Kumovsky capitalism led to the impoverishment of a quarter of the Ukrainian population
World Bank Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Satu Kahkonen, made another criticism of the current Kiev authorities. It happened in Kharkov at a meeting with journalists Kahkonen. The Director of the World Bank did not hide her disappointment in the actions of the Ukrainian government. According to her, “after 2014, when the economic crisis began in Ukraine, the number of people living below the poverty line in this country grew from 15 to 25%.”
To live well in Ukraine
This is not the first time Satu Kahkonen has criticized the current Kiev authorities. In March, for example, on the website of the Economic Truth, she presented the results of World Bank research, according to which, in Ukraine, 2% of companies control 20% of the country's total turnover and more than 25% of assets.
Nothing new in these studies showed up. The fact that the economy of Ukraine for many years controlled a group of oligarchs and their entourage, has long been known. Moreover, in the most profitable sectors, for example, mining, energy and transport, their share grows to 40% turnover and more than half of all assets. In addition, according to expert estimates, 45% of the Ukrainian economy "sits deep in the shadows."
“The oligarchs dominate large sectors of the country's economy, receiving rent and influencing the state through representation in parliament,” Kahkonen wrote in her column on the website of the publication. “For the past more than two decades, politically connected firms have used various channels of access to economic rent, namely: government purchases, subsidized loans, budget transfers, trade rules restricting imports, privileged access to state assets through privatization, and preferential tax regimes.”
Admittedly, giving out well-known information for the pioneering discovery of the World Bank, Kahkoen did it very well. “The model of economic management, under which a small group of companies has a significant influence on political decision-making, is called“ crony capitalism ”,” the WB director expressed her opinion of the local “generals from the economy” in Ukrainian.
Ukrainian nepotism has another feature. Firms associated with government officials and oligarchs are checked by auditors for 61% less than unrelated and, as a rule, avoid punishment for violations. At this statement, Satu Kahkonen issued a traditional recipe for Western officials working in Ukraine today.
The World Bank Director recognized as extremely important for Ukraine "the creation of an anti-corruption structure within the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, a special anti-corruption prosecutor's office, the use of the ProZorro electronic procurement system, and the creation of an anti-corruption court."
That March attack Kakhkonen against the Kiev authorities, experts associated with the failure of the participation of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in the Munich Security Conference. At this important international event Poroshenko was on the sidelines of a common agenda.
As Michael Tumann wrote in his review in the newspaper Die Zeit then: “The Ukrainian leader spoke in an almost empty hall. When Poroshenko finished his speech, he was not asked a single question, but several people applauded at all. ” The observer especially noted that earlier Poroshenko collected full halls in Munich. All were keen on discussing the problems of Ukraine. Now interest in it is largely lost and remains only a sphere of expert discussion.
International officials to the failure of the Ukrainian president responded quickly enough. The International Monetary Fund once again littered its promised tranche, and the World Bank, through the mouth of a high-ranking representative, made a “discovery” about the peculiarities of the “crony” Ukrainian economy.
For the miscalculations of the Kiev authorities will pay ordinary Ukrainians
The new portion of criticism from the World Bank also did not become a revelation for Ukrainian society. Experts call even heavier numbers. As economist Andrei Novak explained to the Vesti edition, “the criterion by which the poverty line is determined is 5 US dollars per person per day. In Ukrainian, the national currency is 130 hryvnia per day, or 4358 UAH. per month per person. Our pensioners, and 50% of the population, cannot boast of such incomes. ”
Economist Novak added the head of the Association of Suppliers of Ukrainian Retail Networks Alexey Doroshenko. He noted that cheap cereals, barley, pearl barley, and wheat, had recently risen in price. “This indicates that the population is switching to cheaper products,” the expert emphasized.
Ukrainians more often began to refuse meat (compared to the pre-crisis 2013 year of fat, the average Ukrainian can afford 2,2 times less, chicken –– 1,7 times), the consumption of fish, seafood, fruits has drastically decreased. In short, the quality of life in Ukraine with a post-Maid power fell decently.
Even Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman acknowledges this. He recently opened up on the occasion and told the media that “the government of the country for four years that passed after the“ revolution of dignity ”failed to ensure steady economic growth and drastically improve the quality of life of citizens.”
True, the most obstinate experts from among the accomplices of the current regime, who seem to be known for speaking on Russian political television talk shows by economist Alexander Okhrimenko, find excuses for even such dramatic events.
