abdymok

hard currency

[ ,er, ]

remains in great demand

cf. nbu
cf.poroshenko
cf. speculative attack
cf. stelmakh’s neck

i have a number of thoughts about this magazine cover which i’ll keep to myself for the time being.

the object resembling a missile silo in the middle of the photo marks president viktor yushchenko’s monument to the holodomor (famine). all those black dots spread out are lanterns. there’s an underground museum (under the silo) and a couple of more monuments closer to hrushevskogo bordering on park slava. the bottom line: no more sleigh riding and a crappier view of pechersk lavry.

+

окружной административный суд киева запретил двум общественным организациям отмечать на столичной площади независимости в субботу, 22 ноября, четвертую годовщину “оранжевой революции” в связи с проведением мероприятий памяти жертв голодомора 1932-1933 годов.

об этом сообщает главное управление киевской городской государственной администрации (кгга) по вопросам внутренней политики.

cf. new reality

kyiv 2008 (before the snow)

[published in the financial times on nov. 17, 2008]

like the rest of the world, ukraine is being influenced by the global financial crisis. the strategic sectors of the national economy —- banking, metallurgy, and construction —- were most struck by the crisis. however, the situation is under control. [bad lead paragraph!]

at my initiative, the ukrainian parliament passed anti-crisis laws, that are expected to stabilize the economic situation in the country. we are now taking important steps in this direction: creating a stabilization fund, providing support for infrastructure and investment projects, decreasing interest rates for small and medium-size business, safeguarding the stability of the banking system. special attention was paid to the creation of a deposit insurance fund.

ukraine has sufficient gold reserves. an imf loan for ukraine will work as an additional stabilizing factor for the economy as well. this credit has an economic and psychological effect giving us a chance to stabilize our national currency, the hryvnia, and to secure the long-term growth of the economy. investors now can reassess their financial risks. as a result of such a reassessment we expect a new inflow of funds from abroad.

as a banker and economist i am certain that ukraine defused these threats in a timely fashion. as the president, i took direct personal control of the situation. one of the main principles was to force the government and political elites to abandon economically unsound and politically populist social subsidies. the government made some mistakes that need to be corrected. thus, disbursement of money triggered inflation, especially since this summer.

surely, the crisis poses threats to the economics of the country, but it is also a great possibility for economic reforms and a new chance for strong economic development. [huh?] efficient steps taken to mitigate the effects of the crisis can actually become new stimuli for small and medium business. the adopted anti-crisis programme will stimulate profound economic and administrative change in ukraine. ukraine has to emerge from the crisis with an entirely new system of government management. our conclusion – we need further integration and greater private entrepreneurship.

the crisis has changed our country’s political priorities. economic leadership, unity, and professionalism became paramount. ukraine needs to resolve a host of political issues including the viability of our parliament. in this regard there are two possibilities: either a new coalition is formed or we proceed with the new elections.

the answers to these questions are found in the constitution and i will strictly adhere to its every letter. there is no reason for pessimism about the situation in ukraine. we managed to react quickly to the crisis. moreover, we actually got a chance to undergo an economic transformation and to implement structural reforms. as president i can assure you that ukraine will not become a weak link in the global financial and economic system.

victor yushchenko,
president of ukraine
[and shmuck]

. . . here is the so-called wsj interview.

because there is no mention of what lukashenko actually did the day after the wsj pow wow, i provide this link and this one.

gazeta.ru writes this morning [nov. 12] about the wall street journal’s nov. 11 interview of belarusian president aleksandr lukashenko. the wsj staff reporter, as yet anonymous, is scooped unceremoniously by lukashenko’s press service and the minsk-based wire service belta.

the wsj has not mentioned the chit chat.

he [lukashenko] rebuked the west for funding the belarusian opposition. “they have allocated funds for developing independent mass media, promoting the civil society. but where is the money? the opposition figures have misappropriated it and now are arguing who has stolen the most,” [allegedly] stated lukashenko.

i would argue that since 1997 “they” have done exceedingly little — and with extreme incompetence — to support belarusians who promote civil society, freedom of speech, and rule of law.

full moon in kyiv

parliament deputies fought for control of the rada voting system this morning, just 48 hours after receiving $4.5 billion from the international monetary fund. deputies from the party of regions led by faction whip nestor shufrych won the fight, enabling a floor vote to remove parliament speaker arseniy yatsenyuk.

the capture the flag game is captured in the video below.

some 233 lawmakers approved the measure, seven more than the simple 226 majority required. they included 175 from regions of ukraine, 27 communists, 20 agrarian party deputies, ten our ukraine faction deputies, and one lawmaker from yulia tymoshenko’s eponymous faction.

eight of the ten deputies from our ukraine’s faction voting for yatsenyuk’s dismissal belong to viktor baloha’s united center party. baloha is president yushchenko’s chief of staff, head of the presidential secretariat.

prime minister yulia tymoshenko said the sacking of yatsenyuk could not have occurred without instructions from president viktor yushchenko.