Ukraine-The Future

[Boethius]

Yes, but that indirect funding is for NATO missions.  Afghanistan is the most significant NATO mission.

[JayH]

Often mentioned in the media and in discussion (particularly on forums by those promoting negative views of Ukraine)  is the difficulties of moving from the historic corruption and ways of getting  things done. This story covers some of that ground and also the potential difficulties of Russian influence on specific areas of Ukraine.

Often mentioned as such an area is Odessa- some have said it is easy to see it as Russian- a view that 18 months ago I would have given credence too-but now- like a lot of predominantly Russian speaking areas of Ukraine -the shift in general attitudes to seeing Ukraine as an independent self determining nation  is now how many in Odessa see the future.

This story covers many of the difficulties faced .Not the least is the general attitude of people-quote from article ---
"In Tatarbunary I overheard two older men discussing the new governor. “He’ll scream and make many enemies, but nothing is going to change,”

Similar comments have been made on forums from those with relatives in Ukraine and it epitomises and it does highlight the scepticism present in Ukraine to reform.
The political battle for Odessa is going to be interesting for a lot of reasons-we can only hope it can be won.I am in no doubt what the large majority want- the question is can that will prevail over the old Russian corruption.


Mission Impossible?


The former Georgian president takes on Ukraine’s most corrupt region. He’s got his work cut out for him.


ODESSA, UKRAINE — Mikheil Saakashvili — exiled president of Georgia, newly minted Ukrainian citizen, and recently appointed governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region — jumped out of a public bus with a broad smile on his sweaty face, pulling up his tight Hugo Boss jeans. He had just arrived in the remote village of Tatarbunary, where most of the residents live on $100 or less per month. As locals crowded around him, he was ebullient — and full of promises. He vowed to fix the bumpy highway that passes through the village on its way to nearby Romania, in the European Union. He also pledged to take on an allegedly corrupt political boss in the regional capital (also called Odessa). Saakashvili, a man who loves to grapple with political problems, had clearly come to the right place.

One local woman, clearly gratified to have the ear of a high-ranking official, didn’t mince her words: “Odessa businessmen grab our beaches and take over the seashore,” she complained. “And the one who sells our land is standing right next to you!” She pointed at local official Igor Belinsky, who was there to escort the governor around. Belinsky stared blankly, unsure how to respond. Yet Misha, as Saakashvili likes to call himself, wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he launched into a monologue about democracy and the need for reform, brushing away the awkward moment.

In the month since he was appointed to his new job by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Saakashvili has been working hard to establish his reputation as the man who’s going to clean up one of the most corrupt regions in this corrupt country. He has yelled at prosecutors and sent top bureaucrats packing. He has chewed out members of the business and political elite. And he has unveiled sweeping plans to fight corruption and revitalize Odessa’s sagging economy.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/15/mishas
-mission-impossible-odessa-saakashvili/?utm
_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=
email&utm_term=%2AEditors%
20Picks&utm_campaign=2015_
EditorsPicks_German_Embassy_July_15

[alex330]

Odessa is without a doubt a monumental task. I have read several encouraging stories coming out of the area recently as well though. And rumors of Western companies moving to the region. A high risk and high reward option for those willing to gamble.

[alex330]

Looks like Saakashvili is making sweeping changes in Odessa. With residency for foreign business men and customs changes there may be opportunities for Westerners opening up in the city very soon.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-23/in-ukraine-s-odessa-georgia-s-ex-president-takes-on-corruption

[JayH]

Interesting story that is very relevant to Ukrainian situation. We keep hearing that it is impossible to change endemic corruption-here is a country that is tackling it and changing the culture.
A point I have made to many people in Ukraine is that you do not have to invent your own wheel-there are many examples of other countries faced with similar problems that have successfully found new directions.

The Little Anti-Corruption Agency That Could

After humble beginnings in empty offices, Croatia’s anti-corruption body became a crusading national force.

 December 10, 2010, former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was driving with his brother on an Alpine highway when Austrian police stopped his car and arrested him under an international warrant. Sanader had fled Croatia a day earlier, hours before his colleagues in parliament — still led by his own party — stripped him of legislative immunity. The Austrians extradited him back home, where he was facing charges of large-scale corruption. After a year-long trial, he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, shortened to eight and a half on appeal, for illegal kickbacks totaling 10 million euros. (In late July 2015, he was granted a retrial.)

CorruptionCaseStudy5

At trial, Sanader’s graft was traced back two decades to what prosecutors described as “war profiteering” after the breakup of Yugoslavia, when Croatia fought to become an independent state. Prosecutors detailed all of Sanader’s illicit gains: a luxury villa, custom-made tuxedos, a €150,000 watch collection, and the historic art and suitcases of cash he stashed with his butcher before fleeing the country.

Remarkably, Sanader was not brought down by a popular uprising or a political witch hunt. Instead he was prosecuted by his own government, and more specifically by USKOK, Croatia’s anti-corruption agency, which had flourished under his rule. Far from the feeble bureaucracy it had once been, USKOK — a Croatian acronym for the “Bureau for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime” — had by this point become one of the world’s most formidable anti-corruption outfits.

Over the last decade, USKOK has successfully prosecuted more than two thousand defendants, achieving a conviction rate of roughly 95 percent.USKOK has successfully prosecuted more than two thousand defendants, achieving a conviction rate of roughly 95 percent. Besides Sanader, defendants have included a former deputy prime minister, a former vice president, three former ministers, a top general, the ambassador to the United Nations, and senior tax officials. Just this year, USKOK arrested and indicted Zagreb’s mayor on multiple charges of corruption and abuse of office.

