Thursday 27 December 2012
The US eagle can never beat the Russian bear
There are no prerequisites for possible "color" revolutions in Russia today, and there is confidence that the implementation of such scenarios in the country will not be allowed, Secretary of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev said.
"Color revolutions are exported from abroad, and the scenarios of such coups have been carefully polished by Western technologies. We have seen their "good work" in some post-Soviet states, in the Middle East and North Africa. These activities are financed from the outside too. The recipients of those funds should be accountable to their foreign customers and execute their will and recommendations that are more similar to instructions," said Patrushev, when asked about the possibility of an orange scenario to occur in Russia.
In an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, he said that in the autumn of 2011, Russia became "a test ground for the use of information, organizational and other external tools of interference in internal affairs." In this situation, Russia took measures to maintain stability. There were amendments approved to adequate laws, the activities of some NGOs were stopped. Patrushev said that the names of sponsors and organizers of anti-government actions were known to the Russian authorities.
According to Patrushev, some members of opposition movements and radical structures tried to use the political activity of citizens to provoke riots.
"Under the slogan of defending civil liberties, public order would be violated and provocations would be committed. We saw it in Moscow on May 6 of this year. Such illegal actions were aimed at undermining the political situation in the country," the Secretary of the Security Council said.
In these conditions, there were necessary steps taken at the state level to maintain stability. "Necessary amendments to legislation were introduced, the activities of several non-governmental international organizations were stopped. Some of them were directly financed by the U.S. State Department," Patrushev said, noting that the measures proved effective. Law enforcement agencies could protect the population within the limits of law.
"We know the names of "directors" and sponsors of anti-government actions - they are not going to give up their plans ... There are no prerequisites for possible color revolutions in Russia today. There is confidence that the implementation of such scenarios will not be allowed in the country," the official said.
Vladimir Putin and new profile of Western leaders
In order to understand the miscomprehensions between Russia and Western democracies, we must recall the missions of a political leader now in Europe; I shall take examples of France, Spain, Italy and England: thanks to God Germany is different, even if Mrs Merkel is somewhat forced to follow the foolish agenda of her colleagues and America, of course. And we must explain why Mr Putin is sometimes misjudged or merely specify what stuff a Western leader is made off:
- In today's Europe, a Western leader is a witness, sometimes an actor, of disintegration of his or her country. Flemish don't want to be Belgians, Scotsmen don't want to be English, Catalans don't want to be Spanish, and members of the Lombard league don't want to be Italians! Such a barbarity reflects the nihilism of our politics. The multicultural agenda of France and England, for instance, whose people are being replaced (only 85% of whites in each case...), accelerates too this lunatic process. The destroying of the soul and body of our nations is a key factor and politicians are recruited to fulfil it.
- A Western leader is too ordered to humiliate his country and to diabolize its past. History has become repentance. A European country is just made of the horrors of his past. American revisionist historians come at point to comment our monstrous history, in order to submit us the more they can. Spain is inquisition and expulsion of the moors, France is colonization and Vichy, Germany is Hitler, Italy Mussolini. Don't find another factor than hatred and bigotry in our history! And actually Hollande or, recently, Zapatero with their bizarre and insane memorial laws seem to be in charge of disgusting our lands with their souls and pasts. Of course this process accelerates despair and even decline of population. A unisex world is too programmed, which Chesterton had already labelled sexlessness.
A Western leader is nowadays a sheriff of Nottingham ordered by invisible King John and his bureaucracies to castigate his people and taxpayers. They have been ashamed and humiliated and should be prepared to accept the slimming diet and the tax rising business. The western leader must too continue the "striptease of the state" and the so-called privatizations that have in fifteen years ruined Western Europe and America (since at least Reagan) and lowered our standards of living. The agenda of privatizations is the greatest of modern scandals. Obeying the false analysis and the orders of absurd Gurus like Milton Friedman, inspirer of infamous Pinochet and brutal shock-therapies, western states have ruined themselves without any other compensation than more debt and more submission, not to mention the formidable rate of unemployment anywhere. The sacrifice of Greece, the mother of Europe, in the name of her debt and the euro is then exemplary.
- Yet, a Western leader today is also a little soldier of America, and a great distributor of American peace anywhere. He has to ignore a normal geopolitical agenda (an Eurasian entity for instance) and has to finance the reconstruction of Afghanistan (!) and destroy Iraq, Syria, Libya (all states founders of the famous Arab League promised to a full non-existence now) and other future rogue states denounced by neoconservative hawks and so called thinkers. This behaviour is a ruin for our economy but a political leader in the west is not here to fix the economy. He has just been elected to show that his people are not the elected people.
I could mention other scandals, other European traits. Yet the four points mentioned above underline the big challenge of today: the destruction of Europe by her leaders. Western Europe is programmed to become a huge and poor commercial centre run by political and cruel commissars, invisible stockholders and the magi of Qatar!
This is when Vladimir Putin interferes with his pragmatism, his realism, his patriotism and his geopolitical dream; even with his faith: it is no hazard that Chesterton titled his most famous book Orthodoxy. Yet, Vladimir Putin looks like a prehistoric statesman, since he still believes in the history and destiny of his country and since he doesn't commit to humiliate and spoil his people's soul and conscience. His program doesn't fit well in the desperate agenda of our leaders. If people are running away from socialist France, from Spain and Italy, if so many Englishmen have fled London and Britain, it is not only for economical reasons. It is for political and metaphysical reasons as well. They cannot stand their land anymore.
The future will tell us if Putin was a cultural dinosaur or a visionary. Future will tell us where such a deeply lunatic Western agenda can lead us to. We shall live some decisive years indeed
Evgeni Plushenko becomes Russia’s Champion for the 10th time
Evgeni Plushenko, an outstanding figure skater, won the title of the Champion of Russia despite a back injury for the 10th time in his career. "I did everything through the pain," admitted Plushenko.