In the same edition of Vesti, Okhrimenko excused himself: “We still have gray schemes for earning money. A person gets a job at 0,25, and in fact he works full time, full time, and the difference is paid in an envelope. At the same time, what amount goes in cash, no one knows. Therefore, it cannot be said that 25% is poor in our country. There is a large middle class stratum whose earnings are even higher than the minimum wage in Ukraine. ”
Let's leave aside the understanding by this expert of the quality of life of the middle class. Note for ourselves that this "envelope wealth" of Ukrainians did not turn into a consumer boom for them. Not so long ago, sociologists from Research & Branding Group asked what Ukrainians are saving on today and found out: the majority of respondents cut their expenses on clothes (56%) and food (50%). (Greetings from them to the expert Okhrimenko).
Ukrainians and the World Bank can convey their greetings. It is with the filing of international financial structures, the Kiev authorities pulled up utility rates and tariffs so that people have little money left to live. After all, if in the pre-crisis time, a two-room apartment in the capital of Ukraine cost the family in 400 hryvnias, now it is 2500.
According to the plan of world financiers, the budget funds released from the burden of communal subsidies should be used to pay off debt to western creditors. WB Director Satu Kahkonen also reminded about this. She noted that the World Bank has invested a lot more money in Ukraine than in other countries.
Kahkonen scrupulously listed everything. The Ukrainian authorities received from the WB “$ 5,5 billion, with half of the funds - $ 2,5 billion - in various investment projects, plus $ 2 billion - to support regional budgets for reforms, another $ 500 million - for gas supply. Unfortunately, not all of this money has been used in full, and we are waiting for decisions from the Ukrainian government, ”the director Kakhkonen gracefully transferred the bridge of responsibility for unrealized plans to her Ukrainian partners.
Meanwhile, this situation was predicted for a long time. A couple of years ago, the former chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Nikolai Malomuzh, warned fellow citizens through the Gazeta.ua publication: “Ukraine will not be given much money. But they will finance them so that they can pay off external debts. Funds will be selective and very controlled. ”
Today this time has come, as evidenced by the growing criticism of the Ukrainian government by the World Bank. Previously, he turned a blind eye to the many tricks of the Kiev regime, and now he saw the light of the way that he even saw the impoverishment of the local population and “crony capitalism”, which he accepted for four years.
Only this insight will give little to ordinary Ukrainians. Alas, they now have to pay for the economic miscalculations of the local government and its Western financial curators from their wallet.
To live well in Ukraine
This is not the first time Satu Kahkonen has criticized the current Kiev authorities. In March, for example, on the website of the Economic Truth, she presented the results of World Bank research, according to which, in Ukraine, 2% of companies control 20% of the country's total turnover and more than 25% of assets.
Nothing new in these studies showed up. The fact that the economy of Ukraine for many years controlled a group of oligarchs and their entourage, has long been known. Moreover, in the most profitable sectors, for example, mining, energy and transport, their share grows to 40% turnover and more than half of all assets. In addition, according to expert estimates, 45% of the Ukrainian economy "sits deep in the shadows."
“The oligarchs dominate large sectors of the country's economy, receiving rent and influencing the state through representation in parliament,” Kahkonen wrote in her column on the website of the publication. “For the past more than two decades, politically connected firms have used various channels of access to economic rent, namely: government purchases, subsidized loans, budget transfers, trade rules restricting imports, privileged access to state assets through privatization, and preferential tax regimes.”
Admittedly, giving out well-known information for the pioneering discovery of the World Bank, Kahkoen did it very well. “The model of economic management, under which a small group of companies has a significant influence on political decision-making, is called“ crony capitalism ”,” the WB director expressed her opinion of the local “generals from the economy” in Ukrainian.
Ukrainian nepotism has another feature. Firms associated with government officials and oligarchs are checked by auditors for 61% less than unrelated and, as a rule, avoid punishment for violations. At this statement, Satu Kahkonen issued a traditional recipe for Western officials working in Ukraine today.
The World Bank Director recognized as extremely important for Ukraine "the creation of an anti-corruption structure within the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, a special anti-corruption prosecutor's office, the use of the ProZorro electronic procurement system, and the creation of an anti-corruption court."
That March attack Kakhkonen against the Kiev authorities, experts associated with the failure of the participation of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in the Munich Security Conference. At this important international event Poroshenko was on the sidelines of a common agenda.
