Well done, President Zelensky!
Author Archives: RomanInUkraine
Ukraine in the spotlight
Ukrainian news is all abuzz with the vast attention the country is getting b/c of the Biden/Trump accusations and scandal.
This is the most attention Ukraine has gotten since the war with Russia eased to a simmer.
Skyview of Ukraine • Ukraïner
US Embassy pressed Ukraine to drop probe of George Soros group during 2016 election
While the 2016 presidential race was raging in America, Ukrainian prosecutors ran into some unexpectedly strong headwinds as they pursued an investigation into the activities of a nonprofit in their homeland known as the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC).
The focus on AntAC — whose youthful street activists famously wore “Ukraine F*&k Corruption” T-shirts — was part of a larger probe by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office into whether $4.4 million in U.S. funds to fight corruption inside the former Soviet republic had been improperly diverted.
The prosecutors soon would learn the resistance they faced was blowing directly from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, where the Obama administration took the rare step of trying to press the Ukrainian government to back off its investigation of both the U.S. aid and the group.
Ukraine vs US – customer service
As of a few hours ago, it’s great to be back in Lviv, My first long vacation in years has ended, and I can’t wait to get to the office tomorrow. I spent some time in the US, and some time getting customer service, both in person and over the phone.
In the United States, there is over employment plus a huge influx of low-skilled migrats. The people with whom you often interact, unfortunately, are often unintelligent. It becomes obvious when you give them some abstraction, or ask them to generalize the broader policy. They either can’t do it well, or can’t do it at all. They follow a script, which is either the extent of their ability, or the extent of their training. It can be frustration. American businesses, facing an over-employed workforce, have had to create processes for everything so that they can 1) take advantage of the lower skilled labor that’s available, and importantly, 2) squeeze out of them $8.49/hour worth of productivity (US average minimum wage).
The plus side of this is that some of the processes are amazingly fast and efficient. Returning a rental car was literally less than a minute of interaction with the staff. That’s like magic.
In Ukraine, by contrast, a lower trust society, returning a car was a hour long process. They gave it a mechanical check prior to returning your documents. Perhaps things have improved since I rented a car four years ago, but the contrast exists elsewhere too. Businesses are less likely to open on time, especially outside of Kyiv. They may not be able to give you exact change. You may be expected to understand that you can’t be helped today because someone’s mother is sick and they had to stay home and take care of their parent until such-and-such a relative arrives from such-and-such a village.
The plus side of Ukraine, at least for visitors, is the under employment. When was the last time a McDonalds cashier delighted you with a witty quip? You can call a business and explain some nuance, and they’ll often understand you and react appropriately or explain something, or make a personalized adjustment. It’s nice.
And for some reason banks are awful experiences in both Ukraine and the U.S.
Scandal: Joe Biden’s Son earned more than $50,000/month from a Ukrainian gas company . . .
. . . and then-Vice-President Biden pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who was investigating the company.
Trump Tweeted a highlight video of the scandal: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1175392716110401543?
Two years after leaving office, Joe Biden couldn’t resist the temptation last year to brag to an audience of foreign policy specialists about the time as vice president that he strong-armed Ukraine into firing its top prosecutor.
In his own words, with video cameras rolling, Biden described how he threatened Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in March 2016 that the Obama administration would pull $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees, sending the former Soviet republic toward insolvency, if it didn’t immediately fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.
“I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.’ I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Biden recalled telling Poroshenko.
“Well, son of a bitch, he got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time,” Biden told the Council on Foreign Relations event, insisting that President Obama was in on the threat.
Interviews with a half-dozen senior Ukrainian officials confirm Biden’s account, though they claim the pressure was applied over several months in late 2015 and early 2016, not just six hours of one dramatic day. Whatever the case, Poroshenko and Ukraine’s parliament obliged by ending Shokin’s tenure as prosecutor. Shokin was facing steep criticism in Ukraine, and among some U.S. officials, for not bringing enough corruption prosecutions when he was fired.
But Ukrainian officials tell me there was one crucial piece of information that Biden must have known but didn’t mention to his audience: The prosecutor he got fired was leading a wide-ranging corruption probe into the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings that employed Biden’s younger son, Hunter, as a board member.
U.S. banking records show Hunter Biden’s American-based firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, received regular transfers into one of its accounts — usually more than $166,000 a month — from Burisma from spring 2014 through fall 2015, during a period when Vice President Biden was the main U.S. official dealing with Ukraine and its tense relations with Russia.
