Grain export quotas to be removed tomorrow

Well dear readers, remember this?

It seems things have changed –  First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Iryna Akimova said during an Economist-organized conference in Kyiv. “If we need the restrictions, it will not be quotas, but customs measures.”

As regular readers will know, I am a massive fan of Iryna Akimova, who I continue to support as being one of the most (if not the most) clued up people to sit in a Ukrainian seat of power in the past decade (or longer).

So what of the less than transparent entities mentioned in my linked blog post?  Well quite obviously any undue influence on grain quotas will no longer exist….however agriculture is a big sector and it would be an incredible waste of such an opaque and tangled web not to use it somehow.

Let us see what entity will be used to form and control any land registry and let us watch who and what entity will control agricultural land sales as and when (possibly 2012 I hear) the moratorium of agricultural land sales if lifted.

Do not be surprised if the companies in the above link feature in that chain.

Am I getting cynical……or have I just fully adjusted to Ukrainian life?

It’s still awkward…….having Mossad on the train

Yes, yes.  I know I have mentioned the story about the suspected removal of Mr Sisi from Ukrainian soil and his reappearance in an Israeli jail once or twice this week already.

As I said in my last post on the subject, the Ukrainian Prime Minister is currently in Israel at the moment and was sure to have the issue raised.

Here is a little snippet from an Harretz interview with him whilst in Israel during which this incident was put to him:

Can you respond to reports that the Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Sisi, was kidnapped on Ukrainian soil by Israeli intelligence agents?

We don’t have clear information right now. The matter is being investigated by officials responsible for state security. Until we know something for certain, we can’t respond.

Theoretically, if the information turns out to be correct, what would that mean?

I don’t want to imagine that such things are carried out on the soil of a friendly state.

An obvious inference that, as far as he is concerned, Ukraine was not informed of this action.

I will keep my eyes peeled and ears to the ground for the formal Ukrainian response to the UN……when it has worked out what to say!

How do you write a corrupt anti-corruption law?

Well dear readers, you would think that to write anti-corruption laws it would be relatively easy……at least as far as who is covered by the anti-corruption laws.  The answer has to be everyone, on the assumption everyone is to be seen as equal in the eyes of the law.

The reason justice is blind is that laws are supposed to be written with no forethought or favour given to those whom may fall foul of it in the future.  No section of the community or individual is supposed to more or less equal before the law (less things like parliamentary privilege).

The current anti-corruption law now going through the RADA has had a first reading, to which the MPs wanted to make 400 amendments.  Yesterday it had a second reading encompassing some of those amendments.

The draft law on preventing and combating corruption in Ukraine approved in second reading
It was supported by 330 MPs with 409 registered in the Parliament session hall. Approval of the bill was supported by most factions – the Party of Regions, Communist Party, People’s Party, Party “Reforms for the Future” and some MPs from BYuT faction and OU-PSD.

Three articles and final provisions of the bill were sent for repeated second reading. After their review and approval the draft document will be submitted for consideration and adoption in general.

All very good, it even has cross-party support from some members of the bitterest government opposition party.  In the exceptionally polarised sphere of Ukrainian politics, you would think cross-party support is a good thing and the draft law is a solid piece of legislation.

Alas, it appears to be not the case and the cross-party support relates to the most corrupt insuring that justice is not quite that blind.  She at the very least is peaking out from under the blindfold or is allowed to have eyes in the back of her head to the advantage of some.

The three articles mentioned in the above report are Articles 1, 11 and 12 of the newly drafted anti-corruption law.

The issue with these 3 specific Articles is that they relate to the accountability of the country’s key officials, mandatory income and expenses declarations by officials and members of their families.

Not just a limited few officials either.

As Arnsey Yatseniuk stated to the RADA during the debate - “Among the basic law provisions are those of the accountability of the president, premier, VR speaker, ministers, heads of law enforcement agencies were edited out. These issues were not put to the vote deliberately. This law is a mere imitation of the fight against corruption. You do not want to fight corruption, you are at the head of corruption.” – Quite!

He is of course quite right.  Without some form of optical interference with blind justice, the pecuniary advantages enjoyed by many MPs through nefarious (by differing degrees)  dealings will leave them subject to the same laws and every other Ukrainian.

