Ukrainians’ security is under threat

Following the abduction of Dirar Abu Sisi, deputy director of operations of the Gaza’s only power plant, and his subsequent deportation to Israel for imprisonment, public confidence in the security services has been dramatically reduced. Mass media rumors, citing government sources, implicated the security services themselves in the abduction. At least this rumor suggests that the Ukrainian security services are in control of the activity of foreign agents on Ukrainian soil – for the alternative is quite disconcerting.

If the official statements of Israel are to be believed, and Dirar Abu Sisi is indeed a dangerous member of Hamas, as he has allegedly begun to testify, this would mean that Ukraine’s borders are open to terrorists risking attack by radical Islamist groups.

By involving themselves in the abduction of Dirar Abu Sisi, the Security Services of Ukraine raises the threat of terrorist repercussions and takes a strong political stance in one of the world’s most heated political minefields. An apparently unrelated case to surface since this incident is that of a Palestinian man who had been granted full legal dispensation to be in Ukraine, whose disappearance prompted his wife to take action against Ukraine in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

By involving themselves in the abduction of Dirar Abu Sisi, the Security Services of Ukraine raises the threat of terrorist repercussions and takes a strong political stance in one of the world’s most heated political minefields. An apparently unrelated case to surface since this incident is that of a Palestinian man who had been granted full legal dispensation to be in Ukraine, whose disappearance prompted his wife to take action against Ukraine in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

People First Comment: Cooperation between the security services across the world is nothing new, it happens all the time in the fight against crime, money laundering, terrorism and drugs. Usually this sort activity is covert in order to protect those involved and to keep the activity away from the media spotlight. This case seems to be exactly the opposite.

The ties between Ukraine and Israel and therefore the Security Services of Ukraine, or SBU, and Mossad are, perhaps, very close. It is therefore unreasonable to assume that Mossad carried out a deliberate act of abduction in defiance of international law without the permission, if not the assistance, of the Ukrainian security services. If Dirar Abu Sisi was wanted in connection with terrorist offences then their should have been an Interpol arrest warrant issued whereby he would have been apprehended at the border and not allowed into Ukraine.

Ukraine would simply have been exercising her international obligations but to have allowed him to enter means that either they did not know who he was or they were complicit in trying to capture him.

Clearly this is a breach of his human rights but whether this will have any impact on Israel is highly debatable as Israel seems only to obey international law when it suits their interests. As for Ukraine they have very effectively told the whole of the international terrorist movement that Ukraine is not a safe haven. Whether this will have repercussions… we will just have to wait and see.

Misinformation on food prices

At a recent government session, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov referred to accusations that the Cabinet of Ministers has been unfairly increasing the tariffs and prices for food and petroleum as unreasonable.

This statement by the prime minister may have been provoked by recent criticism of the government by Yulia Tymoshenko, who protested that prices for food in Ukraine were the same as in the countries of the European Union, despite the clear economic differences. Having accused his opponents of lying, Azarov is now attempting to attribute the rise in food prices in Ukraine to a global trend for rising prices. The argument is not entirely untenable; World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick reported recently that the food prices index increased by 36 percent last year.

A comparison of food prices in supermarket between Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia shows that a basic food basket, including milk, meat, butter, eggs, bread, fruit and vegetables is 13 percent more expensive in Ukraine than its Polish equivalent and 8.5 percent more expensive than in Slovakia. Yet the minimum salary, average salary and state pension in Ukraine are less than a quarter than that of Poland or Slovakia – and these are far from Europe’s richest states. Perhaps if Azarov fears a hunger march of a North African scale he will suggest that Ukrainians feed themselves by retreating to their dachas to grow vegetables.

However, a comparison of food prices in supermarket between Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia shows that a basic food basket, including milk, meat, butter, eggs, bread, fruit and vegetables is 13 percent more expensive in Ukraine than its Polish equivalent and 8.5 percent more expensive than in Slovakia. Yet the minimum salary, average salary and state pension in Ukraine are less than a quarter than that of Poland or Slovakia – and these are far from Europe’s richest states. Perhaps if Azarov fears a hunger march of a North African scale he will suggest that Ukrainians feed themselves by retreating to their dachas to grow vegetables.

People First Comment: In the Soviet-era foodstuffs were either sold in government-owned shops at government controlled prices and by government employees or were produced in dacha gardens. In fact, dacha allotments accounted for more than 40 percent of all the fruit and vegetables consumed. However, all that has changed and today we prefer the convenience of supermarkets.

Ukrainians may think they have adopted an international model but this is a myth. In the West, supermarkets use their buying power to drive prices down in order to attract more customers as competition is fierce. Price cartels are illegal and supermarkets can be fined millions if they are found to be cheating the consumer.

In Ukraine, supermarket chains buy direct from the manufacturer and by the container load, therefore their prices are the lowest possible. But instead of passing that savings on to the customer, they agree on prices amongst themselves to maximize their profit. The net result being that the consumer pays a great deal more and here are some examples. A bottle of British HP ketchup in the UK costs the equivalent of Hr 17.64, in Ukraine it costs Hr 147, a price hike of 830 percent… American-made Tabasco pepper sauce costs the equivalent Hr 16.44 in the UK and UAH 98 in Ukraine, a price hike of 596 percent… and it’s the same for just about every imported item.