Russia's National Figure Skating Championship started in Sochi on December25th. On Wednesday, Plushenko performed the free program that included a quadruple toe loop, and scored 265.94 points as a result of two programs. Sergei Voronov came second with a score of 254.06 points. The bronze went to Konstantin Menshov who received 228.88 points.
Plushenko admitted after the competition that he did not expect such a high result from himself. He had a surgery on his back a month ago, which affected his physical capabilities. "I started it all over again. I was about to give up, I could not go any further. It was the support from Alexei Mishin, David Avdysh, Vitaly Balygina that helped me," said the skater.
Russia's Championship in Sochi will end on December 29.
Yushchenko's son sells his luxury apartment in Kiev for $1 million
The son of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced the sale of his penthouse in the center of Kiev. The young man sells his luxury apartment for one million dollars.
The penthouse is 160 square meters, it has two floors., two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a study and a cloakroom.
The apartment has classic style interior: wooden furniture with leather upholstery, paintings and gold-coated items.
Andrei Yushchenko, the son of ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, had been living in the apartment for three years with his wife Elizaveta Efrosinina. Nothing has been said on whether the couple has decided to divorce.
Noteworthy, in the fall of 2012, ex-mayor of Kiev Leonid Chernovetsky decided to sell his luxury real estate too. His three-story mansion that stands on a separate plot of land is available for $20 million.
In December of 2011, Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev paid $88 million to buy a luxury apartment for his daughter in New York City. The deal ($13,000 per square foot) set an absolute record for New York.
Russians want winter time back
State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin asked Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to retrieve winter time in Russia. The letter with the request to the Prime Minister was signed by Naryshkin and sent to Medvedev on December 26.
In the near future, Naryshkin plans to sign a request from Russian MPs on the time issue in Russia. "Such an appeal must be prepared. Monday or Tuesday, as soon as the relevant committee prepares it, I will, of course, sign it," said the speaker.
Russia did not switch to winter time in the summer of 2011 under the order from then-President Dmitry Medvedev. A little more than a year later, the head of the Committee for Health of the State Duma, Sergei Kalashnikov, proposed to switch to permanent winter time. Deputies supported his initiative. Vladimir Putin later stated that this issue should be considered at the governmental level.
Dozens Die In Ukraine Cold Spell
KIEV, Ukraine -- At least 83 people have died in Ukraine from a cold snap that has been gripping the country, officials say.
More than 80 people have died in Ukraine from cold weather that has been gripping the country, local media reported.
An official from Ukraine's health ministry said on Friday that 83 people were known to have died from the cold, according to Interfax Ukraine.
Most of the victims have been found on the streets.
Temperatures as low as minus 23 degrees Celsius and heavy snowfall this month have left the capital Kiev and most of the country under a thick frozen layer.
Residents reported that there was no place for homeless people in Kiev to hide from the weather.
"If those [frozen] are homeless, then it's probably true that they've got nowhere to go in such conditions to warm up," said a woman who gave her name as Tatiana.
More than 500 people were being treated in hospitals across the country.
In the western part of the country, vehicles were trapped in a three-day traffic jam stretching at one point about 20km (12 miles).
Nearly 100 towns and villages across the country remain without electricity.
Army units have also been deployed to help clear the snow on major motorways.
While some people prefer to stay in warm home, some are not ready to give up their hobbies.
A fisherman, Stanislav, said it was necessary simply to put lots of warm clothes on.
"Well, fishers, as you see, they are like penguins glued to the hole in ice and that's it, that's why they put warm clothes on," he said.
Some 1,500 "heating shelters" have reportedly been set up where the homeless and the elderly can get a hot meal and a warm place to sleep.
"If there would be no such stations, if there would be nothing like that ... we would simply, and I'll put it bluntly, we would die out, all of us," said Andrei, a homeless man from Kiev.
Earlier this week the health ministry said 190 people have sought medical help for hypothermia, and 162 had been hospitalised.
Last winter, more than 100 people died from the cold in Ukraine.
Putin: Kiev Seeks Trade-Bloc Cooperation
MOSCOW, Russia -- Ukraine has been seeking ways to cooperate with the Russia-led Customs Union trade bloc, but has not yet submitted an application for a full fledged membership, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
“We’re not talking about Ukraine’s accession to the Customs Union,” Putin said at a press conference in Moscow.
“For us to start talking about it, we have to receive the application for the accession. We don’t have such application.”
The comment provides a glimpse into ongoing discussions between Ukraine and Russia after President Viktor Yanukovych had suddenly postponed his trip to Moscow on Tuesday.
Yanukovych, who was widely expected to go and to sign an agreement with Putin, later cited the need for “additional consultations” for postponing the trip.
The government provided little or no other details over the ongoing talks with Russia, triggering concerns among opposition lawmakers that Yanukovych has been seeking to unilaterally reverse the foreign policy.
The issue is sensitive in Ukraine as any accession to the Customs Union, which includes Belarus and Kazakhstan, would essentially mean reversing previous plans for closer integration with the European Union.
Ukraine’s opposition groups, which increased their strength in Parliament following October 28 elections, vowed to call emergency session of Parliament and other extreme measures to stop the agreement.
Putin said Ukraine has been seeking ways to increase cooperation with the Customs Union after facing difficulties in obtaining a quota for exports of steel pipes to Russia.
Ukraine has earlier received annual quotes from Russia for the exports of steel pipes, but now the decision as postponed because the Customs Union’s supranational body – still controlled by Russia - had to make decision, Putin said.
