The unpopularity race – Politics in Ukraine

When all major political parties in Ukraine manage to gain 18% or less individually in the straw polls of public opinion regardless of what provocative or pacifying actions they make take in an attempt to either motivate or buy off the voting public, the one clear result opinion polls show is that the Ukrainian public simply don’t like any of the political choices they have.

Whilst Ms Tymoshenko’s circumstances and hunger strike may be preoccupying Baroness Ashton at the EEAS, not a single spontaneous protest from the people of any note Ukraine has occurred.  In fact even some of the western media sees the hunger strike tactic as flawed.  The Economist recently calling her antics “grating“, and that from a media outlet hardly friendly to the Yanukovych camp (or any authoritarian rule for that matter), and calling foul on her damsel in distress tone.

Over at Der Tagesspeigel my twitter friend Claudia Von Salzen, a stalwart defender of human rights and who regularly highlights Ms Tymoshenko’s plight, does not see her as the lens through which Ukraine should solely be viewed.  She is quite right.

Tymoshenko fatigue seems to be setting in even amongst her foreign supporters, just as it did when she was Prime Minister.

That does not help the current ruling majority however.  They are less popular than a particularly rancid fart in a very air-tight spacesuit.   Then they would be.  They put up the pension age, put up gas and electricity prices, changed the tax code to capture more people, all obviously unpopular, and yet still managed to make themselves more unpopular with insider business deals, plundering the public purse and failing to implement laws they pass that may actually change life even myopically for the better.

In short, the vast majority of Ukrainians do not trust Yanukovych or Tymoshenko and would rather have no government at all than either of those two.  Unfortunately they are the two people who have the only two parties big enough to form a government.  It is therefore absolutely no surprise that none can even pass the 20% popularity threshold.

Only two nights ago, Andrey Shevchenko of BYuT tweeted that BYuT and Yatseniuk’s Front for Change need Klitchko’s party join them to be sure of having a good chance of beating the PoR at the October elections and asking why he has not joined the ranks of the United Opposition yet.

At the same time Carl Bildt tweeted and suggested that Ukraine is going to force the EU into cutting ties.

That being so, the only EU/Ukraine agreement that is not tied to politics, the fate of Tymoshenko and others, or the nefarious actions of Yanukovych and his sponsors, is the road map for Visa-free travel which Stefan Fule consistently states is about the free movement of people and not the politics of a nation.

Very good.  Therefore whether it be the PoR of BYuT that are annoying the EU when in power, and they both have and do, the Visa-free issue should progress regardless theoretically.  Which ever government is sitting in Ukraine when this eventually comes to pass, may get some begrudging recognition by society for actually doing something in their interest.

And yet this process is stalled.  Not by the EU but by Ukraine.  Not for any obscure issues contained within the road map either.  It is stalled over the issue of biometric passports which are necessary as part of the Visa-free agreement and an EU norm for EU nations.

Is it any wonder that the Ukrainian populous have so little faith in their political classes?

One of the few beneficial things for the everyday Ukrainian not hanging by a thread through purely political shenanigans between the EU and Ukraine, and it is the Ukrainian politicians who can’t get their act together once again.

Pathetic!

Political Will (and application) – A matter of trust

It’s not often the opportunity arises to pop your head above the barricades to find both government, opposition and media all talking about the same thing at the same time and all leaving themselves open for a quick volley of fire before ducking back down behind the barricades and allowing them to play their games amongst themselves once more.

Our targets today are Prime Minister Azarov, Natalia Korolevska and an article in The Moscow Times.  The subjects justice, corruption and the political will to provide improvements to both.  All three see political will as the answer to the problems within the Ukrainian and Russian society.  I think it is something far more fundamental – Trust.

To keep matters simple, let us concentrate on their recent comments on justice systems and tackling corruption which apparently can be tackled by political will alone according to two out of three of them.  Only Azarov briefly  mentions the key underlying factor that regardless of political will accomplishing legal or systemic changes amongst the administrative arms of the State and judiciary, is required for any changes to be successful – That factor is trust.

No matter how well designed, no matter how tried and tested, no matter how safe and protective in an accident, or how beneficial to society and the environment an electric car may be, if you don’t think it will perform well, you won’t buy into the concept.

Similarly society must have trust in the political and judicial systems.  They are two foundational pillars of society and they have to be trusted to be effective.