It would not be far-fetched to say that USKOK secured the credibility of Croatian law enforcement and helped clinch Croatia’s 2013 accession to the European Union. The story of its turnaround holds lessons for anti-corruption agencies worldwide, many of which are still struggling to live up to their mandates.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/07/the-little-anti-corruption-agency-that-could/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=%2AEditors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2015_EditorsPicks_aug7

[jone]

Interesting story that is very relevant to Ukrainian situation. We keep hearing that it is impossible to change endemic corruption-here is a country that is tackling it and changing the culture.
A point I have made to many people in Ukraine is that you do not have to invent your own wheel-there are many examples of other countries faced with similar problems that have successfully found new directions.

The Little Anti-Corruption Agency That Could

After humble beginnings in empty offices, Croatia’s anti-corruption body became a crusading national force.

 December 10, 2010, former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was driving with his brother on an Alpine highway when Austrian police stopped his car and arrested him under an international warrant. Sanader had fled Croatia a day earlier, hours before his colleagues in parliament — still led by his own party — stripped him of legislative immunity. The Austrians extradited him back home, where he was facing charges of large-scale corruption. After a year-long trial, he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, shortened to eight and a half on appeal, for illegal kickbacks totaling 10 million euros. (In late July 2015, he was granted a retrial.)

CorruptionCaseStudy 5

At trial, Sanader’s graft was traced back two decades to what prosecutors described as “war profiteering” after the breakup of Yugoslavia, when Croatia fought to become an independent state. Prosecutors detailed all of Sanader’s illicit gains: a luxury villa, custom-made tuxedos, a €150,000 watch collection, and the historic art and suitcases of cash he stashed with his butcher before fleeing the country.

Remarkably, Sanader was not brought down by a popular uprising or a political witch hunt. Instead he was prosecuted by his own government, and more specifically by USKOK, Croatia’s anti-corruption agency, which had flourished under his rule. Far from the feeble bureaucracy it had once been, USKOK — a Croatian acronym for the “Bureau for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime” — had by this point become one of the world’s most formidable anti-corruption outfits.

Over the last decade, USKOK has successfully prosecuted more than two thousand defendants, achieving a conviction rate of roughly 95 percent.USKOK has successfully prosecuted more than two thousand defendants, achieving a conviction rate of roughly 95 percent. Besides Sanader, defendants have included a former deputy prime minister, a former vice president, three former ministers, a top general, the ambassador to the United Nations, and senior tax officials. Just this year, USKOK arrested and indicted Zagreb’s mayor on multiple charges of corruption and abuse of office.

It would not be far-fetched to say that USKOK secured the credibility of Croatian law enforcement and helped clinch Croatia’s 2013 accession to the European Union. The story of its turnaround holds lessons for anti-corruption agencies worldwide, many of which are still struggling to live up to their mandates.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/07/the-little-anti-corruption-agency-that-could/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=%2AEditors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2015_EditorsPicks_aug7

That IS quite a remarkable story.

[Anotherkiwi]

That IS quite a remarkable story.

Which proves that anything IS possible. 

[JayH]

Another interesting article. Once again you can see mainstream journalism mirroring some informed comments made on the forums over the last  twenty months.
There was another link to a story  I was going to post dealing with the progress being made-- and how those close to situation were not seeing it.From time to time we have had people try to tell us that nothing had changed etc  because their friend/relatives etc said so. I have always seen how hard it is to assess when you a living it-- and how much clearer it was with the widespread information that became available in the west-- and of course-in Ukraine itself.
Last year--one of the exciting things to see & feel in Ukraine was the rise in patriotism- this story deals with some of that.

Russia and the Battle for Ukraine’s Hearts and Minds

Russia and the Battle for Ukraine’s Hearts and Minds
August 10, 2015 - 1:02pm, by Eugene Chausovsky Russia Ukraine EurasiaNet's Weekly Digest Ukrainian Crisis
EurasiaNet Commentary

Russian President Vladimir Putin has become enemy number one in Ukraine. The longer the conflict in eastern Ukraine drags on, the further the Ukrainian public is likely to psychologically drift away from Russia. (Photo: European Union)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has become enemy number one in Ukraine. The longer the conflict in eastern Ukraine drags on, the further the Ukrainian public is likely to psychologically drift away from Russia. (Photo: European Union)

Russia may have the upper hand in the war in eastern Ukraine, but it is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian nation. As a result, the more Russian leader Vladimir Putin tries to pull strings, the more he weakens the cultural and historical ties that have long bound Russia and Ukraine.
 
Ukraine has experienced a fundamental shift in public opinion since the EuroMaidan uprising in late 2013 – early 2014. And the transformation has been startlingly fast. The cultural and linguistic connections between the two Slavic peoples were such that pretty much no one in Ukraine could have predicted two years ago that their country would be in a fight today against Russia.
 
Now, in the midst of war, things have visibly changed in the country. Outside the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, in many of the country’s large cities national flags are found in abundance in places where they were hardly seen just two years before. Billboards and signs call on citizens to support the war effort, while stores and cafes in cities like Lviv house donation buckets to help the poorly equipped security forces. In Kyiv, the same souvenir stands that used to sell Soviet paraphernalia, such as KGB flasks and busts of Lenin, now sell Azov battalion t-shirts and toilet paper with Putin’s face on it.
 
Among many of Ukraine’s citizens, even those that were previously apolitical or had a favorable view of Russia, Putin has become enemy number one. “The ironic thing is that, while Putin supports the war in Donbas and tries to weaken Ukraine, he has done more to build Ukrainian solidarity and patriotism than anyone else as a result of this conflict,” said Mikhail Stepanskiy, a Kyiv resident and creative director of a branding agency.
 
While central and western Ukraine has decidedly turned away from Russia and towards Europe, public attitudes are more nuanced in cities like Kharkiv and Odessa. Culturally and historically closer to Russia, the inhabitants of those two areas tend to be more skeptical about the aims of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, especially the stated desire for the country to move closer to the European Union and NATO.
 