It seems the RADA Speaker agrees,  although he spins it towards a “selective justice” theme  - “At the back of our minds we, the opposition and the majority, do not want the law passed. Many lawmakers are wary the law might be used against the opposition – and such fears can exist.”  - A tacit statement that the opposition have corruption issues within their ranks that will be selectively used against them by an equally corrupt majority.

He went on to say the law in front of the RADA was not yet complete, although you have to ask, if the law is not complete, why is it going to a vote at all?

It has been read once, 400 amendments submitted, of which some where taken up and others not (seemingly to the obvious advantage of some), given a second reading of which the majority of the law passed by majority cross-party vote……and yet it is not complete……so will go to another reading?

Come on RADA people.  The law is not retrospective.  Whatever nefarious deed you did today, you cannot be found guilty of by a law introduced tomorrow.  There is a clear line in the sand.  If necessary pass the law and give it 6 months or even 12 months to come into effect to allow extrapolation from your current nefarious and corrupt dealings.  It gives the entire nation the same period to extract themselves from their nefarious and corrupt dealings as well.

After that we can all, equally, expect to be thrown into the gulag should we not have made the most of our time to clean up our act before it comes into force.  Grasp the nettle at the RADA!

Awkward – Mossad in Ukraine

Well here is an awkward issue dear readers.

For some weeks there has been rumour of a Palestinian gentleman being “spirited away” from the sovereign state of Ukraine in an American-esque style black op/rendition.

I have deliberately left this matter alone whilst waiting for something more solid than rumour.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has asked the Ukrainian and Israeli governments to clarify the circumstances of Palestinian national Dirar Abu Sisi’s disappearance in February.

“We would be very grateful to Ukrainian and Israeli government agencies for giving us more detailed information,” spokesman for the UN Office’s department in Ukraine Maksym Butkevych told Interfax-Ukraine.

“Veronika Abu Sisi informed us on Feb. 23 about the disappearance of her husband Dirar Abu Sisi,” he said.

The Palestinian is registered with the UN Middle East agency for aiding Palestinian refugees, he said, adding that if he is outside the territory under the agency’s jurisdiction, he automatically comes under the mandate of the Office of the UN Commissioner for Refugees.

“Therefore, when a report arrived about Mr. Abu Sisi’s disappearance, we turned to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry to for more information and to find out his likely whereabouts,” Butkevych said.

“Unfortunately, no information has arrived from the Interior Ministry,” he said.

“Then we got information from our representatives in Israel, who had received a confirmation from Mr. Abu Sisi’s defense lawyer that he was in jail in Israel and that the date of his arrest coincided with his disappearance – Feb. 19, as stated by his wife,” he said.

Butkevych said it was not known how the Palestinian had disappeared in Ukraine and re-appeared in Israel. But the UN is mostly concerned about whether he traveled to Israel on his own or by force, he said.

“And of course, we are concerned that if he was forced into Israel, law may have been violated and the Palestinian’s human rights abused,” Butkevych said.

Now it is a little more than a mere rumour, or at least I can cite the UN as a point of reference, this is a difficult political situation.

As the Ukrainian authorities, you are faced with:

a.   Acknowledging this gentleman was taken from Ukraine and sent to Israel either forcibly or agreeably.  If agreeably, the matter ends there of course.

b.  By acknowledging this happened and on the assumption this gentleman was forcibly taken from the sovereign state of Ukraine, is denial of all knowledge the way to go?

If you deny all knowledge then it shows Ukraine’s own security services did not know about foreign players on their patch carrying out a sensitive action.  Not good.

It also displays to other nations that their citizens are not as safe in Ukraine as they thought they were.

By denial of knowledge then there is an expectation by nations that there will be at the very least a formal demarche and summonsing of relevant Ambassadors.  A public condemnation also occasionally occurs.  Whether this demarche has happened on not we may never really know.

In effect, if Ukraine did not know, repercussions at a diplomatic level are expected.

c.  If Ukraine did know, then it has allowed a foreign national to be taken from its sovereign territory by a third party nefariously.  Call it what you will but it is an ipso defacto kidnapping in which Ukraine has played a conspiratorial role…..just by knowing and turning a blind eye……and the rumours are that witnesses from the train this gentleman was on have been advised to shut up by the security apparatus of Ukraine.

