Opposition leaders removed from parliamentary
elections
The Central Election
Commission of Ukraine registered the party list for the United Opposition only
after removing the names of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (number 1 on
the list) and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko (number 4).
The fact that they both
have convictions under existing Ukrainian law proved decisive, although the
opposition were keen to press the fact that the convictions in question are the
result of direct political persecution. Referring to the legislation which
excludes candidates with prior convictions from all elections the Central
Election Commission proclaimed that they do not have authority to overrule the
Prosecutor’s office in the cases of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko.
The
United Opposition plans to open a case at the European Court of Human Rights in
order to cancel politically-motivated convictions of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko.
Whilst the opposition has named the political prisoners as their leaders it
seems that they are not prepared to fight for their freedom to the end.
At
the same time, the Interior Ministry recently reported that there is no case
for removing the convictions of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko from the official records.
They also mentioned that the European Court of Human Rights cannot cancel a
decision of Ukrainian court).
People First Comment: Surprise, surprise… what a foregone
conclusion. One has to question quite
what it was the rather lame opposition were trying to gain from this little
stunt. If they were trying to rally the
international clause it simply demonstrates just how out of touch they are with
international opinion, after all why should the international community bother
about what happens to jailed opposition leaders when their own parties do
precious little to get them released..
There is no international ‘Free Julia’ campaign, there
is no consistent high level campaigning to put real pressure on the administration,
no campaign of non-violent resistance and public protest… just a line of rather
shabby tents for 30 or so people
littering part of the main street of the capital and a lot of rather obvious
speeches. The cases have been noted on
the international record card of the regime and will not be forgotten… that is
until something more important crops up… but that’s politics for you
For their part the regime pre-empted these
applications by having a number of prison inmates also file applications to be
added to this party list or that and they too were rejected, thus the regime
can claim to have an even handed policy in line with the law even if they
blatantly disregard it in almost any other area where it is inconvenient. A put-up job… draw your own conclusion, but
who ever said Ukrainian politics was anything to do with fairness and
honesty.
No doubt in the future Yulia and Yuriy will be
released into the arms of the well-wishing party faithful, many of whom will
have been paid to be there. No doubt in
time their police records will be expunged or lost in a distant vault as this
seems to be the pattern for prominent members of the Ukrainian political elite.
Offshore operations,
shadow economy killing Ukraine
Experts from the Tax
Justice Network, a non-governmental organisation, have published the results of
a research program entitled “The Price of Offshore Revisited” which illustrates
that over $167 billion have been withdrawn from Ukraine’s economy to offshore
areas since 1990. This puts Ukraine in the 9th place in the world, according to
the amount of funds exported offshore. Argentina is in 8th place with $399
billion and Kazakhstan is in 10th place with $138 billion. It also turns out
that Ukraine looses over $8 billion every year. The general amount of loss even
exceeded the volume of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2011 ($165.2
billion).
The majority of
Ukrainian experts note that it is virtually impossible to get the capital
returned. Earlier this year Prime Minister Mykola Azarov mentioned that the
majority funds withdrawn from Ukraine’s economy had been returning, mostly in
the form of investments from Cyprus.
Aside from the flight of
capital, which is still to be answered for, the country is also suffering from the
growth of the shadow sector. According to the several estimates this sector
accounts for up-to 40% of the national economy. Every year Hr 150 billion ($18.5
billion) are paid in cash salaries which evade tax. The transfer of business
into the shadows and vast offshore transactions has become the standard way of
escaping taxation. Unless the government develops a transparent system for
business procedures these issues will eventually destroy the Ukrainian economy.
People First Comment: By any calculation
$167 billion is a supremely large sum of money for any government to
ignore. In salary terms it is equal to
the average salary of the entire Ukrainian workforce for 2.6 years. In taxation terms its return would generate
an increase in annual tax revenue of almost 100 percent, enabling the entire
state workforce, schools, hospitals and all government services to receive a
one-off payment of a full year’s salary or budget. The injection of that amount
of money into any economy let alone Ukraine’s would have an impact of truly
international proportion. The fact that
this amount of money has been able to slip out of the country probably explains
why the people are in general so poor and why Ukraine’s GDP languished at
around 25 percent of its European neighbours.
The real question is… What
is the government doing to recover much of these funds as capital flight on
this scale does have serious implications for the financial security of the
nation. If the Tax Justice Network can
calculate the sum then they must have been able to find out where it is or
was. If they can do it why can’t the
government…? The problem is that the
political system of this nation is based around a privileged elite who are in
many cases the self same people who are shipping Ukraine’s wealth offshore. They
do nothing to stop the army of Cypriot lawyers that use their understanding of
international law and tax loop-holes enabled by the regime to ensure capital
flight on this scale.