But even there pro-Russian sentiment has failed to gain much ground and those regions remain firmly rooted in Ukraine. “The economic situation is difficult enough as it is, we don’t want to become another Donetsk or Luhansk,” said Tatyana, a pensioner from Kharkiv. She added that while she does not trust Poroshenko (“he is just another oligarch”), Ukraine does need someone to stand up to Putin, who “has a Napoleon complex and is trying to make history as another Russian tsar.”
 
The shift in attitudes among ordinary Ukrainians, both in terms of greater animosity towards Russia and greater patriotism on the home front, is in some ways more important to consider in assessing the future of the country than the current state of the fighting. On the battlefield, Russia has been able to facilitate the splitting off of the Donbas from Ukraine. Russian military power is simply too much for Ukraine’s fledgling security forces, even with the increased financial and material support from the West, and the one thing that most everyone in Ukraine agrees on is that the war is not likely to end anytime soon.
 
But the irony is that the longer the conflict in eastern Ukraine drags on, the further the Ukrainian public is likely to psychologically drift away from Russia. Combined with a new post-Soviet generation coming of age in the country, this will make soft power all the more difficult for Russia to wield in Ukraine. Even Moscow’s tried and true hard-power tactics of energy cutoffs, trade squeezes, and political manipulation are no longer as potent as they once were. The main problem with this, however, is that it may force the Kremlin to adopt an even more aggressive posture down the line, as Putin is not known as someone to back down.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/74611

[JayH]

One of the comments you hear( & not just from the nay sayers on forums) is that nothing will change in Ukraine. I have always seen ( in my more recent interest in Ukraine) a thirst for reform and change. Maidan represented massive changes and new directions.
The question often asked is how?
This is another positive story-- and before anyone says it-- no one ever said any reform would be easy--but the overiding driving force is the overwhelming desire of the people for it. My view-- every step counts-every little gain will help provide the leverage for more gains and reforms.
For me-- so much of this is exciting to see- back in 2010 there was a feeling of frustration and disappointment  at the failure of the "Orange" revolution  to live up to it's potential. Now in 2015 Ukraine is really doing it!!

No wonder Putin is wetting his pants at the prospect of  a free democratic Ukraine! Imagine how this is going to look in 10 years time when the reforms in Ukraine have a chance to work and will have created a new Ukraine!


 Ukrainians seeking to transform government from key posts


Since the EuroMaidan Revolution, many Ukrainians who lived in the West have dropped their well-paid jobs and returned to Ukraine, inspired to change the country with their newly aquired knowledge.

So far, they have achieved mixed success in key government roles, where they have not always been welcomed.

In March 2014, a group of the Ukrainian alumni of the Western universities launched the Professional Government Initiative to help authorities overcome the economic downturn by matching educated Ukrainians with government bodies in need of professionals.

Members of the Harvard Club of Ukraine, followed by alumni from the London School of Economics, INSEAD business school, Columbia University, University of Oxford, Cambridge and others joined the initiative. Today it unites more than 3,000 Ukrainians willing to offer their skills to the government.

Their mission is to help Ukraine achieve what the West expects of it: accelerate economic reforms, eliminate corruption, strengthen the rule of law and democracy, and promote a transparent hiring process for government positions.

To bring professionals into government Professional Government Initiative started a website for hiring, www.proukrgov.org. Now one can upload a CV to the website’s database of professionals. When a government body addresses the initiative with a list of vacancies, it gets a list of suitable candidates within 24 hours.

Professional Government Initiative already found jobs for more than 50 applicants. Its coordinator Oleg Goncharenko says that while the young  Ukrainians want to work for the state, the state doesn’t always want them.

“The problem is that some people in the government are against newcomers,” he says.

Sergiy Konovets got hired as deputy board chairman at state-owned energy monopolist Naftogaz in May 2014. With an MBA from Switzerland, he applied with a CV, being at “an emotional peak after the Revolution of Dignity,” and was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.


http://www..com/content/ukraine/-395711.html

[JohnDearGreen]

From Gucci to GI Jane
http://tabloid.pravda.com.ua/photos/559a7afe1e733/

Look like Luda has her own Youtube channel new.  20 videos.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1F-IiLpK2a3GzCouG7Ro8A/featured

[JayH]

Some statistics that verify  on the ground observation-- the rise in numbers is important.

Survey: Record number of Ukrainians proud of nation

Last year’s popular uprising that ousted disgraced ex-President Viktor Yanukovych is often referred to as the Revolution of Dignity. It appears that the public’s self-respect has indeed surged as Russia's war against Ukraine has united the country.

A record 67 percent of the public say they are proud to be Ukrainian, the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Sociology found in a nationwide survey conducted in July.

The findings surpassed last year’s national pride record of 61 percent, following the EuroMaidan Revolution. The previous high had been 53 percent in 2005, when the public voted in Viktor Yushchenko as president in the wake of the Orange Revolution after a rigged election favored Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych’s failed candidacy in late 2004.

Regionally, Ukrainians are most proud in the west (80 percent), and least proud in the Donbas oblasts (45 percent) of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The survey’s 1,802 respondents were questioned outside of occupied Crimea and Russian-separatist controlled areas of Donbas.

Regional breakdown of national pride
West
Center
South
East
Donbas

Source: Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, nationwide survey (excluding Russian-occupied Crimea and areas of Donbas) of 1,802 respondents conducted on June 26-July 18.

Most people consider themselves citizens of Ukraine (58 percent), with 23 percent identifying first with their city or town of residence, and only 6 percent with a particular region.

Provincial or regional identification prevails in Donbas where 39 percent consider themselves first to be Ukrainian citizens, while either 25 percent identify with a municipality or 20 percent with their region.

It appears Ukrainians want more authority and functions devolved to regional governments with 42 percent favoring a unitary state with expanded regional powers, while 37 percent prefer status quo.

