Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Post tracks the progress made by Ukraine’s post-EuroMaidan Revolution leaders in making structural changes in the public interest in a broad range of areas, from the defense and energy sectors, to taxation and pensions. Below is the main issue in focus from Dec. 1-8.
Summary
The news that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had been freed by a court in Kyiv late on Dec. 11, pending trial, left Ukraine watchers scratching their heads. Ukrainian courts have been known to rule in favor of those in power — so not many expected the court to release a political foe of President Petro Poroshenko.
Saakashvili, who had been arrested on Dec. 8 after two botched attempts to detain him in the preceding days, stands accused of being an accomplice of an organized crime group — meaning former President Viktor Yanukovych and his associates. Many, including Pechersk Court Judge Larysa Tsokol, apparently think the charges are flimsy. Some think he’s merely the latest victim of politically motivated attacks for support of Poroshenko’s impeachment.
But only the most optimistic watchers took Saakashvili’s release without bail as the evidence of progress being made in rule of law.
Other signs — attacks on anti-corruption agencies, absence of prosecution of top officials accused of corruption, continually to delay the creation of the anti-corruption court — show that even the smallest improvements since the EuroMaidan Revolution that drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2014 could be taken away.
Additionally, it’s always good to remember, nobody of consequence has ever been convicted of major corruption since Ukraine’s independence in 1991.
In other fields, the week brought some positive news.
Parliament canceled customs fee for electric cars, making them more affordable to Ukrainians.
Another thing to become more affordable to Ukrainians: flights. The first Ukrainian low-cost airline will start operating in April 2018.
Rule of law
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, better known as NABU, has been seen as one of the successes of rule of law reform, although its resources — 800 employees compared to 15,000 in the General Prosecutor’s Office, 40,000 in the Security Service of Ukraine and 150,000 in the Interior Ministry — indicates the low priority of fighting corruption in Ukraine.
But at the same time, the independent bureau has been suffering from attempts to sabotage its work coming from the parliament and other, traditional law enforcement institutions.
Another problem with the NABU is the continued absence of an anti-corruption court — an entirely new court that would hear high-level corruption cases.
Poroshenko has been delaying the creation of the new court for months and, according to the latest reports, it may not appear late next year.
On Dec. 12, Reuters reported that according to Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko, the government will attempt to pass legislation in February next year to set up such a court with implementation in the following 6–8 months.
The court is one of the conditions under which Ukraine was granted a $17.5 billion loan by the International Monetary Fund. The fund has delayed regular disbursals since April because of the government’s lack of reform progress.
Infrastructure
Ukraine is to launch its own budget airline to help Ukrainians take advantage of the visa-free travel regime with Schengen Area countries granted by the European Union this summer.
The new budget carrier, named SkyUp, will offer its first flights in April.
At the ceremony announcing the launching of the new airline, Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan introduced SkyUp as a “national airline.” In fact, SkyUp is a privately owned company founded by Yuri Alba, the man behind a tour operator Join UP!
According to the general director of SkyUp, Yevheniy Khainatskyi, the company will operate international charter flights from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odesa airports to 16 cities in Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Albania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus. Domestically, SkyUp will connect Odesa with Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv. Ticket prices will start at Hr 499 ($18.50) one way.
In other good news, Verkhovna Rada on Dec. 7 passed a bill that exempts imports of electric cars from value-added tax and excise duty.
The bill aims “to reduce Ukraine’s energy dependence on foreign powers, reduce the level of environmental pollution, and introduce modern, safe and efficient technologies to the country’s road transport system,” the lawmakers wrote in the bill’s explanatory note. Ukrainians will benefit from the amendments starting Jan. 1. The cut in the tax will last for one year.
Energy
Ukrainian state oil and gas company Naftogaz of Ukraine is in talks with Italian company Snam on partnering in the management of Ukraine’s gas transport network, Interfax Ukraine reported on Dec. 11.
Snam, previously a subsidiary of Italian multinational oil and gas firm ENI, operates gas transport and storage systems in Italy, and also works through associated companies in Austria, France, and the United Kingdom.
Yuriy Vitrenko, Naftogaz of Ukraine’s chief commercial director, said the involvement of Snam would increase trust in the Ukrainian gas transport system.
“The approach is very simple,” Vitrenko said. “If Snam, an Italian company that was previously a subsidiary of ENI … if they are a partner in the management of the gas transport system, then ENI will trust the Ukrainian gas transport system, and it will be much the more likely that they will buy gas at the Russian-Ukrainian border.”
Meanwhile, Naftogaz of Ukraine Chairman Andriy Kobolev on Dec. 12 urged the United States to do more to stop Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline project.
Kobolev made the call during a visit to Washington D. C. where he had meetings with officials from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump and members of the U. S. Congress.
“Nord Stream 2 will not only blow up the Ukrainian economy and allow Russia to blackmail the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it will also eliminate the only factor that is now forcing Russia to maintain some stability in eastern Ukraine,” Kobolev said. “Under such conditions, Moscow will be able to launch a full-scale war in eastern Ukraine, and the United States should not allow it,” he said.
The North Stream 2 project involves the construction and operation of a second undersea gas pipeline, with a total transport capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, from the coast of Russia under the Baltic Sea, to Germany. The new pipeline is planned to laid next to the already existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
According to Naftogaz of Ukraine estimates, the construction of Nord Stream 2 will deprive Ukraine of gas transit revenues and reduce the investment attractiveness of the country’s gas transport system.
Naftogaz has also repeatedly complained that Russian oil and gas company Gazprom is not complying with its contractual obligation to transport 110 billion cubic meters of gas a year via the territory of Ukraine.