Let us start with The Moscow Times article and this quote from it –  ”Of course, no particular political willpower is required to dismiss someone whom a court of law has found guilty of corruption, but it is needed in large supply when firing someone whom a leader has good reason to believe — based on media reports or other evidence — has been involved in corrupt practices. No doubt the person who gets sacked will raise a clamor, remind his employer of their long personal friendship and possibly even threaten to sue for wrongful dismissal. The senior official will simply have to endure the unpleasantness, remind his old friend that nothing can justify taking kickbacks on state contracts and that he is free to seek justice through the courts if he feels he has been wronged. In other words, all that is needed to stop corruption is a little personal integrity and political willpower.”

Now there is nothing to disagree with contained in that quote whatsoever – if you have trust that the courts will back up your decision to sack the individual in question and that the individual in question is not better connected or in a financial position to influence the outcome of the court.  Unfortunately both Russians and Ukrainians are well aware that influence or money can provide a legal outcome that is completely opposite of what the evidence displays.

Just because you are somebody’s boss doesn’t necessarily mean you are more powerful than them in the grand scheme of things.  So distorted are matters that you may well sack somebody for corruption to then discover they are far more connected than you assumed, you lose in court when they appeal and find yourself sacked instead,  whilst they take your position as the boss.  9 times from 10 things wouldn’t go to court, however it only takes one instants to change your life in a surprisingly bad way.

Thus there is an absolute need to trust the judicial system if challenging the patriarchal system.

Next, let’s see what pearls of wisdom Natalia Korolevska returned from Brussels with after her Korolevska Foundation forum there a few days ago.  The answer is obviously no new pearls of wisdom at all, and she is saying nothing that dozens of RADA MPs haven’t already said over the last decade or more.

Unfortunately for Ms Korolevska, some of us have better memories than others and she herself acknowledged that all RADA members know what the problems are but don’t do anything about it back in 2006 – “It seems that everyone here is well aware of the difficulties, but nobody makes an attempt resolve them and to help the people.” – Ms Korolevska, you are working with and talking with the same people you mentioned in 2006.  Your latest statement, as you well know, means nothing as they all already know what you have tried to imply is a visionary way forwards.

She is hardly setting an example either.  Somehow she has managed to amount a net worth (as estimated in Focus magazine 2009) of almost $250 million and recently has expanded from her food empire and entered coal.  Claims she no longer has business interests and all business assets are in her husband’s name and under his sole control are understandably met with a great degree of cynicism.  Again, trust is the issue with making such a claim.

However, whilst we can broadly agree with most of what she states, this sentence we really do have to examine: – “Corrupt bureaucracy cannot be charged with implementation of reforms.”  - Sticking with the judicial system as the theme, it is simply impossible to remove all existing judges, prosecutors and advocats in Ukraine from the system as there are not enough to replace them all with new, uncorrupted, fresh out of the box replacements.  Accepting that, who else can implement the reforms?

If, as is desperately needed in Ukraine, the judiciary are allowed to be genuinely independent from their political and business masters (often one and the same thing), then it would be folly to grant them that independence and the necessary immunity from prosecution that goes with it (to prevent outside pressure influencing them), prior to reforms.

To grant them genuine independence and immunity prior to any reforms would leave the corrupt judges, prosecutors and advocats in place whilst also making them almost untouchable and exceptionally difficult to remove thereafter.

Also, the political appointing of judges would need to end.  As it currently stands in Ukraine, judicial appointments are made by the president in some cases and the RADA in others as per the Constition (Title VIII).  A completely non-political appointment system such as the UK’s Judicial Appointments Commission would need to be set up and have that authority, both to hire and to fire.

To do that the Ukrainian Constitution would need to be changed, but as Ms Korolevska and her opposition colleagues are refusing to participate in the ex-President Kravchuk led Constitutional Assembly tasked with working through the constitution and amending it, that work is stalled.

In the case of the judiciary, it seems impracticable to do as Ms Korolveska states and remove the existing personnel within the structure prior to those within it implementing any reforms.  The numbers of qualified and suitable replacements simply do not exist to take a hatchet to them all and then afterwards reform the system.

There is a very careful balance between the integrity of the judicial system, which at the end of the day is the absolute priority for any legal system, and the stability of it whilst reforming it (thus allowing it to function as reforms work their way through.)

Just how Ms Korolevska indeeds to reform the judicial system without those currently within it having a very large part to play in that I am not sure.  Hopefully she will explain how this can and will be done.  Maybe she has a cupboard full of brand spanking new and untainted judges, prosecutors and advocats ready to replace all those currently active within the Ukrainian justice system?