Only 8 percent favor a federalized government, a territorial structure that Russia has been endorsing.
Ukrainian national pride by select year




Source: Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, nationwide survey (excluding Russian-occupied Crimea and areas of Donbas) of 1,802 respondents conducted on June 26-July 18.

Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1991 was deemed the most positive historical national moment among 37 percent of respondents, followed by the allied victory in World World War II (31 percent).

Kozak leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky was chosen as one of three most positive historical figures by 29 percent of the public, followed by Ukraine’s post-World War I president Mykhailo Hrushevsky (21 percent) and Kyivan-Rus Prince Volodymyr the Great (18 percent).

The most negatively assessed historical figures relating to Ukraine were ex-President Viktor Yanukovych (51 percent), followed by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin (42 percent), and Vladimir Lenin and ex-President Viktor Yushchenko tied with 19 percent.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/survey-record-number-of-ukrainians-proud-of-nation-396272.html

[JayH]

More very interesting reading.The negative aspects of Ukraine's crisis get plenty of airing-- countering that are the many positive aspects and stories appearing now.

Hanna Hopko: With help, Ukraine will prevail in its fight for independence, liberty and dignity



Hanna Hopko is a member of Ukraine's parliament with the Samopomich faction. She chairs the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Foreign Affairs. She is a co-founder of the Reanimation Package of Reforms.



"Mom, when Putin is gone, then the war will end and you’ll be home with me?"

My aides were surprised by this unexpected question by my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Sophia, who was at my side during a parliamentary committee on foreign affairs meeting on the removal of sanctions against Iran.

We were examining how this would be another blow for Russia, what with a potential drop in oil prices. For the Russian economy, such a repercussion combined with stronger sanctions for the Kremlin's failure to comply with the Minsk accords, will soon become a nightmare for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will regret that he decided to annex Ukraine's Crimea.

Putin’s oligarchs are quickly coming to see that that global isolation will doom their own businesses as well as Russia as a whole. It is a shame for the Russian people.

The children of Ukraine know a lot about the war in eastern Ukraine, and understand what their parents are fighting for. The "peaceful” resolution of the situation in the east has cost Ukraine more than 7,000 lives. Among those, more than 70 children. Over 22,000 wounded. Over 1.4 million displaced persons, who are now adding their own efforts to nation-building.

How many children have been orphanraine is paying dearly for its choice to be independent of Russia's economy, energy and media, its choice to be strong and democratic.


When I look at the Shrine of St. Sophia and at my daughter, I believe and know that Ukraine will overcome! I believe in this, and every day with my colleagues put in the effort to make changes - we do not just watch from the sidelines, as did politicians in the wake of the the Orange Revolution of 2004. Every day we fight for a strong future for Ukraine.

Ukraine has much to offer the world: there is tremendous potential in modernizing the agricultural sector, as well as a hard-working, highly literate and educated people, and great potential in the weapons and space industries.

The fate of the world in the 21st century will not be decided by oil. For this reason, the United States, a key strategic partner, especially given its commitments in the Budapest Memorandum, has to understand the importance and high priority of countering Russian aggression to secure democracy in the post-Soviet region.

Ukraine has to become a successful model of victory for democratic values.

Ukrainians of the 21st century sacrificed their lives for dignity, for freedom!

The Ukrainian people are celebrating their Independence Day with faith in a peaceful future!

Thank you for your support – we look forward to your determined actions!


http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/hanna-hopko-with-help-ukraine-will-prevail-in-its-fight-for-independence-liberty-and-dignity-396378.html

[AkMike]

Thanks Jay! Good article.

[JayH]

Not so surprising to many of us with Ukraine connections--but it seems it is now being recognised more widely--if not exactly being conceded as a good thing !!


Assimilation of ethnic Russians in Ukraine should worry Moscow, Nevzorov says

An increasing number of ethnic Russians in Ukraine not only are identifying themselves as part of a civic nation in Ukraine but also are taking the next step and assimilating to the Ukrainian ethnic nation, a trend that Vyacheslav Nevzorov says Moscow should be worried about and that should be the focus of study by Russian scholars.

Nevzorov, who writes for the Topwar.ru portal, earlier sounded the alarm that ethnic Russians in Ukraine are quite attracted to the Ukrainian civic nation. Now, he is expressing concern about complete assimilation.

The Moscow commentator says that “the Russian super-ethnos,” which according to him included Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, is splitting up and that many “Russian-language people with classical Russian family names have fallen in love with ‘Ukraine’ as a project” and have added to the number of “Russian-language Ukrainians.”

According to Nevzorov, he has “lost many close relatives who were themselves born in Russia and came to Ukraine in the 1980s,” as well as many “fellow students… whose parents were sent from the RSFSR to the UkSSR.” And he says he wants to know why they are shifting their identities from Russian to Ukrainian.

Specifically, he says, he wants to know what lies behind the phenomenon in which his “relative at the door of [his] home told me: ‘Go back to your Russia!’” to the same city from which his relative had come originally.

“Today,” he continues, “it is fashionable to say that we have lost Russians in Ukraine only because” of Ukrainian propaganda and censorship that he says emerged after the Maidan. But in fact, the roots of what he calls the problem of the re-identification and assimilation of ethnic Russians in Ukraine have deeper roots.

Among the most important, Nevzorov says, were the de-industrialization of Ukraine and the collapse of Russian media between 1995 and 2003 “before the mass appearance of the Internet and cable television where Russians of Ukraine could form their own playlists” and maintain contact with their native culture.

Another cause is to be found in the Ukrainian educational system. Even where there are Russian-language schools, he says, these “do not give information about the history of Russia and Russian literature” but rather declare “in Russian” that “Bandera is a hero.” That helps create “Russian-language Russophobes.”