“Now, we’re not giving Ukraine the quotas not because we don’t want to, but because this is a competence of the supranational body,” Putin said.
“Our Ukrainian friends for some time thought we are joking,” Putin said.
“But now they have understood that this is no joke.” “So, the Ukrainian partners are now busy seeking way out of the situation,” Putin said.
“They are looking for ways of cooperation with the Customs Union that would be acceptable for Ukraine, but would go in line with legal norms” of the Customs Union.
Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna party, said the government should sign as soon as possible a political and free trade deal with the EU.
He said the Customs Union has “no room for Ukraine’s independence.”
Ukraine President Sacks Top Officials
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych has dismissed Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko, Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko and Finance Minister Yuri Kolobov.
Decrees to this effect were published at the president’s official web page Monday.
Among the other Ukrainian high-flyers who lost their offices today are the country’s Minister of Energy and Coal Industry, Yuri Boiko, as well as Ecology and Natural Resources chief Eduard Stavitsky.
The president has also sacked head of Ukraine’s customs service Alexander Klimenko, Defense Minister Dmitry Salamatin, Deputy PM and Health Minister Raisa Bogatyryova, Culture Minister Mikhail Kulinyak and Dmitry Kolesnikov, head of the Ukrainian State Agency for Management of State Corporate Rights and Property.
Government Denies Budget Tampering Charge
KIEV, Ukraine -- A senior government official dismissed allegations from opposition groups that the 2013 budget had been illegally tampered with and changed before it was signed by President Viktor Yanukovych.
The opposition groups charged the government had increased spending on police by 1 billion hryvnias ($0.12 billion) next year among other changes after the budget had been approved by Parliament.
But Serhiy Tyhypko, an acting deputy prime minister in charge of social policy, dismissed the allegations and defended the budget, suggesting the issue may continue to dominate upcoming sessions of Parliament.
“As for changes to the budget, I think that this can not be that it has been approved by Parliament in one edit to be later changed at the presidential administration and signed by the president,” Tyhypko said.
“I think whatever was submitted by Parliament, was signed by the president.” Tyhypko, who was elected to Parliament at the October 28 elections, has made it clear that he will not stay in the government and will rather join Parliament.
Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna party, charged on Thursday that main parameters of the 2013 budget – including budget deficit - were changed after it was approved by Parliament and before it was signed by Yanukovych.
The budget was approved without debate by the outgoing Parliament at its last-day session on December 6 and was signed into law by Yanukovych on December 17.
The budget deficit increased by 100 million hryvnias ($12.4 million) to 50.5 billion hryvnias ($6.3 billion) in from 50.4 billion hryvnias before Yanukovych had signed the bill, Yatseniuk said.
Other major changes include increasing spending on police by 1 billion hryvnias ($0.12 billion), a measure that Yatseniuk said was a sign the government was protecting itself from the people.
Other major winners of the alleged tampering are the Cabinet of Ministers, which increased spending on itself by 60 million hryvnias ($7.4 million), or by more than 20%, to 334.5 million hryvnias ($41.5 million), Yatseniuk said.
Yatseniuk said the increases in spending came after social programs had been reduced or eliminated. For example, the Social Policy Ministry’s budget was cut by 20 million hryvnias, while hospitals handling rehabilitation of cerebral palsy patients had their budget reduced by 7 million hryvnias ($0.9 million).
Spending on water supply infrastructure across Ukraine was reduced by 160 million hryvnias ($20 million) in 2013, Yatseniuk said.
Tyhypko defended the social spending and said it was adjusted to the worsening economic environment.
“The social budget was not reduced, but the rate of increase in wages for the public sector has slowed down,” Tyhypko said.
“The budget is difficult.”
“The situation in the economy is very strained,” Tyhypko said.
“We are not talking about it, but the situation is simply crisis-like.”
Ukraine’s projected budget deficit at 3.2% of the gross domestic product – twice as much as in 2012 - is one of the main macroeconomic problems to be faced by the government next year, according to analysts said.
Other concerns include overly optimistic economic growth forecast of 3.4% on the year in 2013, which may de-facto further widen budget deficit if the government collects less in budget revenue, analysts said.
China Loans Ease Ukraine Strain
KIEV, Ukraine -- China has promised major loans to Ukraine as the country faces rising pressure from Russia over imported gas costs.
On Dec. 10, Ukraine's government announced that its national gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy had received a U.S. $3.65-billion credit line from state-owned China Development Bank Corp. to help replace gas with coal.
The 15-year loans would be paid out starting in 2016, according to the Interfax news agency, suggesting they will provide little immediate relief from Ukraine's current financial squeeze.
But the support for replacing gas with cheaper domestic coal comes at a time when Ukraine has been struggling with Russia over the high cost of its gas supplies.
Ukraine has been paying some of the highest gas prices in Europe under a long-term contract signed with Russian monopoly Gazprom in 2009.
The contract, which pegs gas to higher-priced oil, has saddled Ukraine with import costs of over U.S. $12 billion a year.
President Viktor Yanukovich has tried for nearly three years to renegotiate the terms, but so far without success.
Talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin set for Dec. 18 were postponed as the impasse persists.
Russia has held out for concessions including control of Ukraine's transit pipelines, which have carried most of Gazprom's exports to Europe since Soviet times.
The standoff has kept Europe on edge for years following a series of disputes that have disrupted winter gas deliveries.
The costs have become critical for Ukraine, which has been warned by the International Monetary Fund that its hard currency reserves are only enough to cover 2.6 months of total imports, according to a separate Interfax report.
The IMF has withheld further loans until the government raises household gas rates, an unpopular step that Yanukovich has been reluctant to take.
To lower its costs, Ukraine has cut gas imports from Russia with measures that include using more coal.
But the effort has led to another financial risk.