Continued Physical Intimidation of Privat Bank regulator
Tuesday’s arson attack on the Kyiv region home of the former head of the central bank is prompting a strong backlash from Westernizers worried that the Zelenskiy administration will fail to fulfill promises to provide impartial justice. In the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, a man wearing a balaclava threw flammable materials then a flare into the suburban home of Valeria Gontareva, who lives in London. The empty house was gutted. The attack followed one month of setbacks for Gontareva: a car ran over her foot in London, her family car was destroyed in an arson attack in Kyiv, masked raiders claiming to be police raided her Kyiv apartment.
. . . .
“This is no longer a series of incidents, it is TERROR,” the National Bank of Ukraine posted in a statement. “Its purpose is to intimidate reformers, past and present, to paralyse our activities, to make us silent. We will not be silent.” Gontareva became central bank governor in June 2014, at the start of the nation’s banking crisis. By the time she stepped down three years later, she had declared 87 Ukrainian banks insolvent, about half the total.
Kyiv Mayor and Boxing Champion Klitschko likely to be chased out by Zelenski
Kiev mayor ex-boxer Klitschko accuses Zelensky of move to curb powers
Former boxing champion and mayor of Ukraine’s capital Kiev, Vitali Klitschko on Wednesday lashed out at President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing his government of an illegal attempt to curb his powers.
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Friend’s analysis:
Klitshko wasn’t successful mayor and he controls real estate and development market in Kyiv. President’s team wants to get control on Kyiv. And they will succeed
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Ukraine Business New Roundup
If you want to keep up with daily news in Ukraine, check out https://www.ubn.news/. It’s the best source I’ve found.
Here are some of the most interesting headlines from the past week of news clips.
The Trump administration released on Thursday $250 million in military aid to Ukraine that had been held up. Democratic critics say the aid suspension was an attempt to pressure President Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden for alleged conflict of interest in his Ukraine dealings as Vice President. The aid suspension became known two weeks ago when then-National Security Advisor John Bolton visited Ukraine. During his visit, he campaigned against Ukraine’s planned sale of Motor Sich aviation motor factory to China. On Tuesday, Trump fired Bolton over a wide range of policy differences.
Ukraine has stripped U.S.-based Trident Acquisitions of the right to explore and develop oil and gas in the Black Sea, prompting Trident to say Ukraine has lost out on $1 billion in new investment. In July, Trident beat two other companies in a tender to develop the Dolphin Block, in the northwest Black Sea. Critics say the two-month tender preparation period was too short and major multinationals were not sufficiently encouraged to participate. However, in July, reports circulated in Bucharest that ExxonMobil plans to pull out of its Romanian offshore project, near the Dolphin Block. In 2014-15, Shell and ExxonMobil pulled out of Ukraine.
From the Editor: Once again Ukrainian oil and gas development has been kicked down the road –because the ‘wrong’ group won the tender. The shoddy treatment of US-based Trident flies in the face of the new government’s promise to open up opportunities to foreign investors. Similarly, Shell’s former oil and gas concession in the East has been frozen for three years – once again because the ‘wrong’ group won the permit. To keep the ‘wrong’ people from producing gas, Ukraine’s leaders opt to import gas. Reality check: in the 1970s, the Ukrainian SSR was the largest gas-producing republic of the USSR. In the intervening half-century, Ukraine’s underground geology has not changed – just the people and policies above ground. Best regards, Jim Brooke`
From London, Valeria Hontareva, the former central bank chief who nationalized PrivatBank, says she is the target of a vendetta by Kolomoisky and may ask for political asylum in Britain. On Aug. 26, a hit and run driver ran over her foot in London, breaking bones. On Aug 27, a Kyiv court granted authorities permission to “forcibly” bring her to Kyiv for questioning. On Sept. 5, arsonists burned up a car belonging to her daughter-in-law, also named Valeria Hontareva. Speaking to Ukraine’s Liga news site on Monday, Hontareva, a research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “If our country is going to treat its own reformer like dirt, to politically and physically persecute, then I’ll have no choice to but to ask for political asylum.”
As China’s imports more and more food from Ukraine, China is on track to displace Russia next year as Ukraine’s largest single nation trading partner. During the first half of this year, China displaced Russia to become the largest source of imports for Ukraine, accounting for 13.9%. During the half-year, China ranked a close third as a destination for Ukraine’s exports. The ranking was: Poland – 6.9%; Russia — 6.5%; and China – 6.4%.