At present, he continues, this phenomenon has become large enough that Russian institutions must investigate it and provide answers to nine questions:

“Why in a country where there hasn’t appeared a single children’s film and only a couple of adult ones over the last 24 years are Russian-language young people drawn not to Russia but have been enthusiastic about the ethno-culture of Halychyna?” [Note: By using the term “Halychyna,” which was a medieval princedom with territory straddling western Ukraine, eastern Poland and Slovakia, Nevzorov shows his geographic incompetence and his desire to diminish the ethnic Ukrainian culture in the rest of Ukraine, which had survived despite centuries of forced Russification by Russian tzars and communists. – Ed.]
“How has the rejection of the Soviet project influenced the assimilation of ethnic Russians in a fraternal Slavic culture on a fragment of Soviet Russia?”
“How has consumerism led to the formation of a Ukrainian political nation” and “why have glamorous Russian-language girls and guys begun to wear in night clubs vyshyvankas [traditional Ukrainian clothes] rather than Versace and Gucci?”
“What is Halychyna” not only generally but for Russians in Ukraine? Why have the village and the village worldview won over Russian-language cities like Kharkiv, Odesa, Dniprpetrovsk and even Zaporizhzhya?”
“Is the absorption and assimilation of Russians in more radically different non-Slavic cultures possible?”
Why does Ukrainian education have such an influence on Russians?
What is the proper role of the Black Sea Fleet in maintaining Russian identity in Crimea?
How did Russia’s problems in the 1990s affect how Russians in Ukraine saw Russia and their own futures?
Can this process of assimilation be stopped and reversed or have things gone beyond the point of no return?
For all his emotionalism, Nevzorov raises three points which many in Russia and the West have been unwilling to address:

First, it is not just Russian-speaking Ukrainians who have joined Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians to form a civic nation in Ukraine over the last two decades; it included Russian-speaking Russians who have done so as well.
Second, this pattern reverses what was typical in Soviet times and one that Russians and many others have assumed is the only one available – that Russians assimilate other peoples, not the other way around. But today, Russians are being assimilated not just politically but ethnically in many places and in the first instance Ukraine.
And third, that highlights something that even fewer people have been willing to consider up to now: Russian national identity, despite Moscow’s bombast and the assumption that assimilation only goes in the Russian direction is fact often far weaker than the national identities of other peoples on the post-Soviet space — even when these nations continue to use Russian.
For many ethnic Russians, as Nevzorov’s words suggest, those three things constitute an existential threat; but for many non-Russians, and especially now for Ukrainians, they provide a basis for hope in the future, something all too many of their ancestors had despaired of ever having.


http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/08/29/assimilation-of-ethnic-russians-in-ukraine-should-worry-moscow-nevzorov-says/

[JayH]

The changes in Ukraine continue-- many pitfalls in the process but chances must be taken to reform the economy,What must happen--is that if the countries assets are to be sold-- the people must get the benefit generally and the country as a whole benefit.

Changing Ukraine will continue to be a struggle, one thing’s for sure: Done properly, privatization could be the game-changer that jumpstarts the political and economic reforms the country desperately needs.

Russia’s failed attempt to sell state companies fairly in its own 1990s privatization process demonstrates how high the stakes are.

 To make the privatization corruption-free, it should consist of two distinct steps. First, the government should select international investment banks to function as lead managers for each of these large enterprises. These banks would be responsible for preparing financial statements and bidding rules for each state enterprise, marketing it both domestically and internationally, and selecting the winning bidder.

Second, a committee of experts from one of Ukraine’s leading civil society organizations, such as Transparency International Ukraine, would be required to certify that the sales process was free of corruption. No final contract could be signed until this occurs. These steps would require the Ukrainian government to surrender some of its control over the process, and that would rankle — but it’s the whole point. The corrupt Ukrainian state has been by far the greatest impediment to the country’s success, and government officials simply cannot be trusted to run a graft-free privatization without oversight.



Smart Privatization Can Save Ukraine
How can Kiev save its moribund economy? By breaking the bonds between companies and the state.
 

      Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan revolution toppled a corrupt regime and promised Ukrainians radical change that would bring the country’s governance in line with European standards. But nearly two years later, reforms appear to have stalled. Ukraine’s parliament has passed only 59 out of 150 reform laws promoted by an alliance of leading civil society organizations amid allegations that the nation’s politicians are merely tinkering with a fundamentally corrupt system. The Democratic Initiatives Foundation has just released a poll indicating growing popular anger at the slow pace of change: Nearly 50 percent of Ukrainians believe nothing has been accomplished at all, while 25 percent feel only one-tenth of the needed reforms have been made. The country’s leaders, clearly feeling the heat, are starting to trade accusations about who’s most at fault. To head off populist unrest that could threaten Ukraine’s fragile democratic transition, Kiev needs to move forward with aggressive reforms— and quick.Kiev needs to move forward with aggressive reforms — and quick.

One step the government could immediately undertake to promote cleaner governance is to privatize the approximately 1,800 state-owned enterprises it still controls, including many of the largest firms in the country, mostly in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Many of these state companies are holdovers from the Soviet economy, which was entirely state-run (and woefully inefficient). If successfully implemented, privatization could play a critical role in jump-starting Ukraine’s war against corruption, as well as spurring on other sorely needed political and economic reforms. After initially planning to launch mass privatization in 2015, the government recently postponed the process until 2016. Ukraine should do everything in its power to meet this schedule — without further delays.

The single greatest benefit of privatization is that it would assist Ukraine’s desperate battle to free its governing institutions from the baleful influence of corrupt oligarchs. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has noted that “state companies have essentially fallen into the private hands of one political group or another.” Anders Aslund of the Atlantic Council agrees, arguing that the majority of Ukraine’s state-owned enterprises “have a shadow proprietor who taps them on money through opaque procurement or transfer-pricing schemes.”

Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky’s relationship with state-owned oil company Ukrnafta aptly demonstrates this phenomenon. Kolomoisky owns 43 percent of Ukrnafta and has controlled the company behind the scenes since the early 2000s. He has been accused by critics in the Ukrainian press and private sector of forcing the company to sell oil at below market prices to a bank under his control. This bank, in turn, sold the oil to Ukraine’s only refinery, which — you guessed it — is also owned by Kolomoisky. The oligarch is therefore reaping windfall profits on oil that belongs to the state.

Natural gas subsidies — which are meant to benefit the poor — are another example of how Ukraine’s state companies have enriched oligarchs and corrupt officials. According to Aslund, until recently, Ukraine’s government-subsidized household prices for gas were only 12 percent of its actual market price. With such a huge discrepancy, shadowy intermediaries run by corrupt oligarchs could bribe the right people necessary to buy this cheap subsidized gas from Naftogaz, the state-owned natural gas company, and then sell it to industrial consumers for a big markup.

Ukraine’s current International Monetary Fund loan commits it to phasing out natural gas subsidies, and on April 1 the government began to do so, thereby increasing the price the country’s households pay. But while global gas prices have dropped, Ukraine’s household gas prices are still only about 75 percent of the real market price. Ukraine has been through nine previous IMF agreements requiring natural gas price increases, but one oligarch or another has always found a way to induce the government to halt the price hikes. Unless this cycle ends, argues Aslund, “somebody else will pick up this business.” This is how removing valuable enterprises from state control can finally break the corrupt links between oligarchs, government officials, and state companies like Naftogaz.

The privatization experience of Estonia, another former Soviet republic, shows how privatization could diminish graft in Ukraine. Neil A. Abrams, a political risk consultant who’s writing a book on Ukrainian corruption, argues that, in Estonia, eliminating subsidies to all firms ended the privileged position of so-called “political capitalists” and helps explain Estonia’s clean governance today. Corruption is more deeply entrenched in Ukraine than it ever was in Estonia, but that only makes aggressive action like mass privatization all the more necessary.

While cleaner governance is the most critical advantage of privatization, there are economic benefits as well. Even the best-run state-owned enterprises are susceptible to political interference and are frequently run as vehicles for patronage, not as profit-seeking firms. Even Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy admits this, noting that Ukraine’s state enterprises posted aggregate total losses of almost six billion dollars in 2014. Privatized firms, by contrast, are guided by market forces, operate more efficiently, and focus on maximizing profit. A study comparing privatized companies to state-owned enterprises found that privatization resulted in increased output, profits, and investments, and that these beneficial outcomes grew as more time since privatization passed. In short, privatizing Ukraine’s failing state-run firms could turn them into productive economic engines which would help boost its desperately sagging economy — and pay the government taxes on their profits, to boot.

Privatization would also provide a more direct boon to Ukraine’s budget by eliminating expensive subsidies, thereby promoting macro-economic reform. To survive, the country’ state-owned enterprises suck up government subsidies like a black hole to the tune of at least 10 percent of GDP in 2014 alone. State enterprises have also accumulated liabilities of over 12 percent of GDP. These liabilities represent a huge fiscal risk to Ukraine, as future budgets would be consumed by paying down these debts. With Ukraine’s public debt to GDP ratio expected hit an unsustainable 94 percent by the end of the year, the sooner Ukraine finishes privatization, the sooner it can begin reducing its debt load. Ending the explosive growth of public debt will not solve all of Ukraine’s problems, but it would buy Kiev time to make further progress on its reform agenda.

It’s crucial to note that what Ukraine needs is successful privatization. If the process is carried out as corruptly as everything else in Ukraine, it could only make things worse. Russia’s failed attempt to sell state companies fairly in its own 1990s privatization process demonstrates how high the stakes are.Russia’s failed attempt to sell state companies fairly in its own 1990s privatization process demonstrates how high the stakes are. After the Yeltsin government sold many of its largest state enterprises for pennies on the dollar to oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Potanin in the corrupt “loans for shares” scheme, the entire reform process was discredited. Today, Russians still associate privatization and economic liberalization with poverty and chaos, preferring Putin’s authoritarian system of state capitalism, where the largest enterprises in the country are state-owned. Given Ukraine’s volatile politics, a corrupt privatization process could not only discredit the entire reform agenda — it could topple the government.

To ensure that privatization helps Ukraine’s reforms rather than discrediting them, the private sector and civil society must be involved from the start. For the sake of transparency, all state companies but the 100 largest should be sold at open electronic auctions, with the bidding and results publicly available for anybody to see. Transparency International Ukraine, an anti-corruption watchdog, recently helped create just such an e-auction system for public procurement called ProZorro. This system — or something similar to it — should be used to privatize the country’s smaller enterprises. Even a one-dollar winning bid should be accepted, since the ultimate objective is to get these companies off the government’s balance sheet.

The 100 largest state enterprises — which account for 82 percent of assets and 80 percent of sales of Ukraine’s total state-owned enterprise sector — are more complex, and a simple e-auction will not be sufficient. Many are money-losing, but possess valuable assets and could be profitable in the right hands.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/05/smart-privatization-can-save-ukraine/

[JayH]

There is now much more optimism being generally expressed about the future for Ukraine--here is an interesting article and   assessment .


Turkey's ambassador says Ukraine has 'lost too much time,' must make faster changes

While acknowledging Turkey’s accession process “has been going very slowly and unfairly” because of double standards in the EU, the ambassador is more hopeful about Turkey’s ultimate membership. “If the EU wants to be a place where it can affect universal values and can be an international actor, then Turkey has a lot to offer,” he said.

Turkey’s desire to meet EU requirements has made its democratic institutions and economy more competitive, translating into greater prosperity for the nation’s 79 million people and the world’s 16th largest economy. “EU membership for Turkey is a serious strategic choice simply because we want to give our people better political, economy and social standards,” Tezel said.