Lastly we get to the current Ukrainian Prime Minister, who at least manages to recognise that what is essential in any reform – trust.  He manages to use the word.

Unfortunately, for him, his government, the opposition and entire political class, trust is not a word used by society when referring to any of them.  Almost to a man/woman they have proven to be untrustworthy, opaque in their extra-political business dealings, corrupt and manipulative for their own ends.

If there is any trust between society and the political elite, it is that society trusts them to do what is right for themselves and not society more often than not.  When the entire RADA is made up of millionaires and billionaires in a nation that has a relatively poor GDP per capita income, society is obviously going to be suspicious of each and every one of them.

Under what circumstances does the average poorly paid Ukrainian trust a politician worth $ millions who made their money through opaque business practices or thievery from the public purse?

The politicians don’t even trust each other.  Why haven’t the opposition parties united?  Because they don’t trust each other.  To quote Ms Korolevska after she was expelled from Yulia Tymoshenko’s political block only 2 weeks ago, “Deputies from the so-called opposition have united with the majority factions; an anti-national majority consisting of representatives of the current and previous government has been formed in the Verkhovna Rada.”  - She doesn’t trust those she claims to be trying to forge a united opposition party with anymore than they trust her.  None of them trust each other.  They will not genuinely unite and they will remain dysfunctional because of this.

It is no surprise that so many Ukrainian politicians have family members in politics with them.  When there is no trust amongst colleagues then the patriarchal system brings with it that necessary but missing trust.

Therefore, political will and reform implementation are a matter of trust at its most fundamental level.  As it is, in Ukraine, the government doesn’t trust the opposition or the administrative arms of the State.  The opposition doesn’t trust the government or other the opposition parties, and they also don’t trust the administrative arms of the State.  Society doesn’t trust any of them.

So before there can be the political will, the reforms, the faith in administrative systems for individuals to act with personal integrity and know that there is a solid judicial system that will back them, there first of all needs to be trust.

That is something that will be incredibly difficult to produce.

Challenging conventional wisdom – Freedom of movement – Ukraine/Russia

You know how sometimes it is necessary to play the devil’s advocate or think laterally in order to get a better understanding of something?  At least to see an alternative view when looking through the same lens at the same issue?

Well with the Duma elections today in Russia resulting undoubtedly in a few people my good lady knows retaining their seats and October 2012 in Ukraine having the same result for people she knows in Ukraine also retaining their seat here, one wonders why both Russia and Ukraine are so keen to accomplish an agreement with the EU over freedom of movement (Visa-free) when it would expose their citizens to a far less managed style of democracy than they see at home.

(I will take a moment to say hello to my fellow bloggers, acquaintances and throughly solid citizens,  Charles Crawford and The Democratist who are monitoring said Duma elections in Moscow and Ufa respectively.)

You would think that seeing alternatives to the power vertical, effective and engaged opposition parties with alternative policies (rather than simply saying “no” when those in power say “yes” as is all to often the case in Ukraine, or vice versa), and the rule of law far more evenly applied (although not perfect), the very last thing the current crop of political leaders, both in power and opposition in some cases would want, is to expose their citizens to working alternative models of governance.

Of course both Russian and Ukrainian societies are quite well aware of the European principles and working methods and both societies spend a lot of time in cyberspace where neither Russia nor Ukraine really make any attempt to stop the free flow of information.  Large numbers already travel within the EU for business and tourism despite the Visa hassles.

Why though do these nations want to encourage absolute freedom of travel when it will allow a direct comparison of models in a physical rather than theoretical environment for their citizens in far, far greater numbers?

The USSR indeed stopped such travel to prevent this happening in attempts to avoid any such comparison and enforce the legitimacy of the system that was in place.

Is it not self-defeating to encourage their citizens to see a viable alternative to what they have at home?

These thoughts came to me whilst completing yet another on-line Visa application for a Ukrainian citizen yesterday.  (Maybe I should consider making a business out of it I complete so many.)

After a little contemplation, I decided that conventional wisdom of those within the EU championing Visa-free for the FSU nations, were following a similar thought process as that I outline above.  The more exposure to  the European environment, the more society (rather than ineffectual NGOs) will demand changes.

As I have said before, the current Ukrainian government has not bowed to NGOs in any obvious way but have bowed to public bottom-up A-political protests over issues like the proposed new Tax Code which brought more than 10,000 camping outside the RADA.

