The Spring Cleaning Government

Enough time has passed since Petro Poroshenko’s inauguration for it to become clear: Arseniy Yatseniuk will remain at his post of Prime Minister.

“Why depose him? He is in his place!” Stated one of the high officials of the President’s Administration not long before the change of government.

And really, it does seem that Arseniy Yarseniuk is in his rightful place.

The current government cannot be compared to the previous one.

It is working under the conditions, in which Ukraine has lost part of its territory and is in the state of military conflict. This conflict is being heated increasingly by the country’s once-main economical partner – Russia.

The latest “friendly” move of the neighbouring state is the demand that Ukraine pay a huge political price for gas, which has resulted in the shutdown of the pipeline and mutual plaints to the Stockholm court.

Taking into account all the events and the difference in weight categories of the two states, Ukraine will have to face difficulties. When evaluating the work of the government, the influence of external factors cannot be ignored.

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Volodymyr Groysman: “In the nearest 5-10 years Ukraine will be the most interesting country in Europe”

Volodymyr Groysman’s tenure as vice Prime Minister could have ended after the 100 days that he had worked in Arseniy Yatseniuk’s team. Immediately after the inauguration, President Petro Poroshenko asked him to lead his Administration. Groysman refused, motivating it with the necessity to finish what he started in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Essentially, the reform of local government. 

“If we are to give power to the oblasts, we will get feudal principalities; no, the power should be delegated to territorial communities directly,” says Groysman. In “civilian life,” so before Maidan, the young mayor of Vinnytsya was considered one of the most successful mayors in the country. Mobilised to the government, today he works in the office he inherited from Olexandr Vilkil and Boris Kolesnikov.

Groysman has already prepared the theoretical basis of the reform, the realisation of which in practice is being halted by war. In addition, purely political circumstances are unfolding as well: the new Constitution, re-election, without which any means will be half-baked.

This interview is the dissolution of stereotypes. The stereotype that decentralisation is something extremely complex and complicated, that one cannot make sense of that. That it is not beneficial to regular citizens, but the local elites, which are simply fooling the regular citizens. That decentralisation and coherent budget policies are discordant. That Donbas is unique in its demands to be “heard in Kyiv.” 

“I remember the social investigations that were conducted from time to time in central Ukraine. In particular, in Vinnytsya. The measures of non-acceptance of the central government: the President, Prime Minister, its other representatives, is stably over 50%. Anti-ratings were simply off the scale,” says Groysman. 

What Yatseniuk’s Cabinet of Ministers achieved in 100 days

The government has carried out the plans in regard to collaboration with the IMF. The least progress is in the social sphere. 

Arseniy Yatseniuk’s Cabinet of Ministers has passed the 100-day barrier, after which the moratorium on the criticism of the government’s work ends. But the majority of the experts surveyed by Forbes are not hasty to make use of this right now. Their verdict: under conditions of war, the Cabinet of Ministers has done everything possible, and it is at least naïve to demand reform, even those they had promised and those that are very relevant. 

Poroshenko’s first appointments: Russia’s friend, a conformist and “freaking donut”

The appointments made by the President today elicited many questions. The most important one is whether he had forgotten Maidan’s demand regarding government lustration. 

DS analysed the first presidential appointments. We remind you that today the post of the head of the Administration of the President was given to a known media magnate Boris Lozhkin, his deputies are Zhitomir-born associate of Yatseniuk’s Hennadiy Zubko and the “servant of all Tsars” Oleg Rafalskiy. The head of the National State of Affairs henceforth will be a member of Leonid Chernovetskiy’s “young team” Sergiy Berezenko. 

Petro Poroshenko’s speech at the inauguration: full text

Petro Poroshenko

The new President of Ukraine started speaking Russian when addressing the citizens of Donbas. The speech was interrupted several times by the applause of Parliament members and guests.

Donbas: the attempt at proletarian revenge (press review)

The Russian weapons have turned the territories controlled by separatists into a real military stage. Part of the population supports the rebels, as they are promising the renewal of order and Soviet values. As “Ukrayinskiy Tyzhden” writes, the separatists see themselves as heirs of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic war, “have to oppose America and Germany,” “neo-nazis” and “imperialists.” But this is not all. They also want to renew “social justice” and establish the government of “civil communities.” In the first weeks of the conflict, this Soviet dimension was not too noticeable, notes the medium. In Donetsk and Luhansk, “people’s courts” have already appeared, which punish those who are disagreeable, as well as a secret police, which was modestly dubbed the “NKVD.” The separatists dream to once again nationalise the local economy and destroy the oligarchs.