No, what the regime does do
is increase the tax burden on those who cannot hide their wealth and on the
corporate sector to a point where Ukraine has one of the most rapacious tax
regimes in the world that requires an army of tax inspectors backed up by its
own quasi-military units to enforce. This
is yet another case of post soviet greed taking over from national interest and
social logic.
Under these circumstances
even Russian capital is leaving Ukraine whilst Europeans are demonstrating
their cynicism. These funds are becoming a major source of credit capital for
European banks. One has to question whether European politicians depend on
bankers as much as politicians in Ukraine. If not cynical, they are being naïve
as it might turn out that Ukrainian capital is already financing their European
opponents and the recent attacks on the Euro.
Ukraine’s health sector
is on its last legs
The health sector of
Ukraine is experiencing difficult times. The government attempts justify
inaction by citing the ‘long-term’ nature of reforms, meanwhile, the people of
Ukraine are dying out. Some medical specialists can no longer demonstrate
restraint when commenting on the situation. For example, Anatoliy Sydorenko, an
emergency doctor from Zaporizhzhya, reported at a press-conference that the
government of Ukraine was deliberately dismantling the emergency call service.
He claimed that all ambulance teams would begin being dissolved, starting from
1 January 2013. Sydorenko believes that the situation in heath sector has
reached a critical stage due to insufficient equipment in ambulances, lack of
medical supplies, under-qualified staff and ambulance teams. The Ministry of
Health of Ukraine admits that the current emergency medical service has been
updated since the 1930s and is dire need of reform).
Another fact indicative
of the stagnation of the health service in Ukraine is the low salaries of
physicians: no more than Hr 1,500 ($190) per month. In 2011, the average salary
of a physician with 10-15 years experience was only Hr 1,300 ($164) per month,
whilst a nurse would receive Hr 1,135 ($140). A surgeon with many years in service
might receive a salary of about Hr 4,000 ($500) per month, though such salaries
are rare. The situation does not compare with the Czech Republic, where the
average monthly salary of a physician is $1,500 let alone the USA with $7,000.
The government comments
on the condition of the health sector by saying that the country should move
over to an insurance-based medical service and create a disease prevention
policy. Officials from the Presidential Administration note that reformation of
the health sector is among priority objectives of President Viktor Yanukovych.
The majority of people’s deputies and various senior officials prefer to
receive medical treatments abroad, whilst the majority of Ukrainians find it
difficult to even call an ambulance. A recent example: a seven-year-old boy
from a small town Horlivka was severely injured having cut his arm. He tried to
call an ambulance 13 times but failed as nobody answered. The situation is
further complicated by corruption in health institutions, identified by 75
percent of respondents to sociological research.
People First Comment: The following are selected extracts from an open
letter to the Prosecutor of Kyiv, A.S. Melnyk, from Mykola Kuryanov, a
physician at Kyiv City Station of Emergency Medical Services. We believe this says it all:
From the original letter
… For more than eight years now FOTON trucks
have been used to render emergency medical services and transport for
hospitalization. They have no proper ventilation and cushioning springs,
hydraulic steering is absent, there is considerable noise and excess carbon
monoxide is produced. The mileage of these vehicles is in excess of 500,000 km.
They move slowly and are not able to climb hills (for example Shovkovichna
Str.). Engine failure often requires us (mobile personnel) to push these
ambulance vehicles.
… The total share of inadequate ambulance
vehicles according to my estimate is 70-80%. In summer they heat up to high
temperatures (in particular the salon), engines “boil”, in winter
they freeze, doors fall off. Drivers are forced to buy spare parts and to
repair them at their own expense.
… We cannot properly work in places with a large
number of casualties. Think of the explosions in Dnipropetrovsk. The wounded
people were carried in cacolets [soft stretchers], because the mechanical
stretchers cannot go far from the vehicles.
… In 2008 I stated about these and other
problems publicly to the officials Chernovetsky L.D., Kachurova L.V.,
Kiltshitska I.R., Moiseyenko R.O., Strelnikov S.O., Vershygora A.V. and others.
They only express the same deceptive bravado of achievement, prosperity and
security. And they pay us a meager salary, as beggars are easier to be managed.
… Information on financial resources of KCSEMS
(its structure and amount of budget funds, the order and control of their
spending, etc.) is not available, in violation of the Law “On Access to
Public Information”.