Under terms of its contract, Ukraine must buy a minimum volume of gas or pay a penalty.
By one estimate, Naftogaz could face U.S. $2.7 billion in fines for buying less than the minimum this year.
China seems to be stepping into the conflict with loans that could help Ukraine reduce its reliance on Russian gas even more.
Edward Chow, senior fellow for energy and national security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said China must know that the loans may be seen as interference, but officials have said nothing about the motivation.
"I think it's a little more than curious," said Chow, although China's reasons remain unclear.
China's calculations could be strictly financial, despite the risk of annoying Russia, which has also been trying to strike a deal for gas exports to China since 2006.
"You have Chinese capital chasing deals all over the world, and Ukraine is a geopolitically important place, so why wouldn't the Chinese ... want to have some kind of a foothold?" Chow said.
Chow suggests that Ukraine may have actually weakened its hand with the Russians by appealing to China.
"Instead of giving them the idea that they can't be too hard on the Ukrainians because they will just rush to the Chinese, it may have the opposite effect of just proving how desperate the Ukrainians are," he said.
Beijing's practice of offering big loans in Russia's traditional backyard may continue to raise questions about its relations with Moscow, however.
In September 2011, China agreed to grant Belarus a soft loan of U.S. $1 billion under similar circumstances as the country was trying to resist a Russian takeover of its Beltransgaz pipeline system.
In that case, Belarus was also faced with rising prices for Russian gas and an IMF refusal to extend further loans.
The Russian press saw the move as competition for Belarusian assets that would have to be sold under pressure to pay for gas supplies.
"It seems Russia will now have a powerful rival in the fight for control over state-owned Belarusian firms," the daily Kommersant said at the time.
Russia's Gazprom succeeded in gaining control over Beltransgaz later that year.
Last week, the Belarusian government said China's Export-Import Bank would lend it over U.S. $600 million for satellite communications and highway projects.
President Alexander Lukashenko said Chinese credits would be "more than $1 billion,"
.So far, Russian officials have kept quiet about China's financial forays into the former Soviet republics, although its influence has grown immeasurably in Central Asia with oil and gas investments over the past decade.
It is unclear whether China is now looking for similar influence in Ukraine.
In September, the Financial Times reported that Ukraine planned to start shipping 3 million metric tons of corn per year to China under a U.S. $3-billion credit agreement with the country's Export-Import Bank.
First deliveries were expected by the end of the year, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Ukraine has high hopes for its agreement with China on coal conversions, which are planned for several regional heat generating plants.
The projects would allow Ukraine to reduce gas imports by 3 billion cubic meters (105.9 billion cubic feet) per year, saving U.S. $1.2 billion annually, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said,
Prez: 2013 Budget A Matter Of ‘Survival’
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s economy is facing extremely tough environment in 2013 and it is a matter of “survival” for the government to spend money wisely next year, President Viktor Yanukovych said Tuesday.
He said Ukraine will seek to revive borrowing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in order to pay mounting debt obligations that come due next year.
“Every budget hryvnia must be valued and appreciated,” Yanukovych told a meeting of regional officials in Kiev.
“It will be a survival budget. And if there will be any economic growth, it would come only through savings.”
The comment underscores concerns over economic conditions in 2013 despite the government drafting the budget based on an optimistic scenario, which anticipates economic expansion at 3.4% on the year.
The economic recorded a contraction in the third quarter and is expected to grow less than 1% in 2012, well beyond the government’s original forecast.
Yanukovych addressed the issue days after opposition lawmakers had charged that the government had secretly changed main budget numbers and spending after the bill was approved by Parliament and before it was signed by the president.
For example, the opposition groups said the government had illegally increased spending on police by 1 billion hryvnias ($0.12 billion) next year among other changes in 2013.
Serhiy Tyhypko, a former deputy prime minister in charge of social policy who was dismissed by Yanukovych last week, denied the allegations.
But Yanukovych specifically said that the government must focus on “rational use” of the budget money.
“The obvious requirement is the rational use of budget funds in 2013,” Yanukovych said.
“The obvious requirement is the rational use of budget funds in 2013,” Yanukovych said.
“The budget that was approved cannot suit everyone. Its main task is to prevent the deterioration of social protection in a difficult economic situation.”
Ukraine is expected to repay $9 billion in 2013, which makes the government’s job extremely difficult next year and requires resumption of borrowing from the IMF and the World Bank, he said.
“We expect to deepen cooperation with the international financial institutions – the IMF and the World Bank,” Yanukovych said.
Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna party, charged last week that main parameters of the 2013 budget – including budget deficit - were changed after it was approved by Parliament and before it was signed by Yanukovych.
The budget was approved without debate by the outgoing Parliament at its last-day session on December 6 and was signed into law by Yanukovych on December 17.
The budget deficit increased by 100 million hryvnias ($12.5 million) to 50.5 billion hryvnias ($6.31 billion) in from 50.4 billion hryvnias ($6.3 billion) before Yanukovych had signed the bill, Yatseniuk said.
Other major changes include increasing spending on police by 1 billion hryvnias ($0.12 billion), while spending on the Cabinet of Ministers had increased by 60 million hryvnias ($7.5 million), or by more than 20%, to 334.5 million hryvnias ($41.8 million), Yatseniuk said.
On the other hand, spending on social programs was cut by 20 million hryvnias ($2.5 million), while hospitals handling rehabilitation of cerebral palsy patients had their budget reduced by 7 million hryvnias ($0.87 million).
Spending on water supply infrastructure across Ukraine was reduced by 160 million hryvnias ($20 million) in 2013, Yatseniuk said.
Ukraine’s projected budget deficit at 3.2% of the gross domestic product – twice as much as in 2012 - is one of the main macroeconomic problems to be faced by the government next year, according to analysts said.