Since the July 1 start of the grain marketing year, Ukraine has exported 10 million tons of grain – 47% more than in the same period last year. Ukraine has exported 6.1 million tons of wheat, 2.2 million tons of barley, and 1.7 million tons of corn, according to the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. In addition, 1.8 million tons of oilseeds have been exported – 50% more than this time last year. After good weather in June and July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its forecast for Ukraine’s grain exports to 54 million tons – 8% more than last year.
Global Military Spending By Country 1914 to 2018
Look at “Russia” (Soviet Union) after the communist revolution:
http://romaninukraine.com/Graphics/Military-Spending-1914-to-2018.mp4
Я не можу з тим Романом спрветися.
We returned to my in-laws from a half day trip. I was entering the house with my arms full, when my son told me he wanted to jump. “So jump,” I said, not understanding. He kept going on about how he wants to jump, and I eventually realized he wanted to jump from the side of the stoop, and needed me to move the car. I told him to jump somewhere else, and continued in the house.
Later, as I was setting down my things, Danylo told his mother: “Я не можу з тим Романом спрветися.”
It’s a hilarious construction for a three and a half year old. It translates “”I couldn’t come to terms with that guy, Roman.”
Later, he explained to his grandmother how it’s supposed to work: “Roman gets in the car, and then it moves, like this.”
Faced with his continued interested in the procedure, I moved the car. He jumped from the stoop once, and then went around the house to the backyard garden.
Bolshevik’s Poster: “Citizens, Hand Over Your Guns!”
Another poster here.
Hungarian Government Will Give $33,000 Bonus to Married Couples Who Have Three Children
The Hungarian government has announced measures to offer up to 10 million forints (€30,590 or £27,000) to married couples who have three children under its new pro-family budget.
The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will offer the $33,000 payment in the form of a loan to the eligible couples upon their marriage which would have to be repaid until the couple has three children and then the debt would be forgiven, Le Figaro reports.
Around 2,400 families have already signed up and applied for the loan this month which is paid back in small payments each month. Should the couple have a child within a five-year period, the interest on the loan is suspended along with repayments suspended for three years.
The eligibility for the programme has several criteria including that the marriage must be the first for at least one of those involved, the woman must be 18 to 40 years old, and one of the couples must have paid 180 days’ worth of tax contributions to the state.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/08/01/hungary-offer-30k-euros-married-couples-three-children/
Moldova’s Jews feel an anti-Semitic backlash after a corrupt Jewish politician flees to Israel
CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) — Given enough vodka, some of Shimon Katz’s non-Jewish acquaintances here usually bring up a name that has complicated his relationship with them.
That name is Ilan Shor, and it belongs to a Jewish businessman-turned-lawmaker who is believed to have fled to Israel to escape corruption charges.
For most of the some 3,000 members of Moldova’s Jewish population, including Katz, Shor’s Jewishness is irrelevant to his record of local largess on the one hand and alleged corruption on the other.
“Shor isn’t even Jewish in any sense other than genetic,” said Katz, a metal parts factory owner who has never met Shor. “Shor has renovated several churches but not a single synagogue, as far as is known. I don’t consider that man a part of the Jewish community.”
Vasiliy Lomachenko outpoints Luke Campbell to add WBC lightweight title
As expected, Vasyl Lomachenko captured his third of the four most recognizable alphabelts at lightweight on Saturday, now holding the diadem of the WBC to go with the WBA and WBO straps already on his mantle. The Ukrainian phenom also made his third defense of Ring Magazine’s belt. It was a good, solid twelve round fight. As was the case in his first title attempt against Jorge Linares, Luke Campbell gave his all and had some moments. He was simply in with a better man.
more: https://www.boxingscene.com/lomachenko-vs-campbell-afterthoughts–142209
It is boxing’s oldest adage that a good big man always beats a good little one. But tell that to Vasiliy Lomachenko. The brilliant Ukrainian defied a large height and reach disadvantage to add the WBC world lightweight title to his WBA and WBO belts with a gaping points victory over Luke Campbell. Most boxing experts rate Lomachenko as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter. Watching the master at work it was again hard to argue.
But on a night of jangled nerves and jumbled memories Campbell did himself proud with a brilliant and courageous performance. Two judges made it 119-108, with another giving it 118-109, which seemed a touch harsh on the 31-year-old from Hull. Certainly the crowd thought so. As the fighters embraced at the end 20,000 people at the 02 Arena stood up and chanted: “There’s only one Luke Campbell.”
They knew the mountain Campbell had to climb could not have been much steeper. In Lomachenko he was facing a man who had ended his amateur career with two Olympic gold medals and a 396-1 record – and then claimed three world titles at different weights in a record time as a professional.