Part of the problem is that the illegal ‘service charges’ levied by customs officers on containers crossing the border has gone up from $5,000 to around $40,000, which has to be passed on to the customer. Next the supermarkets themselves operate price-fixing cartels that are not challenged by the Anti-Monopoly Committee and finally the supermarket owners have used their financial muscle to prevent competitive Western store groups from entering the market. IKEE gave up trying, Tesco has been trying unsuccessfully for years and Auchen have a few stores but they are partnered with a Ukrainian supermarket group. So how is this possible? One reason may be that the principle owners of the major Ukrainian supermarket chains are all Rada deputies…

Denial in the face of accusations of human rights abuse

The 2010 Country Report on Human Rights Practices annually submitted by the U.S. Department of State defines the situation in Ukraine as critical. Particular focus was placed on law enforcement officers’ infringement of the human rights of refugees, people in custody and those seeking asylum. The report also mentions an increasing number of criminal cases against oppositional politicians and restrictions on freedom of assembly, the court system’s ineffectiveness and corruption and growing levels of corruption within the government and society in general.

In response to the report, deputies from the Party of Regions and representatives of the government called this evaluation of Ukraine unreasonable and groundless.

Vadym Kolesnichenko, deputy head of the parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions, stated that the document prepared by the U.S. Department of State had nothing to do with the realityof the situation in Ukraine.

Presidential Administration deputy head Hanna Herman referred to the report as hopelessly out of date. She believes the fight against corruption has progressed well compared to last year. Considering the criticism of the Ukrainian authorities by the United States, Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin, co-rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, expressed her continued concern over a rollback of democracy in Ukraine as evidenced by the recent changes to the Constitution, a poor quality of judicial reform, numerous violations during the last local elections, etc.

Hanne Severinsen, former co-rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and president of “European Media Platform,” believes that the monitoring of Ukraine’s human rights freedoms should continue due to the lack of independent judiciary, growing corruption and centralization of power.

People First Comment: If Hanna Herman and Vadym Kolesnichenko were to be reincarnated they would surely come back as ostriches. Anybody who believes that human rights have improved under this administration either does not know what human rights are or has their head well and truly buried in Ukraine’s rich black soil.

Press freedom: Down…

Right of Assembly: Curtailed…

Police brutality: Increasing…

Official treatment of refugees, asylum seekers and those in custody: Well below internationally accepted standards…

Medical services: Pay up or be left to suffer…

Education: Pay up or get poor marks…

Free and fare elections: Administratively violated…

Political persecution: On the increase…

Anti-Corruption campaign: Politically

motivated and highly selective…

Court system: Totally corrupt…

NGOs: New laws to limit and control their

activity

Election law: Redrafted without proper public

consultation

Appeals to the European Court of Human Rights: 129,000 cases and rising

Herman is, however, right on one count. The US report is out of date… the real situation is much worse. It is unfortunate that Herman’s current employment is such a waste of her considerable talent and ability.

Ukraine loses court proceedings against foreign investor

The U.S. citizen Joseph Lemire, owner of Gala Radio, has recently demonstrated a new way to protect business rights in Ukraine: by winning a dispute against Ukraine in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The centre ordered Ukraine to pay Lemire a penalty of $8.7 million and an additional settlement fee of $750,000, although the initial amount in dispute was considerably larger. By creating Gala Radio and promoting it to the leading position among radio stations, Lemire intended to develop a full national network but instead faced illegal interventions by various state bodies in the awarding of radio licenses and interference in the general operation of the company.

An interesting fact is that Lemire has spent $1 million on his lawyers while Ukraine has spent $4.3 million. In the case that the court decision is not acted upon by Ukraine during a two- month period, the owner of Gala Radio has the right to start an arresting procedure of Ukraine’s property abroad to cover his losses. This scenario may well damage the reputation and investment climate of Ukraine.

The first action of Lemire ended in a peace agreement with the Ukrainian authorities in 2000. But in 2006 the owner of Gala Radio re-filed an action against Ukraine due to violation of his rights under the U.S. – Ukraine Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement and won. An interesting fact is that Lemire has spent $1 million on his lawyers while Ukraine has spent $4.3 million. In the case that the court decision is not acted upon by Ukraine during a two- month period, the owner of Gala Radio has the right to start an arresting procedure of Ukraine’s property abroad to cover his losses. This scenario may well damage the reputation and investment climate of Ukraine.

People First Comment: The government of Ukraine has just spent $13.8 million in trying to defend their own breaches of Ukrainian law… Interestingly the fees of the government’s defense lawyers were 4.2 times higher than those of the litigant, which begs questions as this is the opposite of normal legal convention… One has to ask why it is that everything this government seems to touch costs appreciably more than in any other country.

The governments lawyers seem to be making a habit of losing international lawsuits as this is the second of this administration, the last one being Naftogaz Ukraine versus RosUkrEnergo, which cost the nation billions.

This whole matter could well have been settled over a cup of coffee if it were not for the arrogance and vested interests of a few media owners and the greed of state bureaucrats… but no, the budget had to be milked, a few had to have their troughs filled and it is all left to the Ukrainian taxpayer to pick up the bill. This is not corruption, it is institutionalized theft and those responsible should not only be fired, they should be in prison. Otherwise we will have to accept this as a part of modern Ukrainian business culture and watch the investment climate of the country completely implode.

Viktor Tkachuk is chief executive officer of the People First Foundation, which seeks to strengthen Ukrainian democracy. The organization’s website is: www.peoplefirst.org.ua and the e-mail address is: [email protected]