Other concerns include overly optimistic economic growth forecast of 3.4% on the year in 2013, which may de-facto further widen budget deficit if the government collects less in budget revenue, analysts said.
Svoboda: The Rise Of Ukraine's Ultra-Nationalists
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's ultra-nationalist party, Svoboda, was a shock winner in October's parliamentary election, capturing more than 10% of the vote and entering the legislature for the first time.
How radical is it?
Svoboda's presence has been felt immediately in Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, where its 37 deputies belong to a broad coalition opposing President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions.
Meeting for its first two sessions in mid-December, the Rada - as it has a number of times in the past - degenerated into scenes that resembled not so much a legislative process as an ice hockey brawl, involving dozens of shoving, punching and kicking parliamentarians.
Svoboda's newly installed deputies, clad in traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts, were in the thick of the melee, when not actually leading the charge.
They helped attack and drive from the opposition's ranks two deputies - a father and son - who were accused of preparing to defect to the ruling party.
Then they joined a massive free-for-all around the speaker's rostrum, in protest at alleged illegal absentee-voting by deputies from the governing party.
One of Svoboda's leading members, sports journalist Ihor Miroshnychenko, his ponytail flying behind him, then charged the podium to prevent a deputy speaking in Russian. (Svoboda believes that only Ukrainian should be used in all official bodies.)
Outside, Svoboda deputies used a chainsaw to cut down an iron fence erected last year to prevent crowds from storming the parliament building.
This they justified in the name of popular democracy.
"No other democratic country has fenced-off the national parliament,"
said Svoboda's Ruslan Koshulinskiy, the deputy speaker of parliament.
"People have chosen these lawmakers and should have a right to have access to them."
Chaotic and confrontational as this may seem to Western eyes, Svoboda's over-the-top behaviour is partly what drove many Ukrainians to vote for them.
The party has tapped a vast reservoir of protest votes.
In a political landscape where all other parties are seen as corrupt, weak or anti-democratic - or all three - Svoboda seems to have attracted voters who would otherwise have stayed away from the polls altogether.
Its strong anti-corruption stance - promising to "clean up" Ukraine - has resonated deeply.
"I'm for Svoboda," said Vadim Makarevych, a supporter, said at a recent rally in Kiev.
"We have to stop what is happening in our country. It's banditry and mafia."
At the same time, they have staked out a position as fervent - some say rabid - defenders of traditional Ukrainian culture and language.
Months before Miroshnychenko charged the parliament podium, Svoboda activists were photographed appearing to spray police with pepper gas, at a demonstration against a law making Russian an official language in some regions of the country.
Among those who see Russia as a threat to Ukraine's independence - chiefly in the west rather than the east of the country - many applaud this tough anti-Moscow stance.
But in the run-up to October's election, the party also wooed centrist voters by softening its image.
Party leader Oleh Tyahnybok repeatedly reassured voters that Svoboda is not racist, xenophobic or anti-Semitic - just pro-Ukrainian.
"We are not against anyone, we are for ourselves," he said.
By presenting itself as a party of very devoted patriots, Svoboda seems to have won over voters who would be repelled by some of its more radical views - or voters who sympathise with these views, but prefer them to remain unspoken.
In the last parliamentary elections five years ago, Svoboda managed only 0.7% of the vote.
This time, in addition to expanding its traditional base in the country's Ukrainian-speaking west - it won close to 40% in the Lviv region - Svoboda made inroads into central regions, capturing second place in the capital Kiev.
Last week, the charismatic Tyahnybok was voted Person of the Year by readers of the country's leading news magazine, Korrespondent.
But while the party's radical past can be papered over, it cannot be erased.
Its name until 2004 was the "Social-Nationalist Party" and it maintains informal links to another group, the Patriots of Ukraine, regarded by some as proto-fascist.
In 2004, Tyahnybok was kicked out of former President Viktor Yushchenko's parliamentary faction for a speech calling for Ukrainians to fight against a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia" - using two highly insulting words to describe Russians and Jews - and emphasising that Ukrainians had in the past fought this threat with arms.
In 2005, he signed an open letter to Ukrainian leaders, including President Yushchenko, calling for the government to halt the "criminal activities" of "organised Jewry", which, the letter said, was spreading its influence in the country through conspiratorial organisations as the Anti-Defamation League - and which ultimately wanted to commit "genocide" against the Ukrainian people.
Tyahnybok stresses that he has never been convicted for anti-Semitism or racial hatred, though prosecutors opened a case against him after his 2004 speech.
"All I said then, I can also repeat now," he says.
"Moreover, this speech is relevant even today."
Other Svoboda members have also courted controversy.
Yuriy Mykhalchyshyn, a parliamentary deputy considered one of the party's ideologues, liberally quotes from former Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, along with other National-Socialist leaders.
This undoubtedly appeals to a number of Svoboda's voters, though to what extent is difficult to determine.
Even now, Svoboda's platform calls for passports to specify the holder's ethnicity, and for government positions to be distributed proportionally to ethnic groups, based on their representation in the population at large.
"We want Ukrainians to run the country," says Bohdan, a participant in a recent Svoboda rally, as he waves a Ukrainian flag and organises cheering and chanting.
"Seventy percent of the parliament are Jews."
Some see signs that Svoboda's radical elements are reasserting themselves.
Activists recently attacked and sprayed tear gas at a gay rights rally in central Kiev.
Ihor Miroshnychenko, meanwhile, used abusive language to describe the Ukrainian-born American actress Mila Kunis, who is Jewish, in an online discussion.
However, a number of Svoboda's critics, while underscoring the potential dangers of the party's rise, also say that its popularity may be fleeting.