“He’s a special fighter,” Campbell said. “I’m disappointed. “Tonight was Lomachenko’s night but my time will come.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/aug/31/vasiliy-lomachenko-luke-campbell-wbc-lightweight-title
Відкрите звернення до Президента України Володимира Зеленського щодо Другої Петиції власників зброї
Шановний пане Президенте!
Друга Петиція власників зброї набрала необхідну кількість голосів, і ми чекаємо на Вашу відповідь.
Жодна людина в світі не може досконало знатися на всіх питаннях. А правове регулювання обігу зброї ― сфера відносин, що потребує спеціальних знань.
Ми хочемо, щоб Ви прочитали це звернення до того, як Вам почнуть щось радити всім добре відомі ‟хлопці в погонах‟. Саме вони роками гальмували питання правового врегулювання обігу цивільної зброї і практичного втілення українцями природного права захищати своє життя і здоров’я, життя і здоров’я інших людей від протиправних посягань. Ці ‟радники‟ роками розповсюджували безпідставні міфи та культивували в суспільстві фобії щодо цивільної зброї.
Марно очікувати добрих ‟порад‟ від тих, хто по вуха загруз в оборудках з нагородною зброєю та поставив на потік продаж дозволів; від тих, хто побудував монополію на ринку охоронних послуг; від тих, чиї комерційні структури зрослися з правоохоронним відомством та отримують надприбутки зі схем продажу зброї.
Саме тому, маємо повідомити Вам наступне:
1. Українське суспільство більше не сприйме відповідей на кшталт: „не на часі‟, „всі один одного перестріляємо‟ або „суспільство не готове, бо не той менталітет‟. Будь-що з цього буде однозначно сприйнято, як неповага до свого народу, який п’ятий рік поспіль проливає свою кров зі зброєю в руках за свою країну!
2. Проєкт закону «Про зброю», створений фахівцями галузі і представниками академічної спільноти, вже готовий! Вперше в історії незалежної України його розроблено громадянами — для громадян, а не “міліцейськими” чиновниками для обслуговування своїх власних потреб.Проєкт готувався відповідно до конституційних і міжнародних норм та досвіду, з урахуванням рекомендацій Європейського союзу та зауважень Головного науково-експертного управління Апарату Верховної Ради України. Неприпустимо, щоб при розгляді цього питання багаторічний власний та міжнародний досвід було проігноровано!
Пане Президенте!
Повторна підтримка Петиції власників зброї на тлі, вочевидь, тотальної зневіри до самого інституту звернень до Президента, без перебільшення — величезний кредит довіри Вам особисто.
Сьогодні цілковито у Ваших силах не дати знову поховати вирішення цього надважливого для країни питання на роки, як це сталося за час роботи Ваших попередників.
Для цього Ви маєте все:
програмну підтримку цього питання Вашою партією — найбільшою фракцією нової ВРУ;
однозначний запит суспільства на ці зміни;
готовий законопроєкт.Закликаємо Вас скористатися історичним моментом і дати Україні шанс стати справжньою Республікою, де люди шанують закон і самі стануть гарантами безпеки і спокою у власній країні.
Громадянам необхідне Право, а державі — Закон!
Lt. Colonel Tracy’s review of Ukrainian soldiers may have been another Russian hoax
My original post: http://romaninukraine.com/u-s-lt-colonels-dismal-impression-of-ukrainian-soldiers/
From https://zloy-odessit.livejournal.com/2860938.html:
Yesterday, in the late hours of Tuesday, August 27, Strana published an article titled “Drunk, greedy and lazy. An American colonel called the Ukrainian military the main issue at the Yavoriv Training Center,” which allegedly referred to the blog of U.S. Army Colonel Robert Tracy, chief of the Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine (JMTG-U), revealing terrible and unpleasant details about the Ukrainian military.
Of course, shock was the initial reaction to the report on intoxication issues in the ranks of the Armed Forces, laziness and terrifying corruption. But this report is aimed at unprepared, average readers, often too lazy to double-check the data absorbed, but if should just dig a little deeper…
Firstly, the blog by “Lieutenant Colonel Casey” is overloaded with clear narratives that Russian propaganda has been channeling since 2014 through both its internal and external informational platforms, affiliated with Moscow. At the same time, the text published in the blog is full of phrases typical for the Russian language, literally translated into English… Who knows, maybe this is just a consequence of Casey’s prolonged stay among the Slavs? But the real reason is as follows
According to information available about the “lieutenant colonel’s” blog, it was created in August 2019, and before a yesterday’s repost by Strana.UA, it had only a couple of visitors.
