Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed two orders earlier this month that cancel an unspecified number of residential housing benefits and individual perks for former government officials and state employees that cost the state at least $3.3 million annually.
One package of
measures were signed on Aug. 4 together with amendments to the budget law and tax
code designed to save money and reallocate some $1 billion for the war
effort in the two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
Speaking at a news
conference in Kyiv on Aug. 1, Poroshenko said he also cancelled certain benefits
enjoyed by former government officials that live in two luxurious Kyiv suburbs
where many state residences are located.
“Each year
more than Hr 40 million ($3.3 million) is spent on the comfort of 100 people. I
believe that in times of military action this is immoral,” the president
said.
Today, 175 former and current government officials are listed as
residents in Koncha-Zaspa, and 54 in Pushcha Vodytsia, according to official
documents obtained by Ukrainian News. However,
some, like ex-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov no longer live there – he is on an
interstate wanted list for abuse of office.
Another order cancelled 28 measures that
Poroshenko’s predecessors had put into force since 1992 to provide individual
perks for 19 former and current officials and politicians, including 11 former prime ministers, four former top
judges, a former central bank governor, a former foreign minister and two
former parliamentary speakers.
A 2006 presidential
order, in particular, concerning ex-parliamentary speaker and current lawmaker
Volodymyr Lytvyn voided his “lifetime allowance, medical, domestic,
transportation and other services.”
Ex-President Viktor
Yushchenko and recently ousted former head of state Viktor Yanukovych are also
on the list.
Poroshenko also cut
benefits for his current adviser Volodymyr Horbulin.
However, the Aug. 4
presidential decree didn’t state how much money the cancelation of the
individual welfare benefits would save the state budget.
Even though the
decrees, which previously had been marked as “Classified Information” are now open to the
public, they still need to be requested and
hardly will contain “all the truth”, says Oleksyi Khmara, deputy head of corruption
watchdog Transparency International Ukraine.
“There is no a
single solid law that lists all kinds of benefits to all kinds of officials,”
says Khmara.
Generally there are three types of fringe benefits for state employees:
1) Property, particularly summer residences and land for them.
2) Property maintenance, including maids, discounts on utilities, etc.
3) Security, including property security of estates where many officials live,
separate estate security and personal bodyguards.
“Property that is given to officials is usually very old, so they rebuild it
making it several times bigger without officially privatizing it. Moreover,
they expect the government to cover their expenses and to provide security,”
adds Khmara.
On Aug. 4 Poroshenko also cancelled material, medical and other types of support” for former army and
interior ministry generals, as well as state counselors of the Justice
Ministry. Previously, retired generals and
Justice Ministry counselors could apply for advisor positions to any military
institution and receive the same salary and perks that they received before
retiring.
They were also provided with medical assistance and a 50 percent
discount on utility bills if they took a job other than military or justice
advisers, either at a state organization or private firm, says the official
president’s website.
Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst and head of the Penta Political
Studies Center says these decrees are austerity measures in times of crisis. He
added that these benefits are consequences of the Soviet system. “This
practice is not applied in the West, but still remains in China,” the
political scientist said.
“Poroshenko has taken the plunge, because he left his friends without benefits.
There’s no secret that these officials have known each other for around 20
years,” says Khamara. “But I’m sure those benefits make up only one-third of the
free, privileged system that exists for government officials.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Iryna Yeroshko can be
reached [email protected]