Svoboda's surge mirrors the far-right's growing strength in many countries across Europe, they point out, and may not signal any fundamental, long-term rightward shift among the Ukrainian population.
With the increased scrutiny that the party will come under in parliament, more Ukrainians may also take objection to Svoboda's wilder statements, or decide it creates unnecessary divisions in an already polarised country.
The party itself could also become more mainstream as it conforms to pressure from its political partners.
This has happened with other far-right groups in the past, like the Italian Fascist party, which mellowed as it integrated into Italy's conservative camp, experts say.
"There's a belief that Svoboda will change, once in the Verkhovna Rada, and that they may become proper national democrats," says Andreas Umland, a political science professor at Kiev's Mohyla Academy University.
But he hesitates to predict how the party's internal tensions will be resolved.
"We don't know which way Svoboda will go," he says.
"It may actually become more radical."
How radical is it?
Svoboda's presence has been felt immediately in Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, where its 37 deputies belong to a broad coalition opposing President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions.
Meeting for its first two sessions in mid-December, the Rada - as it has a number of times in the past - degenerated into scenes that resembled not so much a legislative process as an ice hockey brawl, involving dozens of shoving, punching and kicking parliamentarians.
Svoboda's newly installed deputies, clad in traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts, were in the thick of the melee, when not actually leading the charge.
They helped attack and drive from the opposition's ranks two deputies - a father and son - who were accused of preparing to defect to the ruling party.
Then they joined a massive free-for-all around the speaker's rostrum, in protest at alleged illegal absentee-voting by deputies from the governing party.
One of Svoboda's leading members, sports journalist Ihor Miroshnychenko, his ponytail flying behind him, then charged the podium to prevent a deputy speaking in Russian. (Svoboda believes that only Ukrainian should be used in all official bodies.)
Outside, Svoboda deputies used a chainsaw to cut down an iron fence erected last year to prevent crowds from storming the parliament building.
This they justified in the name of popular democracy.
"No other democratic country has fenced-off the national parliament,"
said Svoboda's Ruslan Koshulinskiy, the deputy speaker of parliament.
"People have chosen these lawmakers and should have a right to have access to them."
Chaotic and confrontational as this may seem to Western eyes, Svoboda's over-the-top behaviour is partly what drove many Ukrainians to vote for them.
The party has tapped a vast reservoir of protest votes.
In a political landscape where all other parties are seen as corrupt, weak or anti-democratic - or all three - Svoboda seems to have attracted voters who would otherwise have stayed away from the polls altogether.
Its strong anti-corruption stance - promising to "clean up" Ukraine - has resonated deeply.
"I'm for Svoboda," said Vadim Makarevych, a supporter, said at a recent rally in Kiev.
"We have to stop what is happening in our country. It's banditry and mafia."
At the same time, they have staked out a position as fervent - some say rabid - defenders of traditional Ukrainian culture and language.
Months before Miroshnychenko charged the parliament podium, Svoboda activists were photographed appearing to spray police with pepper gas, at a demonstration against a law making Russian an official language in some regions of the country.
Among those who see Russia as a threat to Ukraine's independence - chiefly in the west rather than the east of the country - many applaud this tough anti-Moscow stance.
But in the run-up to October's election, the party also wooed centrist voters by softening its image.
Party leader Oleh Tyahnybok repeatedly reassured voters that Svoboda is not racist, xenophobic or anti-Semitic - just pro-Ukrainian.
"We are not against anyone, we are for ourselves," he said.
By presenting itself as a party of very devoted patriots, Svoboda seems to have won over voters who would be repelled by some of its more radical views - or voters who sympathise with these views, but prefer them to remain unspoken.
In the last parliamentary elections five years ago, Svoboda managed only 0.7% of the vote.
This time, in addition to expanding its traditional base in the country's Ukrainian-speaking west - it won close to 40% in the Lviv region - Svoboda made inroads into central regions, capturing second place in the capital Kiev.
Last week, the charismatic Tyahnybok was voted Person of the Year by readers of the country's leading news magazine, Korrespondent.
But while the party's radical past can be papered over, it cannot be erased.
Its name until 2004 was the "Social-Nationalist Party" and it maintains informal links to another group, the Patriots of Ukraine, regarded by some as proto-fascist.
In 2004, Tyahnybok was kicked out of former President Viktor Yushchenko's parliamentary faction for a speech calling for Ukrainians to fight against a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia" - using two highly insulting words to describe Russians and Jews - and emphasising that Ukrainians had in the past fought this threat with arms.
In 2005, he signed an open letter to Ukrainian leaders, including President Yushchenko, calling for the government to halt the "criminal activities" of "organised Jewry", which, the letter said, was spreading its influence in the country through conspiratorial organisations as the Anti-Defamation League - and which ultimately wanted to commit "genocide" against the Ukrainian people.
Tyahnybok stresses that he has never been convicted for anti-Semitism or racial hatred, though prosecutors opened a case against him after his 2004 speech.
"All I said then, I can also repeat now," he says.
"Moreover, this speech is relevant even today."
Other Svoboda members have also courted controversy.
Yuriy Mykhalchyshyn, a parliamentary deputy considered one of the party's ideologues, liberally quotes from former Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, along with other National-Socialist leaders.
This undoubtedly appeals to a number of Svoboda's voters, though to what extent is difficult to determine.
Even now, Svoboda's platform calls for passports to specify the holder's ethnicity, and for government positions to be distributed proportionally to ethnic groups, based on their representation in the population at large.
"We want Ukrainians to run the country," says Bohdan, a participant in a recent Svoboda rally, as he waves a Ukrainian flag and organises cheering and chanting.
"Seventy percent of the parliament are Jews."
Some see signs that Svoboda's radical elements are reasserting themselves.
