Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Chornomornaftogaz’s decision to compensate the families of the Naftogaz-67 collision of the coast of Hong Kong with $20,000 is not enough.

latest tragedy in what has now become commonplace.

News reports were disturbing. Of the 25 sailors aboard, seven escaped, but 18 were trapped and have likely died.

Then we heard the survivors' claim the Chinese did little to rescue the trapped crew, not launching the rescue effort that an American ship would have likely warranted.

This week, Ukrainian authorities claim Chinese authorities aren’t cooperating with their investigation.

Among the few positive signs from the incident is the owner of Naftogaz 67, Chornomornaftogaz, has agreed to compensate each of the victims’ families $20,000. Charges have been filed against the Chinese captain.

That’s not enough though.

The Chinese must exert maximum effort in performing a thorough investigation to find who was responsible, followed by arrest and prosecution.

If fault lies with a business or governing entity, and not the harsh weather conditions, the party responsible has to fork up more compensation.

After living in a totalitarian system for 70 years in which human lives were largely reduced to cogs in a giant machine, Ukrainians were deprived of their basic human rights and dignity. As a result, the Ukrainian government is often not aggressive enough in pursuing compensation in incidents like these, which in the Soviet era were covered up and brushed aside.

The government advocating a complete investigation and prosecution, and securing adequate compensation for its citizens, would set the necessary precedent to cause Ukrainians, and others, to value the lives of its fellow citizens equal to others.