Turkey’s advances didn’t happen overnight and, “as difficult as it is, Ukraine has to go through that, too,” although “they have lost too much time since their independence...it’s already it’s already late. Things should go faster.”


But this is one ambassador who knows how quickly Ukraine can change when it wants to do so.
He arrived in February 2014, when President Viktor Yanukovych remained in power as the EuroMaidan Revolution was reaching its peak. Then Petro Poroshenko became president in June 2014. Then, in Turkey, Erdogan assumed the presidency in August 2014. Consequently, it was not until September 2014 that Tezel presented his credentials to Poroshenko.

The 50-year-old Istanbul native, a married father of three children, said that some consider him naive about Ukraine. He prefers to see himself as an optimist with good reasons to believe in Ukraine.

He tells businesspeople that “we believe in the potential of Ukraine, the new Ukraine in the making. It is difficult. It will take some years, but with its human resources, natural resources, geography and location, this country has a bright future.” He agrees with his Western colleagues who say that “more needs to be seen and felt by the people. This is the chance. I don’t want to say it’s now or never. You should never say never. But this is the right time. People want it. The Ukrainian people deserve it.”

But in the end, it’s up to Ukraine.

“Europeans and the world will not solve Ukraine’s problems. Ukrainians will solve them. And Ukrainians cannot import Ukrainians from the moon. They have to do it. It is first and foremost a Ukrainian issue. We are ready to help.”

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/business/turkeys-ambassador-ukraine-has-lost-too-much-time-must-make-faster-changes-400463.html

[JayH]

This could be posted in the "MORE BAD NEWS" for Russia thread--  while it is that--it is good news for Ukraine. Removing any dependence on Russia for anything at all can only enhance the future for Ukraine-- and not having to deal with Russian stupidity can only accelerate the path to a better future,

Ukraine looks to shed dependence on Russian LPG


Ukraine, an important consumer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is tentatively turning to Western suppliers as it aims to wean itself off Russian and Belarusian imports.

Political strife between Ukraine and Russia means there is a risk of disruption, or a complete halt, of Russian LPG supplies as has happened with natural gas in the past, traders say.

Consumption of propane and butane in Ukraine is growing at a rate of 15 percent a year on average and analysts forecast a 60 percent increase to 1.6 million tonnes by 2020. They expect the share of imported LPG to rise to 80 percent from 60 percent now.

LPG is becoming more popular with motorists as it has been 40 to 50 percent cheaper than gasoline throughout 2015, market participants say.

Russia and Belarus account for over 90 percent of LPG imports but Ukraine has recently made trial purchases in eastern and western Europe, including from Poland, Hungary and the Netherlands, market participants said.



http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/03/us-ukraine-lpg-analysis-idUSKCN0SO29120151103#6mG2kuiQ9BkV1rml.97

[fathertime]

Boy the Europeans are acting like a bunch of elitist dicks over this one.  Individual states shouldn't be penalized over something like their position on gays. It is their country/religion.  Why the hell should Europe try to mold countries to THEIR standards. Although I'm for gay rights here in the states, I would respect another country's position/law on the matter. I'm glad Ukraine is sticking to their guns.   

Ukraine snubs free travel to Europe over anti-gay law



Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's parliament Thursday scuppered the ex-Soviet country's chances of visa-free travel to most EU nations by blocking legislation that would have banned discrimination against gays in the workplace.

The pro-EU leadership that replaced the Moscow-backed president last year has made it a priority to join the Schengen zone -- a club of EU countries that allows visa and passport-free travel to more than 400 million people.

But the European Union said in 2010 that Ukrainians being allowed free travel depended in part on Kiev adding a clause to its Soviet-era labour code that would ban all forms of discrimination against..........

http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-snubs-free-travel-europe-over-anti-gay-200046051.html;_ylt=AwrSbnriAzxWoJ0ArgpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyb3Vvc2ZsBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQTAxOTdfMQRzZWMDc2M-


Fathertime! 

[fathertime]

Ukraine Is in Danger of Becoming a Failed State




The most effective thing Russian President Vladimir Putin did to destabilize Ukraine was the one thing the West was demanding: He leaned on pro-Russian separatists in the country's east to cease fire. Left without the much-used cover of a war, the internal divisions and dysfunctional core of the Ukrainian political elite didn't take long to reveal itself. Rather than the democratic hope it might have become after last year's "Revolution of Dignity," Ukraine now looks like just another incompetent and corrupt post-Soviet regime. It's no wonder cracks are appearing in Kiev's all-important relationship with the West....



http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-11-06/unreformed-ukraine-is-self-destructing?cmpid=yhoo.headline&ref=yfp




Interesting....I wonder how this may change the end game in Ukraine. 


Fathertime! 

[Boethius]

He isn't saying anything I haven't posted here for years.   However, the judiciary was, while not completely corrupt free, relatively fair under Yushchenko.  The massive corruption now existing is a Yanukovych legacy.

I actually view the role of the U.S. and the EU in internal Ukrainian politics as net positives.  They should be putting pressure on those politicians - no, you can't park your money outside the country, no, we won't fund your country without real reform. 

[deccie]

Interesting story that is very relevant to Ukrainian situation. We keep hearing that it is impossible to change endemic corruption-here is a country that is tackling it and changing the culture.
A point I have made to many people in Ukraine is that you do not have to invent your own wheel-there are many examples of other countries faced with similar problems that have successfully found new directions.

The Little Anti-Corruption Agency That Could

After humble beginnings in empty offices, Croatia’s anti-corruption body became a crusading national force.

 December 10, 2010, former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was driving with his brother on an Alpine highway when Austrian police stopped his car and arrested him under an international warrant. Sanader had fled Croatia a day earlier, hours before his colleagues in parliament — still led by his own party — stripped him of legislative immunity. The Austrians extradited him back home, where he was facing charges of large-scale corruption. After a year-long trial, he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, shortened to eight and a half on appeal, for illegal kickbacks totaling 10 million euros. (In late July 2015, he was granted a retrial.)