Activists recently attacked and sprayed tear gas at a gay rights rally in central Kiev.
Ihor Miroshnychenko, meanwhile, used abusive language to describe the Ukrainian-born American actress Mila Kunis, who is Jewish, in an online discussion.
However, a number of Svoboda's critics, while underscoring the potential dangers of the party's rise, also say that its popularity may be fleeting.
Svoboda's surge mirrors the far-right's growing strength in many countries across Europe, they point out, and may not signal any fundamental, long-term rightward shift among the Ukrainian population.
With the increased scrutiny that the party will come under in parliament, more Ukrainians may also take objection to Svoboda's wilder statements, or decide it creates unnecessary divisions in an already polarised country.
The party itself could also become more mainstream as it conforms to pressure from its political partners.
This has happened with other far-right groups in the past, like the Italian Fascist party, which mellowed as it integrated into Italy's conservative camp, experts say.
"There's a belief that Svoboda will change, once in the Verkhovna Rada, and that they may become proper national democrats," says Andreas Umland, a political science professor at Kiev's Mohyla Academy University.
But he hesitates to predict how the party's internal tensions will be resolved.
"We don't know which way Svoboda will go," he says.
"It may actually become more radical."
Sunday 16 December 2012
Anna Chapman and Co. develop business skills
Let's imagine what Mata Hari could become had she not been executed on charges of spying. Initially, perhaps, she would continue dancing- after all it was her profession. Russian intelligence agent Anna Chapman was a businesswoman before she came to a police station in New York. After deportation from the U.S. to Russia she found herself not only in politics, but also in journalism and television. Her business acumen coupled with popularity allowed her making good money on revealing photos. But amidst all this fuss and hype Anna established a charitable fund "Right to Smile" to help blind and visually impaired children.
"People are more interested in art than pain," Anna Chapman said. "I realized that doing my charity work. This project brought together the team of people who care. And I believe that there are more good, caring people than indifferent or ill-wishing ones. Another thing is that not everyone can help. The worst is that charities' reputation has been ruined because for too long it had been used for personal gain and PR. I do not blame those who do not believe in charity, because they had been deceived for too long. At the same time, I am doing what I can.
In Volgograd, the fund is the only institution capable of helping childre who urgently need to be treated for strabismus, providing a timely diagnosis, bringing new medical technologies, or updating the equipment in day care facilities. Most likely, nobody will build a school for the blind."
Those who help people, and especially children, deserve respect. It does not matter whether Chapman had failed her intelligence mission, or whether she was a secret service agent. What do all retired spies or agents do on their "retirement"? They say that talented people are talented in everything. Perhaps, due to the fact that intelligence is a creative process, secret service agents choose creative professions. On duty, they have to be business people, but at heart they are artists,
Illegal immigrant, secret service agent Joseph Grigulevich ("Max") used to be a foreign ambassador in Italy and the Vatican, and after successful completion of his job he became a prominent specialist in Latin American history and Catholicism. Joseph Grigulevich returned to the Soviet Union in late 1953, joined the party and engaged in scientific and literary work. Creative productiveness of Grigulevich who authored over 30 books and numerous articles caused envy of his academic colleagues who claimed that he used "literally slaves" to work for him from dusk till dawn.
Grigulevich published his first scientific monograph in 1957 and defended it as a thesis. Nine years later he received his doctorate degree, preparing a monograph "The Cultural Revolution in Cuba." Grigulevich was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Honored Scientist of the RSFSR, and was a holder of many orders and medals. For other services to his country, he had military awards, including the Order of the Red Banner and Red Star.
Juozas Grigulyavichus (Lithuanian spelling) was born on May 5, 1913 in Vilna in a family of Jewish Karaites. According to the "legend" of the Soviet intelligence officer, he later had to present himself as a Lithuanian, Chilean, Mexican, and Costa Rican. In October of 1937, in a training house of NKVD outside Moscow in Malakhovka Grigulevich was prepared to conduct operations to eliminate opponents abroad. "It would be more appropriate to call Joseph a 'failed liquidator' ..." said the author of the latest biography of the famous secret agent Neil Nikandrov.
During preparation of the operation to murder Trotsky in Mexico in which Grigulevich aka "Felipe" took active part, he met 23-year-old Laura Araujo Aguilar. The elementary school teacher became the girlfriend and then wife of the spy. Neil Nikandrov wrote that Joseph and Laura lived together for nearly 50 years. They had to go through a long pursuit of the FBI, two-year separation, premature death of their six months old son in Rio de Janeiro, intelligence epic in Italy at the height of the "cold war", "life from scratch" in the 1950-60's in Moscow, and vicious persecution of the early perestroika years. They overcame these ordeals together.
Grigulevich published his first scientific monograph in 1957 and defended it as a thesis. Nine years later he received his doctorate degree, preparing a monograph "The Cultural Revolution in Cuba." Grigulevich was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Honored Scientist of the RSFSR, and was a holder of many orders and medals. For other services to his country, he had military awards, including the Order of the Red Banner and Red Star.
Juozas Grigulyavichus (Lithuanian spelling) was born on May 5, 1913 in Vilna in a family of Jewish Karaites. According to the "legend" of the Soviet intelligence officer, he later had to present himself as a Lithuanian, Chilean, Mexican, and Costa Rican. In October of 1937, in a training house of NKVD outside Moscow in Malakhovka Grigulevich was prepared to conduct operations to eliminate opponents abroad. "It would be more appropriate to call Joseph a 'failed liquidator' ..." said the author of the latest biography of the famous secret agent Neil Nikandrov.