Not necessarily the convenient portrait for a founding UN member that is already suffering from a poor image relating to the implementation and consistency of application of domestic law and order.

To then consider the jailing of several Ukrainian “spies” in EU border nations in the past few years, the probable “bending” of contractual obligations with Japan over AAU’s and a lengthy backlog of pending ECHR rulings over the last 6 years and it paints a fairly black picture…….particularly when you are due to assume the Presidency of the Council of Europe in May this year.

How do you deal with this official UN request for information?

How does it play out with one of your major regional partners, Turkey (who have their own issues with Israel)?

How does it play out with your neighbours (Russia, Turkey and the EU) if you knew what was going on?

Whose head and how many heads must roll to put the genie back in the bottle and regain confidence that at least international law (if nor domestic law) will be upheld?

I am sure there are those within the Interior Ministry,Foreign Ministry and Ukrainian UN representatives who would welcome the answers to these questions……as soon as you have them dear readers.

Ukrainians should not be afraid of telling the truth

Interfax-Ukraine
Former Prime Minister of Ukraine and Batkivschyna leader Yulia Tymoshenko has proposed a plan for fighting against the current authorities, the first step of which she said would be to release truthful information.

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine and Batkivschyna leader Yulia Tymoshenko has proposed a plan for fighting against the current authorities, the first step of which she said would be to release truthful information.

“What should people do today who do not want such government? First of all – do not be afraid! … A plan of battle is needed that is clear to every patriot and that everybody can take part in. The first step of this plan is to combat the numbing of the mind,” Tymoshenko said in a statement posted on her personal Web site.

She said freedom of speech “exists on the Internet, there are honest journalists, there is the truth, but not everybody has access to the Internet.”

Tymoshenko said she believed that the government could be changed only “when people begin to see clearly, when they understand.”

“And let Yanukovych today celebrate his anniversary [the first year of coming to power] and try to convince himself that he [will be in power] seriously and for a long period of time. We do not agree with him, and state that the mafia will not govern Ukraine! We will not allow this!” Tymoshenko wrote.

What a brilliant idea!

Let’s start by, as she says, the “release truthful information”. Forget all the partisan bickering from politicians and paid commentators and biased experts who rely on a political faction for funding.  Let’s have the truth.  Let’s have cold hard facts for the court of public opinion to judge.  Not just current truths and future truths, let’s be able to look at the past as well.

Let’s see for ourselves, the gas deal she signed with Putin.  Let’s see for ourselves the government accounts so we can see if Kyoto funds were temporarily diverted from their purpose.  Let’s see the evidence against the officials from her time in government and throw it out the the jury of Ukrainian public opinion.  Let’s see the government procurements, middle-men, shell companies and facilitations fees involved, past and present.

Whilst we are at it, let’s release the documents relating to Yushenko’s poisoning, the Gongladze murder, the documents relating to her association with former ministers currently jailed in the US for money laundering.

No Ukrainian should be afraid of telling the truth, so let’s “release truthful information” from the Kravchuk, Kuchma, Yushenko and Yanukovych presidencies.   Let’s allow the public to scruitinise that past 18 years of government contracts, accounts, payments, properties, sales and purchases.  Let’s allow the Ukrainian public the opportunity of their own forensic accounting and Internet detective work.

Where ever the brown smelly stuff falls from the “release truthful information” then let it fall, even if it means her white Louis Vuitton handbag and designer suit get some unfortunate and difficult to remove stains upon it.

Leaders lead by example, so Ms Tymoshenko, so let’s have it then – you’ve no need to be afraid of the truth!

The EU, Miroslav Lajcak…..and a few positive statements

Well dear readers, it’s not often anything overly positive is said about Ukraine by the EU…….maybe because the Ukrainian opposition is officially aligned with the EPP who hold most seats in the EU parliament…….but I have taken a few quotes from the below link:

Eu Observer

He is yet to visit Ukraine and Russia in his new capacity. But he dismissed reports that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is taking the country backward in democratic terms.

“No. There is no reason to be concerned. There is a new current. But as far as the EU is concerned, we have our processes going on and we hope that all our programmes will continue,” he said. “Sure, it’s realistic,” he added, on the prospect of signing a deep free trade deal and a political Association Agreement later this year.