So why is it that both ruling Russian and Ukrainian politicians who have an interest in retaining the power vertical, are so keen to have their entire societies free to physically experience (rather than read about) alternative models?

A possible answer came to be via the Visa application I was completing.  Those most likely to experience an alternative structure and recognise its benefits are the students, business people and “middle class”.  They are also those most likely to be capable of organising, publicising  and participating any bottom-up A-political large scale protests for changes in the structure.

These people though are far more likely to be offered work or afford residences outside Russia and Ukraine within Europe and return to their home nations to visit family and friends sporadically.  Thus allowing the free movement of a largely well educated youth to seek further education and employment within Europe, or having the “middle class” have alternative homes outside of Russia and Ukraine where they will spend their time as much as possible, removes a large section of society best placed to challenge the current power vertical in either nation for protracted periods of time.

The pitiful and wholly ineffectual lamenting by the relevant  diaspora have made no difference to the power vertical in either nation.  A larger diaspora is unlikely to make any difference to the current power vertical in either nation as we are dealing with short term, grab what you can politicians when all is said and done.  The long term (25 years from now) is not their concern when it comes to expanding their power or assets in the immediate term.

It therefore pays the current power vertical in either nation to encourage those most likely to challenge it effectively and from the bottom-up, to have them studying, working and living outside the national borders under the guise of championing their rights to travel.

It is incredibly easy to employ the psychological “self” and “other” when it comes to foreign sponsored or completely foreign NGOs.  The current saga of NTV and Golos in Russia is an example.

(My good lady help set up NTV in 1993 and according to her there is a “history” between NTV and Golos dating back to 1995 – That’s another story though.)

Neither opposition in Russia or Ukraine have any real policies to sell to the populous.  Not many sit in the same place on the left to right political spectrum and are therefore unlikely to present a united front against the current majority leaderships.

Ms Tymoshenko’s calls for opposition unity are a waste of time as the Ukrainian opposition parties range from the far right to firmly in the left.  There can be no political unity when there is no shared ideology other than being in opposition to the current ruling majority.  The enemy or my enemy is my friend, does not make for a good government should you win, as Ukrainians discovered with the Yushenko/Tymoshenko debacle.

In effect the opposition is so fractured ideologically, they are ineffectual.  There is also the issue of whether the opposition would be any better.  Nobody really believes Ms Tymoshenko is the champion of democracy she claims to be.  Would her power vertical be any different to the current one in Ukraine?

So in summary, whilst actively seeking to obtain free travel in Europe for Russian and Ukrainian citizens may seem somewhat self-defeating for the current power vertical by exposing it for what it is and allowing the experience of alternatives, also allowing the most effective and dangerous sections of society, (the business/middle class and highly educated students) to spend many years outside the national borders as quasi-diaspora in actual fact may prolong the current arrangements for those in power.

Whereas the USSR policy was to keep external influences out to preserve the system, is the current policy to allow internal influences out to achieve the same ends?

What do you think?  Is it time for me to try an alternative medication or is there some twisted logic in what I have written?

Progress in Moscow when all eyes are on the UN

Over the last week, my email and twitter have been absolutely carpet bombed by press statements and tweets from various  official press centres and the enlightened in equal measure far in excess of the usual information overload.

The reason of course was the gathering at the UN.  Everybody who is a political anybody has to be on record saying something whether people stay to listen or walk out is irrelevant.  Those words are transmitted globally by the Internet in real time via live webcast or with the absolute minimum of delay via press statements.

You start to feel some pity for those in GCHQ, MI6, MI5 and Whitehall who have to trawl through huge amounts of data on a minute by minute basis and decide what is of interest and what is not, what requires and immediate response, what may require a response later and what can be completely ignored.  Who has said what and is there any actual or potential changes in their position which may also mean blowing the dust off some contingency plan written for that eventuality some time ago or creating one.

Multiply this by the many channels of communication of government and other actors, which may be spook to spook, minister to minister, gov to gov, department to department, non-state actor to any of the aforementioned plus many others and in any possible combination from these multitude of information emitting nodes and the carpet bombing of my email and twitter looks like an easy day at the office for some unfortunate mandarin working on a particular desk.

The UN was obviously going to be dominated by the Palestinian UN application and various other Arab and African events.  Ukraine seemed to be most noticed relating to all things atomic during the meeting and whilst that is an important and global issue, that is not what caught my eye.