CorruptionCaseStudy5

At trial, Sanader’s graft was traced back two decades to what prosecutors described as “war profiteering” after the breakup of Yugoslavia, when Croatia fought to become an independent state. Prosecutors detailed all of Sanader’s illicit gains: a luxury villa, custom-made tuxedos, a €150,000 watch collection, and the historic art and suitcases of cash he stashed with his butcher before fleeing the country.

Remarkably, Sanader was not brought down by a popular uprising or a political witch hunt. Instead he was prosecuted by his own government, and more specifically by USKOK, Croatia’s anti-corruption agency, which had flourished under his rule. Far from the feeble bureaucracy it had once been, USKOK — a Croatian acronym for the “Bureau for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime” — had by this point become one of the world’s most formidable anti-corruption outfits.

Over the last decade, USKOK has successfully prosecuted more than two thousand defendants, achieving a conviction rate of roughly 95 percent.USKOK has successfully prosecuted more than two thousand defendants, achieving a conviction rate of roughly 95 percent. Besides Sanader, defendants have included a former deputy prime minister, a former vice president, three former ministers, a top general, the ambassador to the United Nations, and senior tax officials. Just this year, USKOK arrested and indicted Zagreb’s mayor on multiple charges of corruption and abuse of office.

It would not be far-fetched to say that USKOK secured the credibility of Croatian law enforcement and helped clinch Croatia’s 2013 accession to the European Union. The story of its turnaround holds lessons for anti-corruption agencies worldwide, many of which are still struggling to live up to their mandates.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/07/the-little-anti-corruption-agency-that-could/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=%2AEditors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2015_EditorsPicks_aug7

And yet there is absolutely no details as to what his corrupt actions actually were? No evidence whatsoever?

[BillyB]

I actually view the role of the U.S. and the EU in internal Ukrainian politics as net positives.  They should be putting pressure on those politicians - no, you can't park your money outside the country, no, we won't fund your country without real reform.

Putting some controls on money isn't going to change their character. The West needs to get rid of corrupt politicians if Ukraine is going to climb out of this hole. Another option is to strong arm them like Putin would do to out of line rebels to alter their behavior.

[JayH]

The reforms that are needed are a battle in themselves.Despite the scepticism expressed here on forum and in media generally-- Ukraine is attempting to change much of this.Given all the issues the Government has in front of it the naysayers need to give reform a chance- instead of giving us the "nothing will change" line.


Publicity Stunts Start War On Corruption

Several highly publicized arrests and raids are part of what President Petro Poroshenko claims is the start of a renewed law enforcement crackdown on top-level crime and corruption.

Others dismiss the recent events, however, as publicity stunts by an administration and government unwilling to surrender political control of a corrupt, subservient and ineffective judicial system.

“We don’t have justice here but just a show, and as long as our prosecutor general is a puppet, the show will go on,” Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, told the Kyiv Post.

Even Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk acknowledged the scope of the problem, saying last month that he wants all of the nation’s 9,000 judges fired because “the key corruption is still in the judiciary.” He also pledged to support the creation of a state investigative agency and to curb the prosecutorial powers, which he described as a “huge monster that controls everything in this country - starting with every single investigation and ending with every single investigation. This is not right.”

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/publicity-stunts-start-war-on-corruption-401475.html

[Boethius]

Ukraine expert Alexander Motyl on Donbas.  I agree with him.

If Putin’s proxies are less strategically daft than he is, they might push for reintegration and thereby put Ukraine in the hot seat. As absolutely everyone knows, the enclave—and indeed the whole Donbas, even the part occupied by Ukrainian forces—has been and still is ruled by criminal clans, criminal oligarchs, criminal mafias, and—the latest twist—criminal separatists and criminal warlords. Most of the population is unremittingly hostile to everything the new Ukraine stands for. The economy is in ruins.

If anyone knows how Ukraine is supposed to reintegrate this cancerous region without infecting itself in the process, please tell me.  The challenge would be enormous even if Ukraine defeated the Russian separatists and occupied the territory. And Ukraine has not defeated the rebels. Nor will it ever occupy the enclave and impose its will without reigniting the war.  Instead, Ukraine will have to reintegrate an unreconstructed and unreconstructable region. That’s what Minsk-2 mandates. And that’s been the declared goal of the Ukrainian political establishment.  As they say, be careful what you wish for. It may come true.

There’s only one way for a potentially reintegrated Donbas enclave to wreak minimal damage on Ukraine.  Kyiv should quarantine the territory and its thugs by giving it, and them, almost complete sovereignty within a confederal relationship with Ukraine.   Neither Kyiv nor the enclave would interfere in each other’s internal or external political affairs. Both sides would pursue their own economic policies, refrain from subsidizing each other, keep all the taxes they collect, and pursue trade with whomever they desire. Each side would be responsible for law and order, speak whichever language it desires, remember what it wants to remember, and honor whomever it wants to honor. Other issues would be stickier (Would there be one army or two? Would the enclave pursue its own foreign policy? Would there be one president or two?), but not immune to creative solutions.

Russia and its separatist thugs—along with France, Germany, and the United States—would be hard-pressed to say nyet to such a deal, while Kyiv and Ukraine’s hotheads could claim victory and declare that Ukraine is whole again.

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/alexander-j-motyl/cautionary-note-reintegrating-donbas

[ML]

Very good article Boe.

Ochka has told me many times that she does not wish to see this cancerous region reintegrated into Ukraine.

After what the people in the East have done to Ukraine, she doesn't see how good and honorable Ukrainians can ever accept them as fellow citizens.

It may be a conundrum.  Reintegrate and the Eastern terrorists will work to destroy Ukraine from the inside.

Keep the Eastern terrorists out, and they will continue to work from the outside to destroy Ukraine.