Asked if he believes the Russia-friendly Mr Yanukovych when he says that EU integration is his top priority, Mr Lajcak answered: “We have no reasons not to believe him. We are pleased that this is what he says – it’s the best thing for Ukraine.”

and just as importantly, for the locals in Odessa, is this perception:

On Ukraine, he noted that Mr Yanukovych has improved working conditions in Odessa, where EUbam has its base. “The new governor [Edward Matviychuk] is much better than [former president] Yushchenko’s man. He’s very open and he has started a serious anti-corruption drive,” Mr Burkholder, a veteran German police officer, noted.

We shall see.  It is certainly true Edward Matviychuk is never off the television here but being on television every day no more makes a regional Governor a good Governor than it made Victor Yushenko a good President or Yulia Tymoshenko a good Prime Minitser.

Deeds not only words will influence the jury.

Bursting bubbles – A readers revenge

Dear readers, as always I appreciate your input to this blog, unless you are continually trying to spam the comments section, and I appreciate all the genuine comments and indeed emails that bypass the blog and come to me a different way.

Yesterday, I posted about Container Express Ltd getting £4.5 million worth of work from Ukraine and even though I knew suspected this UK company was at the very best “off-shoring” for certain interests here, I preferred to indulge myself that this was not yet another nefarious tender hiding under the flag of a UK Ltd company a genuine success for the UK.

Alas, one of my faithful flock, who knows a few things about bubbles, forever blowing them as a life long fan of West Ham, has taken it upon themselves to attempt to burst my Container Express Ltd bubble.

Imagine who hard it is now to continue to protect my blissful ignorance after receiving an email, the contents of which simply state:

 

http://www.jctrans.net/ShopComProfile/details_30397.html

There was a very loud security alert when clicking on to a Turkmen site but my MS Essentials cleared it up.

I reckon the UK company is used simply to launder funds.

 

This in itself puts huge pressure on the delicate diaphragm of my little ignorance bubble.  I duly clicked on the link and read the first words:

Company Profile:  Introduction – Transport and forwarding company. Our headquarter is in Moscow………..

UK Company to supply 800 Containers worth £4.5 Million

Well dear readers, for the UK so desperately trying to win exports, here’s a bit of good news:

http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/eco/60811/

London-based Container Express Ltd. plans to supply 800 universal containers to the Lisky state transport service center (Kyiv), which is part of state railways administration Ukrzaliznytsia.

According to a report in the state procurements disclosure system, the proposal of the British supplier was accepted on January 26, 2011.

The contract, which is worth UAH 47.82 million, is to be signed by February 25, 2011.

The Lisky center provides transport and warehouse logistics services using its own facilities and transport. In particular, the center delivers cargo door-to-door, and transports cargo in special and universal containers by sea, rail and road.

Always interested in the UK PLC doing well in Ukraine, a quick look on Company’s House was in order regarding Container Express Ltd:

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/ee47264ce205482fae9bb34f842ccf53/compdetails

Company Details

Name & Registered Office:
CONTAINER EXPRESS LTD.
19 KATHLEEN ROAD
LONDON
SW11 2JR
Company No. 06484749

Status: Active
Date of Incorporation: 25/01/2008

Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Company Type: Private Limited Company
Nature of Business (SIC(03)):
7499 – Non-trading company
Accounting Reference Date: 31/01
Last Accounts Made Up To: 31/01/2011 (TOTAL EXEMPTION SMALL)
Next Accounts Due: 31/10/2012
Last Return Made Up To: 25/01/2011
Next Return Due: 22/02/2012
Last Members List: 25/01/2011
Previous Names:
No previous name information has been recorded over the last 20 years.

UK Establishment Details
There are no UK Establishments associated with this company.

Oversea Company Info
There are no Oversea Details associated with this company.

Now if you want to know more dear readers, click on the “Order information” bit on the Company’s House link above and for £1.00 each tick box you will find out all you want to know very quickly.

For some reason, I am afraid to spend £1.00……as I’m fairly certain I may feel rather deflated by what I find…..and that is it that it is a UK Ltd company in name only with far more Ukrainian connotations than first appears……so I will prefer to sit in my ignorance and think to myself well done UK PLC.

Now, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, instead of clicking my heels and repeating “There’s no place like home”, I will sit here clicking my heels repeating “I hope I am wrong”.