My attention was drawn to the on-going issue of Transnistria and the 5+2 negotiations to which Ukraine is party.  New commitments to restarting meaningful negotiations were not made at the UN, but in Moscow during the UN gathering in New York, however it did get a mention.

Regionally this is particularly important for both Moldova, Ukraine and the EU.  Transnistria is no more than a 30 minute drive from my home and a place I have been several times.

Transnistria is (classed as) a frozen conflict that happens to sit on the borders of Ukraine (and Odessa) and presents a major obstacle to both Moldovan and Ukrainian European aspirations.  Although this very recent European Commission Report on Moldovan and Ukrainian Visa-free progression does not make it clear, should Ukraine become Visa-free with the EU long before Moldova reaches that stage, it may very well land-lock (by Visa necessity) a very small and rather poor nation on all sides which would be a particularly bad result over a long period of time.

Quite obviously if Ukraine were to become Visa-free with the EU, both the EU and Moldova would hope that Moldova follows swiftly in the wake of Ukraine.  That is rather difficult when there is a frozen conflict involving an officially unrecognised region that seeks autonomy from Moldova and alignment with Russia.  To give credit where it is due, Germany has been particularly active with engaging with the Kremlin over a resolution in the past year to allow Moldova a route towards Europe.

As Stefan Fule stated, sadly almost as a footnote, in this speech a few days ago, “If Ukraine’s role is to be enhanced as we hope, I think it is important to end with a strong reminder of the importance of the human element. At last year’s Summit I was pleased that we were able to announce a concrete Action Plan towards Visa Liberalization. I think the prospects are positive.”   Unfortunately there is no mention of the intangible link with Moldova that certainly exists.

Thus, despite the fine words and matters of great global interest discussed at the UN over tha past week, possibly the biggest and most advantageous event of last week involving Ukraine and its foreign policy took place in Moscow and hardly got a mention.

Out with the old and in wih the new – Ukrainian Visa system changes today

Out with the old and in with the new. Well yes and no, depending upon what you read and who you pay attention to.

To cut a long story short 16 Ukrainian Visa types are no longer issued with effect from today and are replaced by only 3, Transit, Short Term and Long Term. Not news to you dear readers as I did tell you months ago this was going to happen and when.

Well, today is that “when” in question.

I also promised to try to keep you up to date about the intricacies where ever possible.

So, click here for the Ukrainian Embassy to the UK announcement and click here for the US Embassy Kyiv announcement.

If you are incredibly brave click on both as there are some inconsistencies and people who are subject to Visas do tend to get quite emotional and frustrated when they are being told different things.

An example being, for those still holding valid visas for Ukraine, the US Embassy states, “If you have a valid visa and OVIR registration but not a residency permit you can stay in Ukraine as long as your current registration is valid. Once you leave the country, however, you will need to obtain a new visa abroad to qualify for legal residency under the new system. Regardless of the expiration date, “old” pre-September 10 visas will no longer be valid for entry into Ukraine after September 10.”

That is not mentioned by the Ukrainian Embassy to the UK and therefore infers that existing Visas will be allowed to run their course until expiry date under the old rules.

That was in fact confirmed by Mr. Andriy Olefirov, Director-General for Consular Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine at an open meeting only a few days ago duly attended by many foreigners currently holding Visas under the old scheme. They do not need to get a new Visa until the old Visa expires.

The US Embassy is therefore apparently misinformed if you work on the premise that the Ukrainian Embassy issuing Visas for applicants from England and Wales and Mr Olefirov of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine know more about issuing Ukrainian Visas than the US Embassy in Kyiv that doesn’t issue Ukrainian Visas.

I told you some months ago this would not be a seamless process and it would seem an absolute nonsense to make visa holders of the old system, some with considerable time still to run before expiry (indeed some only issued last week), have to buy new visas should they have occasion to leave Ukraine before the expiry dates of the old system visa.

The problems will concentrate themselves in familiar places. The OVIR offices and which Visas, if any, of the old system they will continue to extend (or not) and the height of the qualification bar for the new Long Term Visa as intgerpreted at the issuing Ukrainian embassies and consuls around the planet.

One has to suspect the US and Ukrainian embassies will end up being right half the time, depending on individual OVIR decisions throughout the regions. T’was ever the case the regional interpretation was the only one you were concerned about under the old system anyway.

