex, unfair and opaque tax system.