… A year ago our salaries (for over 3000
employees of the KCSEMS) were “voluntary-compulsory” transferred from
Ukrsotsbank to VAB. It leaves the impression that there is organized criminal
group at the KCSEMS that has patrons in power.
… We [the ambulance crew] are required to come
to a place of call within 10 minutes, but besides the typical congestions there
may be traffic jams of roads and kilometer long queues for President Yanukovich
V.F. to pass through the city. May 17, 2012, going for the call # 559 (in
district of TC Gorodok), our crew #102 had to wait on the corner of Heroiv
Dnipra Str. and Bohatyrska Str. an extra 10 minutes to let an entourage of
Yanukovich V.F. pass. Despite our special signals, the traffic police did not
allow us to move through Bohatyrska Str. This is done systematically. People
died because of this.
… Taking into consideration the mentioned above
I request you to:
take action to stop violations of the Laws and
rights of people (their deaths);
require authorities to conduct an examination of
ambulance vehicles and decommission the unacceptable ones;
provide proper equipment to mobile emergency
crews;
protect me and staff from illegal encroachments
and harassment.
… Kurianov Mykola, Emergency Physician at Kyiv
City Station of Emergency Medical Services
[Full text available at: http://forjusticeforhumanrights.blogspot.com/2012/05/attention–grave–condition–of–emergency.html ]
Is Ukrainian education about to regain world ratings?
Universitas
21, an international network of research-intensive universities, has released
its rating of education systems, according to which Ukraine has the 25th best
system; better than Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia. The authors of the
research from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
studied data from 48 countries detailing resources, effectiveness of higher
education, international cooperation and public education policies. The
situation with education in Ukraine is deeply complex. QS World University
Rankings, a world-known rating of education institutions, released a list
of the 700 best institutions in the
world in 2011. It had only two Ukrainian institutions in it: National
University of Donetsk (617th place) and NTUU Kyiv polytechnic institute (636th
place). The same rating features education establishments from Lebanon,
Philippines, Pakistan and Columbia between the 200 and 400 mark, as well as 10
institutes and universities from Russia. Lomonosov University of Moscow has
came in at number 112 in the world.
Dmytro
Tabachnyk, minister of education, science, youth and sport, responded when
asked about Ukrainian education establishments that the government would
further promote Ukrainian alma mater amongst leading world education
institutions. For instance, they plan to fix the situation over quoting of
scientific and research papers. The Minister believes that Ukraine is among the
top 10 leaders in international study due to an increasing number of foreign
students attending Ukrainian education institutions (55,000 students as of
2011).
When
comparing the situation with soviet times, experts believe that the last 20
years have brought about two factors which largely contributed to a general
drop in education levels. The first one a reduction of vocational and technical
schools teaching technical specialist subjects (from 742 in 1991 down to 505 in
2011 with the overall number of students dropping from 757 thousand to 361
thousand). The second factor has been the increasing number of private
education institutions (from 149 institutes and universities in 1990 to 349 in
2010). In 1990 there were about 40 students for every professor of science – in
2002 there were over 220(13).
People First Comment: Prior to independence in 1991 the education
system of Ukraine, as part of the Soviet system ranked number 2 in the world
therefore in real terms the nations education system has fallen 23 places in 20
years, a spectacular fall and nothing for the regime to crow about. Whilst it is currently fashionable to blame
the current administration for just about every ill that prevails, this is one
that cannot be laid wholly at their door.
The education system of the nation has been in
terminal decline for decades as each successive government failed to understand
the link between higher than average standards of education and scientific and
technological development. In the past
Ukraine was one of the world centres of technical and scientific
excellence. Students were nurtured by
State industries and research centres to develop their minds above all else and
as a result Ukrainians contributed extensively to the Soviet and the
international pool of scientific excellence.
Today there is precious little investment in technology as business
owners prefer instant wealth over long development thus there are simply no
jobs for highly educated science students. They are simply following the
national trend seeking qualifications in subjects that will also earn them
money as opposed to a future in scientific excellence.
The Minister may choose to believe that the influx of
foreign students to Ukraine has something to do with Ukrainian excellence where
as in reality it probably has more to do with tighter visa regulations and cost
in the UK, EU and USA. The Ukrainian
education system has some of the most highly qualified and poorly paid teachers
in the world whereas they should be a national priority. The current level of investment in education
has more to do with linguistic politics than national excellence. The amount of money invested in schools and
universities today is little higher than survival standard thus until these
issues are resolved the Ukrainian education system will continue to fall down
the international ratings.
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]