Nobody has said, as yet, how high the bar for the new Long Term Visa is set. As it replaces most of the 16 Visas that existed before, all of which had different criteria to reach to be granted. Is the bar for the Long Term Visa set at the height of the old IM-1 which required a veritable tome of paperwork from applicant and employer, is it based on an official invitation as per the old Student Visa or God Squad Visa from a recognised national institution, or is it as low as the Private Visa and Business Visa used to be, requiring nothing more than an invitation from a Ukrainian citizen or entity.

The Private Visa was after all requested by many an OVIR prior to registration passed 90 days for those married to Ukrainians who were under the 2 years of marriage point where upon reaching said 2 years, can apply for Permanent Residency.

It is as yet, unclear whether there is a set height for the Long Term Visa or whether, depending upon your reason for applying for it, the numerous different heights still apply.

Feel free to write up your experiences in the comments section for the other readers or simply let me know so I can pass on your experiences of joy or woe.

The next session – Laws to come before the New Year

Apologies for my absense.  It is fair to say, should you read the previous post you may be somewhat understanding as to the reasons why even if you are not overly sympathetic.

I did have a far more thought provoking post for today relating to Ukrainian NGOs (and foreign NGOs in Ukraine) however I had written it and saved it over at a different site of mine which conveniently (or not) was suffering like me and went down to an HTTP 500 server error yesterday.  Needless to say you will have to wait for that delight which springs from a somewhat “spirited joust” between the (mostly) retired and largely irrelevant minor ex-diplomats and politicians I spent Independence Day with.

Today however, with the RADA soon to return to work in a week or two, I thought we could have a peer into my fairly usually reliable crystal ball and look at what major legislation is likely to go before the RADA (possibly a few times if subject to Presidential veto and suggested amendments) and become law by the year end.

Pension reform will be tweaked and introduced (even if the start date of reforms conveniently falls after the parliamentary elections in October 2012). 

The budget for 2012 will be passed with relative ease and in plenty of time (although it will be extremely interesting to look at the provisions for pensions and utility subsidies as per IMF demands).

Changes to the laws on both parliamentary and local elections will also hit the parliament between September and January and will also pass.  It will be interesting to see the “critique” from the Vennice Commision and OSCE.

The laws on agricultural land ownership will also be subject to change one has to suspect during this session.

A fairly busy session ahead when it comes to major reforms.

It also remains to be seen, although it is fairly certain, if the DCFTA and AA between Ukraine and the EU get their initialing before going for ratification.  The Russian rhetoric and levers are now visibly being employed in a late bid to change the Ukrainian course.

Notwithstanding when comes in the way of new laws, we will have the implementation of laws passed in the last session, one of the more entertaining of which commences on 10th September with the complete scrapping of the previous 16 Visa types for Ukraine and the introduction from that date of transit, short and long-term Visas only.  A smooth transition?  I will let you know as the tails of woe and frustration mount up (or not) of the Expat forums.

All in all, a particularly interesting 3 months lay ahead notwithstanding any dramatic external influences as yet to appear over the horizon.

Hopefully the server to a different site will have dealt with its HTTP 500 issue (as swiftly as I have dealt with alcohol poisoning) and tomorrow there will be a more thought provoking look at NGOs.

Love thy neighbour – Ukraine/Turkey‏

Turkey is major regional player in this neck of the woods.

Not only does it have a massive military capability and by far the strongest navy in he Black Sea region, it is the only Muslim NATO member and an established democracy as far as free and fair elections are concerned.

It also happens to have a booming economy and have a significant amount for trade with Ukraine. This is all rather fortunate with Istanbul only half a days sailing across the Black Sea from my front door and a quicker flight than that to Moscow.

There is a reasonably sized Turkish community in Odessa and many people in Odessa choose Turkey as a holiday destination. She that must be obeyed is a big fan of Istanbul’s markets and bizarres.

Anyway, it seems Turkey is getting involved in the LNG plant that will be built in Odessa and is interested in developing a free trade area with Ukraine which is excellent news for Odessa. Talks on Visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Ukraine continue.

All interesting stuff and quite wise considering its dominance of pretty much all things in the Black Sea region. Time to blow the dust of the business cards I was given when the last Turkish trade delegation were in Odessa. Well, you never know, I may be able to eek out a few pennies by way of consultancy. It all helps you know!

Know you own website – British Council and IELTS

Well yesterday whilst being fitted with new face furniture to aid the ability to read, the good woman and her friend unbeknown to me, decided to descend upon the British Council office at 5 Fantana in Odessa.