As Michael Tumann wrote in his review in the newspaper Die Zeit then: “The Ukrainian leader spoke in an almost empty hall. When Poroshenko finished his speech, he was not asked a single question, but several people applauded at all. ” The observer especially noted that earlier Poroshenko collected full halls in Munich. All were keen on discussing the problems of Ukraine. Now interest in it is largely lost and remains only a sphere of expert discussion.
International officials to the failure of the Ukrainian president responded quickly enough. The International Monetary Fund once again littered its promised tranche, and the World Bank, through the mouth of a high-ranking representative, made a “discovery” about the peculiarities of the “crony” Ukrainian economy.
For the miscalculations of the Kiev authorities will pay ordinary Ukrainians
The new portion of criticism from the World Bank also did not become a revelation for Ukrainian society. Experts call even heavier numbers. As economist Andrei Novak explained to the Vesti edition, “the criterion by which the poverty line is determined is 5 US dollars per person per day. In Ukrainian, the national currency is 130 hryvnia per day, or 4358 UAH. per month per person. Our pensioners, and 50% of the population, cannot boast of such incomes. ”
Economist Novak added the head of the Association of Suppliers of Ukrainian Retail Networks Alexey Doroshenko. He noted that cheap cereals, barley, pearl barley, and wheat, had recently risen in price. “This indicates that the population is switching to cheaper products,” the expert emphasized.
Ukrainians more often began to refuse meat (compared to the pre-crisis 2013 year of fat, the average Ukrainian can afford 2,2 times less, chicken –– 1,7 times), the consumption of fish, seafood, fruits has drastically decreased. In short, the quality of life in Ukraine with a post-Maid power fell decently.
Even Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman acknowledges this. He recently opened up on the occasion and told the media that “the government of the country for four years that passed after the“ revolution of dignity ”failed to ensure steady economic growth and drastically improve the quality of life of citizens.”
True, the most obstinate experts from among the accomplices of the current regime, who seem to be known for speaking on Russian political television talk shows by economist Alexander Okhrimenko, find excuses for even such dramatic events.
In the same edition of Vesti, Okhrimenko excused himself: “We still have gray schemes for earning money. A person gets a job at 0,25, and in fact he works full time, full time, and the difference is paid in an envelope. At the same time, what amount goes in cash, no one knows. Therefore, it cannot be said that 25% is poor in our country. There is a large middle class stratum whose earnings are even higher than the minimum wage in Ukraine. ”
Let's leave aside the understanding by this expert of the quality of life of the middle class. Note for ourselves that this "envelope wealth" of Ukrainians did not turn into a consumer boom for them. Not so long ago, sociologists from Research & Branding Group asked what Ukrainians are saving on today and found out: the majority of respondents cut their expenses on clothes (56%) and food (50%). (Greetings from them to the expert Okhrimenko).
Ukrainians and the World Bank can convey their greetings. It is with the filing of international financial structures, the Kiev authorities pulled up utility rates and tariffs so that people have little money left to live. After all, if in the pre-crisis time, a two-room apartment in the capital of Ukraine cost the family in 400 hryvnias, now it is 2500.
According to the plan of world financiers, the budget funds released from the burden of communal subsidies should be used to pay off debt to western creditors. WB Director Satu Kahkonen also reminded about this. She noted that the World Bank has invested a lot more money in Ukraine than in other countries.
Kahkonen scrupulously listed everything. The Ukrainian authorities received from the WB “$ 5,5 billion, with half of the funds - $ 2,5 billion - in various investment projects, plus $ 2 billion - to support regional budgets for reforms, another $ 500 million - for gas supply. Unfortunately, not all of this money has been used in full, and we are waiting for decisions from the Ukrainian government, ”the director Kakhkonen gracefully transferred the bridge of responsibility for unrealized plans to her Ukrainian partners.
Meanwhile, this situation was predicted for a long time. A couple of years ago, the former chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Nikolai Malomuzh, warned fellow citizens through the Gazeta.ua publication: “Ukraine will not be given much money. But they will finance them so that they can pay off external debts. Funds will be selective and very controlled. ”
Today this time has come, as evidenced by the growing criticism of the Ukrainian government by the World Bank. Previously, he turned a blind eye to the many tricks of the Kiev regime, and now he saw the light of the way that he even saw the impoverishment of the local population and “crony capitalism”, which he accepted for four years.
Only this insight will give little to ordinary Ukrainians. Alas, they now have to pay for the economic miscalculations of the local government and its Western financial curators from their wallet.
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