That is, it turns out that a blog recently created on a platform, which is now widespread in Ukraine, suddenly attracts attention of Strana’s “journalists” (perhaps they were those very few visitors who checked out the blog). Without any verification of the blog’s authenticity and its affiliation with an actual person, Strana moves to repost the piece. Seriously!?
Anyway, here’s what we call a classic information operation, aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian military. . . . .
Still, it’d be great if the Lieutenant Colonel commented on this publicly and put the matter to rest.
President Zelenski’s New Cabinet
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A New Generation Takes Over…PM Honcharuk Vows to Double GDP Growth to 5-7%…Low-Interest Rates Will Create ‘East European Tiger’ in the 2020s…US Grads To Run Finance, Economy, Ag… New Infrastructure Minister Promises Private Freight Trains, Toll Highways, Concessions for Ports/Airports and, Maybe, Chinese Investment in Post Office
By James Brooke
🔵In a generational turn of the wheel, the youngest parliament in the history of Ukraine history elected the youngest prime minister in the history of Ukraine — Oleksiy Honcharuk, a 35-year-old free-market reformer. The Rada, with an average age of 41, approved a pro-business cabinet of almost all new faces. Volodymyr Fesenko, an analyst with Kyiv’s Penta think tank, told Reuter the new government is “the most liberal … in the history of Ukraine.”
🔵Setting an example for small government, the new Cabinet has 17 ministers – one third fewer than the 25 ministers of the outgoing Cabinet. Several ministries were merged. Near midnight, the new Rada voted to lift parliamentary immunity. A second, final vote is to be Tuesday.
Highlights of the day:
🔵With this new parliament, President Zelenskiy said: “Now the country will finally be able to switch to fifth gear.” In a call for action, he demanded: “The liberalization of the economy, the creation of a powerful investment magnet to attract foreign investment. Building a digital state in a smartphone, where queues at state institutions and hellish bureaucracy remain in the past. Elimination of raiding, monopolies, and smuggling. Gaining real energy independence, energy efficiency and solving tariff problems.”
🔵“A new generation has come to power,” Prime Minister Honcharuk told the Rada and the nation. Since 2015, Honcharuk, a lawyer by training, served as an advisor to Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister and was the director of the Better Regulation Delivery Office, an EU-funded consultancy dedicated to cutting red tape. Honcharuk was elected by 69% of parliamentarians present Thursday, 290 out of 418. In a recent interview with Novoe Vremya magazine, Honcharuk said he wants to make Ukraine “an Eastern European tiger.”
🔵Ukraine’s new Prime Minister called for doubling the economic growth rate. “This government faces the task of accelerating economic growth,” Honcharuk told lawmakers, noting that 10 million Ukrainians lived below the poverty line. “We need to grow, but not to grow by 2-3%, but, at a minimum, by 5-7%.” Honcharuk said talks will start in September with the IMF to “negotiate a new 3-4-year cooperation program.”
🔵Lower interest rates are key to economic growth in the 2020s, Honcharuk said. “Cheap lending is one of the tactical goals that we will set for ourselves in the near future,” he said. Today, Ukraine’s prime interest rate is 17%. Next year, Honcharuk says, he wants to see hryvnia home mortgage rates of 12-12%. “Interest rates on loans may fall this year,” he promised. “People will start doing business. It can start with construction and industry.”
Roger Scruton on the coming age of Cultural Darkness
A Confession by Leo Tolstoy
At the age of 26 he started to mix with poets and writers and share with them a role that was bestowed upon them at the time of faith in “evolution”; the role of teaching people. “This faith in the meaning of poetry and in the evolution of life was a religion and I was one of its priests…..for a considerable length of time I lived in this faith without doubting its validity.”
He began to doubt the sincerity of his circle when he noticed that each group term themselves as “the finest and most useful teachers” and “others teach falsely”. Something very deep in him was telling him that if ever someone was carrying such a great mission of “teaching people” he should not seek personal esteem as first priority. But still he shared with them their “genuine, sincere concern” of “how to gain as much money and fame as possible” by writing books and journals. When he remembers this stage in his life Tolstoy says,
At the time we were all convinced that we must talk and talk and write and publish as quickly as possible, and as much as possible, and that this was all necessary for the good of mankind. And thousands of us, contradicting and abusing one another, published and wrote with the aim of teaching others. Failing to notice that we knew nothing, that we did not know the answer to the most basic question of life — what is good and what is evil — we all spoke at the same time, never listening to one another. At times we indulged and praised each other in order to be indulged and praised in return, at other times we grew angry and shrieked at each other, just as if we were in a madhouse.