The reason they went, IELTS. This is a system accepted by UK schools and universities grading the knowledge of English for a foreign student. It has entered the head of our boy (if 16 years old still counts as a boy) and the good woman’s friend’s youngest daughter that they wish to go to university in the UK.

Our boy has decided that he would be rather partial to studying at the LSE whilst the daughter of a friend wants to do a BA (Hons) in Photography at Portsmouth University. As both are 16 years old, it is some years away yet and both are soldiering on at school in Odessa until they reach 18.

The “Rule of P” (Planning and preparation prevents p*ss poor performance) being foremost in these mothers minds, they duly headed to the only British NGO in Odessa remotely directly connected to Britain, IELTS and promoting all things British (including education, a major source of revenue to the UK when it comes to legitimate foreign students).

My good lady knows the lady who runs the British Council in Odessa (the rather wonderful Lyudmila Tatsenko upon whom this tale has no reflection) as she has been present when the good woman and I have met with the luminaries of HM Embassy Ukraine on several occasions here.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with Lyudmila, the good woman and friend where directed towards a woman called Irena who “looks after” education for the British Council in Odessa. It soon became apparent that the British Council only conduct the IELTS tests and do not run preparatory courses for potential examinees. At lest that is what Irena told the good woman and friend.

Further more, she did not know anybody who did run preparatory IELTS courses in Odessa. The good woman and friend duly left the British Council rather crest-fallen as failing any IELTS examination puts pay to their offspring’s aspirations of a British university education and one imagines that to score highly enough on an IELTS examination for a British university is not going to be a simple accomplishment. Furthermore, the good woman herself wants to do a Master’s on-line via a British university and one suspects will have to do the IELTS as well.

Anyway, I return home with new (and rather nice) reading glasses, to then be told of their expedition and unsatisfactory outcome. Finding it rather difficult to believe that the only British NGO specifically tasked with promoting Britain (and British education) had failed so miserably to offer anything other than the IELTS examination (at the cost of UAH 1500) and not even a smidgen of other assistance, I donned new reading spectacles and pulled up the British Council website.

Lo and behold! – What did I find, if not a free on-line British Council 30 hour IELTS preparation course which had not been mentioned during the 30 minutes the good woman and friend had pressed the British Council for help! Indeed a good start although I felt that 30 hours is hardly enough to prepare my boy for an examination that will have considerable influence on his future when it comes to where he will go to university.

New spectacles still affixed to my nose, I then proceeded to delve through the hundreds of business cards collected during my years here and began to telephone the English language schools run by Brits in Odessa in search of a particular chap I had met but who’s name I could not recall but distinctly remembered he had told me he carried out preparatory IELTS courses. Within a matter of minutes, one of the better (or at least legal, all native tongued teachers having Work Permits and IM-1 Visa’s sponsored by the school) did indeed do an IELTS preparation course. It was indeed the school of the chap I was trying to locate.

This particular school is run by a young chap who comes from Hull University by graduate background and whom I met whilst in the company of the luminaries from UK Embassy when visiting Odessa. Needless to say, if I met him at such an event, so did the people from the British Council in Odessa (as they are always present for group meetings and group hugs) and I seemed to recall he mentioned he provided an IELTS preparation course. (The eyesight maybe fading but the memory is not……at least not yet)

Notwithstanding not mentioning or knowing the British Council offers 30 hours of free IELTS preparation free and on-line, you would think in a city as small as Odessa and with no more than 100 British people living and working in it (at most) and even fewer running English language schools or teaching in them, it is not particularly difficult to make follow up telephone calls from exchanged business cards at UK Embassy sponsored Brit gatherings to find what the schools actually offer said Brits own/run or work at.

As there is at least one (there maybe more) British owned school in Odessa offering IELTS preparation courses for an examination the British Council in Odessa conducts, you would think they would know about it and also promote it to people like my good lady and her friend prepared to invest £60,000 and more into their children’s education at UK universities……if they can pass the IELTS course with a suitably high grade.

You come to expect Ukrainian institutions to offer little help and that you will have to do all the detective work, but you expect the British institutions (particularly those promoting Britain and paid for by the British tax payer) to be a font of all knowledge when it comes to their locality and businesses that possess a synergy to the ultimate services it provides.

No? Times have changed and the UK is not the UK I remember? Things are not that “joined-up”? Very well, but you would at least expect them to know what is on their own website!