The Achievements of the New Government Within 3 Months

1. The Constitution of 2004 has been returned. The usurping of power by the President has been eliminated.
2. Mezhygirya and other mansions of government officials built on stolen funds have been confiscated.
3. Corteges and blocking roads for officials have been liquidated.
4. All political prisoners have been freed from jail.
5. All illegitimately condemned have been freed from jail (the Pavlichenko, Zaporozhets families etc.).
6. Fences and boom barriers near government buildings have been dismounted.
7. “Berkut” has been eliminated.
8. Ukraine received the invitation to join the European Union.
9. Gas reversal from Europe has been organised, gas purchases from Russia have been decreased threefold.
10. 1 billion Euros’ worth of financial aid received, as well as 10 billion Euros’ worth of loans with a minimal rate from the EU.
11. Government officials are flying economy to international meetings.
12. Activists have been to the homes of Yatseniuk and Timoshenko without any obstacles.
13. The European Union has opened the borders for Ukrainian goods. Around 98% of the customs taxes have been annulled.
14. The broadcast of Russian TV channels has been prohibited on Ukrainian territory.
15. The National Guard of Ukraine has been created.
16. The sale of luxury cars of the government officials at an open auction has been organised.
17. Dozens of Lenin monuments have been dismounted.
18. The political part of the Association Agreement with the European Union has been signed.
19. 1,6 billion USD worth of financial aid received from the USA.
20. The Ukrainian military productions are charged for a year with state orders to re-equip the army. The army received new “Oplots,” “Bulats,” and other military equipment for the first time.
21. Ukraine has exited the CIS.
22. The preparations for implementing a visa regime with Russia have begun.
23. An order for the counteraction of raiding has been signed.
24. The state debt of Ukraine has been decreased 10%.
25. Japan has announced the giving of 10 billion USD worth of loans to Ukraine for 40 years with a rate of 0,1%.
26. The government has abolished 158 acts of the Arbuzov-Azarov government.
27. The utilisation tax of cars has been abolished.
28. The criminal schemes of “Naftogaz” pertaining to Kurchenko’s group have been eliminated.
29. The necessary laws for the non-visa regime with the EU have been passed, it is awaited in 2015.
30. Access to public information has been simplified.
31. The firing of 24 000 government officials and the privatisation of state dachas in Koncha-Zaspa have begun.
32. 100 UN member countries have supported Ukraine and condemned Russia at the General Assembly.
33. Medvedchuk’s assets have been arrested, his newspaper “Vesti” closed.
34. ‘Berkut’ fighters that are suspected of shooting people have been arrested.
35. Ukraine started buying nuclear fuel for power plants from the USA.
36. The government has launched a join project with a number of IT companies, which presumes the creation of 100 thousand new jobs in the IT sphere, and it is planned to invest $1 billion in the modernisation of the education system of Ukraine.
37. Ukraine has surpassed Russia on social development levels according to Deloitte.
38. The law regarding court lustration has been passed.
39. All information regarding state purchases has been opened.
40. The import to the general fund of the state budget is 9% bigger than last year.
41. The financing of the army has been increased by 5 billion UAH.
42. “Russkiy Block” and “Russkoye Yedinstvo” have been banned.
43. The Cabinet of Ministers has abolished the limitations regarding the presence of Parliament members at the government sessions.
44. Gostinniy Dvir, bookshop “Siayvo,” Actor’s House, Heart Centre and “Start” Stadium have been returned to Kyiv property.
45. A special committee in the Ministry of Justice has been created to investigate instances of torture in jail and isolators.
46. The Cabinet of Ministers has increased the salaries of budget sphere workers starting October 1st, 2014 by 40%.
47. The US Embassy in Ukraine has extended the visas to 10 years.
48. For the first time since 2005, the US has given first class security to a Ukrainian airport, which de facto opened their skies for our air carriers.
49. The IMF has given Ukraine a stabilisation loan of 17 billion USD.
50. The USA has eliminated Ukraine from the list of copyright violators.
51. Ukraine is the first non-EU member country to join the system of transparent data reflection AGSI+ on the standards of the Association of European Gas Suppliers.
52. Ukraine is signing a join airspace agreement with the EU.
53. The law regarding social television has been passed and signed.
54. Ukraine has published five-year Euro obligations for 1 billion USD emitted upon US guarantees.
55. The export of goods in Ukraine has surpassed the import for the first time in 8 years.
56. The Head of the Verkhovna Rada Olexandr Turchynov has ordered the Parliament Secretariat to develop a new voting system for the MP’s which would exclude non-personal voting.
57. The NATO has invited Ukraine to join the organisation.
58. Information regarding the end owners of all banks has to be published on the National Bank website before September 1st of the current year.
59. The Cabinet of Ministers is proposing to eliminate the National State of Affairs.
60. The procedure of banning the Communist Party has begun.

 

Source: http://postimg.org/image/usznyktcp/

Translated by Mariya Shcherbinina

Ukrainian Ministry Cuts Expenses on Government Maintenance

The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers has published a presentation explaining the drastic measures that will be taken to cut expenses on government maintenance.

Cabinet of Ministers plans to fire 22,000 officials

Tuesday, April 1, 2014, 14:31

In order to reduce the cost of the state apparatus, the Cabinet of Ministers is going to fire 22,200 officials, LigaBiznesInform reports.

According to the infographics published on the website of the government, the CM plans to reduce the staff of the Presidential Administration, the State Administration of affairs and NSDC by 50%. The Verkhovna Rada staff will be reduced by 20%.

Ukrainian Government’s Austerity Action Plan

By Dmytro Dyenkov, EP, March 11, 2014

The Cabinet is ready to adopt unpopular austerity measures. This obviously will not include doubling gas tariffs for the population, but outrage probably is unavoidable. A limit on pension payments to working pensioners is envisioned as early as March.

In the beginning of March, the government planned to revise the state budget in order to save 65-80 billion UAH. Last week the sources of the savings were reported. In particular, personnel has already been reduced in some of the state institutions. The National Bank dismissed “investigators,” guards, and some staff that had been hired at the Bank during the Serhiy Arbuzov administration.