Viktor Yanukovych announces the possibility of joining Ukraine and Russia in a customs union
President Viktor Yanukovuch announced, during a meeting with Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev, the possibility of joining Ukraine to the customs union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It is difficult to identify any benefit to Ukraine of Yanukovych’s recent announcement in Moscow.
Perhaps the Ukrainian government should pay attention to the results of the latest visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Germany, during which German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated plainly that Germany considers Russian integration associations, including the customs union, direct competitors to the EU.
Medvedev is well aware that provoking Viktor Yanukovych’s statements on the possible membership of Ukraine in the customs union will spark serious conflict between Kyiv and Brussels, especially after the successful signing of the action plan for visa liberalization with Ukraine.
The instability of Ukraine’s foreign policy shows the fragility of its democratic development and the misunderstanding by Ukraine’s leaders of their responsibility when making official public announcements, especially in the sphere of interstate integration.
Please will somebody explain how you can have a free trade agreement with the European Union AND a customs union with Russia.
People First Comment: Please will somebody explain how you can have a free trade agreement with the European Union AND a customs union with Russia. Currently Ukraine has one of the most complex customs systems in the world that seems to have been designed primarily to support massive corruption on the border. The removal of the current system and its replacement with the EU customs system will ensure the free flow of goods. However, Ukraine also has a border with Russia and you can’t have two customs systems. he government needs to make up its mind, unless of course Ukraine is suggesting that Russia too should accept EU customs standards and procedures…
Corruption continues to destroy Ukraine
No wonder, according to Transparency International, Ukraine and Russia share the shameful position in the ranking of the most corrupt countries in Europe and takes the 146th place in the world alongside the bankrupt Zimbabwe and East Timor, Sierra Leone which is suffering from civil war, Kenya and Ecuador.
From an official perspective, the government does carry out some anti-corruption measures, in particular, created the National Anti-Corruption Committee, amending some of Ukraine’s laws, taking into account certain recommendations of the Group of States Against Corruption “GRECO.” But the steps reported by Ukrainian officials are for the most part decorative and do not change the main rules of the game within a political system that continues to remain endemically corrupt.
Ukraine will continue serving as the flagship of corrupt states in Europe alongside Russia, to the detriment of both the image of the country and its citizens.
So, Ukraine will continue serving as the flagship of corrupt states in Europe alongside Russia, to the detriment of both the image of the country and its citizens. In regard of this, the Association of Taxpayers of the European Union put forward a request to the European Commission and European Parliament to suspend aid to Ukraine because of the high level of corruption. Association Secretary Michael Jager asked the European leaders not to provide any assistance to Ukraine without guaranteed control and transparency.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development comment: Endemic corruption in Ukraine can be successfully tackled only through systemic and comprehensive measures including prevention, public education and sanctions.These should originate from the genuine will at the highest political levelto curb corruption and, to be credible, should not target exclusively officials from the previous opposing government. Any anti-corruption campaign should be based on a sound strategy, clear and realistic action plans and should include effective coordination mechanisms to monitor their implementation. Preventive measures should include:
· The adoption and implementation of legislation on the conflict between public and private interests
· Post-employment restrictions (‘revolving doors’),
· Disclosure and control over income and expenses of public officials, mechanisms of integrity in public service
· Access to public information
· Whistleblower protection
· State financing of political parties
· Transparency and control over party finances by an independent public authority
· Effective public financial control and audit system
· Streamlined administrative procedures
· Transparent rules on the public procurement
· Radical simplification of regulatory regime for business activity
Specialized investigating and prosecuting authoritiesshould be provided with sufficient autonomy and resources to effectively target corruption offences, regardless of the official’s rank. Finally a campaign of raising awareness and educating the public about the harm corruption causes and liability for corrupt acts would then strengthen government efforts to counteract corruption.
Dmytro Kotliar, OECD Expert
Human rights, a painful issue
An indicator of the critical situation of human rights protection in Ukraine is the published fact that Ukrainians have submitted more suits to the European Court of Human Rights than any other country.
An indicator of the critical situation of human rights protection in Ukraine is the published fact that Ukrainians have submitted more suits to the European Court of Human Rights than any other country. Only this year there have been over 129,000 applications from Ukraine. Only Russia and Turkey are ahead of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Helsinki Union plans to introduce the anti-award this year for violations of human rights in a country. The main contenders for it are: the Presidential Administration of Ukraine for illegally collecting personal information about socially active people; the Security Service of Ukraine head, Valery Khoroshkovsky – for the use of intelligence to deal with the opposition and combination of his personal interests in the security, business and kustice sectors; Interior Minister Anatoly Mogylev – for the great number of complaints about police abuse; Education Minister Dmitriy Tabachnyk – for rewriting history textbooks of Ukraine. Currently there are no serious government attempts to improve the human rights situation in Ukraine.
The Danish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights comment: “No country can function properly without a viable legal system as the alternative is the law of the jungle and the gun.” Ukrainian citizens are not equal under the law. It corrupts the norms of the society and undermines the state of rule of law.
Necessary reforms:
· Free legal aid to ensure the right to a fair trial for all citizens.
· Independent structure, based on a reformed High Council of Justice in which judges are elected by their peers.
· Sufficiently funded from the state budget as chronic underfunding increases the potential for corruption.
Hanne Severinsen, Director
Economy is suffering from road chaos
Every year, more than 200,000 accidents happen in Ukraine in which 7,000 people are killed and around 40,000 receive serious injuries, leaving them little opportunity to live a full life.
According to the president of the Association of Road Safety, Michael Berlin, The World Bank estimates the total loss to Ukrainian’s economy from road accidents as $5 billion a year. Every year, more than 200,000 accidents happen in Ukraine in which 7,000 people are killed and around 40,000 receive serious injuries, leaving them little opportunity to live a full life. The low culture of driving cars in the country is causing a significant number of accidents. Investment in the automotive sector, combined with stricter rules for traffic and police reform, would be an undoubtedly wise area to improve.
People First Comment: Ukrainian road accidents account for 13 percent of the total number of road accidents in Europe. Kyiv has more road accident fatalities than the whole of Great Britain. Ukraine has more than 20,000 traffic police whose job should be to not only enforce the road traffic law but also to ensure that the traffic keeps moving. With road traffic accident statistics at this level, one has to wonder quite what it is they do… perhaps the answer can be found from the minister responsible for the traffic police, who admitted “jokingly” to the media that every traffic police officer was expected to earn $50 cash per day from his traffic control wand. So this little corrupt game is not only costing the country 7,000 lives a year and $5 billion in state losses, but also around $1 billion a year in state-sanctioned police bribery.
Viktor Tkachuk is chief executive officer of the People First Foundation, which seeks to strengthen Ukrainian democracy. The organization’s website is: www.peoplefirst.org.ua and the e-mail address is: [email protected]