During preparation of the operation to murder Trotsky in Mexico in which Grigulevich aka "Felipe" took active part, he met 23-year-old Laura Araujo Aguilar. The elementary school teacher became the girlfriend and then wife of the spy. Neil Nikandrov wrote that Joseph and Laura lived together for nearly 50 years. They had to go through a long it of the FBI, two-year separation, premature death of their six months old son in Rio de Janeiro, intelligence epic in Italy at the height of the "cold war", "life from scratch" in the 1950-60's in Moscow, and vicious persecution of the early perestroika years. They overcame these ordeals together.
Grigulevich's years of work in Italy have been repeatedly called his best. Through his ingenuity and operational improvisation, the Soviet spy became an ambassador of Costa Rica in the Apennine peninsula, though he had never been to this Central American country. "Max" with a passport in the name of Theodoro Bonnephil Castro and his wife Louise under the name of Inel Idaliny arrived in Italy on tourist visas and settled in a modest hotel near the center of Rome. The "Latin American" couple was able to convince the consul of Uruguay to grant them a permit for permanent residence in the country. The Consul even nominally made Theodoro Castro a secretary of the consulate. He instinctively felt that the enterprising Costa Rican would acquire a successful business and counted on private limited participation in the profitable business of the entrepreneur.
"Max" did not only became rich on coffee trade, but also earned a good reputation among traders. When in October of 1950 a group of politicians from Costa Rica came to Italy, one of the consuls thought of Castro. When Grigulevich was invited to a meeting with the former president of Costa Rica, José MarÃa Hipólito Figueres Ferrer, the agent did not have time to consult with the Center. "I've never been to the Costa Rican "homeland," remembered Grigulevich. "My knowledge of this country was based on popular guidebooks and information drawn from interviews with two or three "compatriots." There was a danger that I would seem suspicious and Figueres starts an investigation."
After hearing the details of Castro's biography (or spy "legend"), Figueres, who in his homeland was respectfully called Don Pepe, exclaimed, "We are related! Your father was the nephew of the husband of my mother's aunt! Where have you been all this time? " Castro "honestly" revealed that he was an illegitimate son, and did not want to let his father down. Two months of almost daily interaction and joint trips around Italy brought the two extraordinary people together and made them friends.
Castro co-founded a trading company dealing with selling Costa Rican coffee in Europe. "Max" thought of the advertising slogan: "Coffee from Costa Rica will enrich your dreams." One of the secret service veterans later recalled that during an impromptu contest among former Soviet spies Grigulevich won by writing "the best essay on the coffee in the Soviet literature."
When Castro gave a bag of coffee beans to Roman Pope Pius XII, the businessman was noticed by the Pope's nephew, Prince Giulio Pacelli, Nuncio of Costa Rica. After selling the first batch of coffee to the Vatican at a discounted price (with solid profits for Pacelli), Grigulevich became a regular supplier of the Pope. "Max" impressed Borgonchini Cardinal, head of the police service of the Vatican so much that the latter presented him a gift of his "Research on the exact date of Christ's birth."
Meanwhile, on behalf of Figueres, Castro wrote a political election program for him. In a somewhat "corrected" form Liberation Party (Partido Liberación Nacional). Figueres once again became the President of Costa Rica in democratic elections and offered his commercial partner to become a political representative in Europe.
"My program has resulted in Figueres's coming to power in 1953," confessed Grigulevich. "He was ungrateful. I was never appointed Vice-president ". Instead, on May 14, 1952 Grigulevich as the Ambassador of Costa Rica presented his credentials to the president of Italy. Concurrently, he represented Costa Rica in Yugoslavia. Grigulevich's encyclopedic knowledge helped him make good acquaintance with nearly all the ambassadors and envoys from Latin America. With some he discussed the intricacies of monumental painting or problems of Amazon, with others - genealogy of the Inca emperors or history of the mission of Catholic religious orders. He did not build a relationship only with the Chilean ambassador, who during World War II was an ambassador of the Third Reich and was friends with the Nazi bosses. Grigulevich quite rightly suspected him of complicity to bring fascist leaders to Latin America.
Grigulevich was elevated to the dignity of knighthood and received the Order of the Maltese cross. Despite his success overseas, Joseph Grigulevich was recalled to Moscow in late 1953.
Before a spy could be an artist, diplomat, scholar, businessman, or scientist. Now a spy can also be philanthropist.
Young cannibal kills and eats 11 people to impress his girlfriend
The police of the Volga region are about to complete the investigation of the criminal case, the materials of which can shock even those with nerves of steel. Twenty-three-year-old cannibal Alexander Bychkov is accused of killing at least nine people. The perpetrator was gutting corpses and eating the insides to impress his girlfriend.
The cannibal was killing homeless people. According to investigation, the killings and cannibalistic feasts were taking place presumably in the Penza region. The insane killer buried the remains of half-eaten corpses near the town of Belinsky, in the south-west of the region. To kill the homeless, the murderer used a common kitchen knife.
Human remains were indeed uncovered at places of burial during investigation. "In two cases, after the murder he separated the heart from the body to eat the human heart later," law-enforcement officers said. It was also reported that the perpetrator was eating the livers of his victims too.
The perpetrator "formed a negative attitude towards the people, who abused alcohol and lead a roguish lifestyle," experts said.
The cannibal would conduct meticulous preparations for his crimes. He carefully scrutinized criminal literature. Alexander Bychkov "developed a criminal plan, prepared a weapon and studied the examples of similar crimes committed by serial killers." He also mastered "various strategies and methods to conceal crime traces, including the bodies of the victims."
In January 2012, Alexander Bychkov broke a window of a hardware store, from which he stole money, kitchen knives and other items in the total sum of about 10,000 rubles ($300). The man was caught; police began to question him about the theft. However, the thief suddenly began to tell officers about the corpses, which he buried behind his house.
The cannibal's diary of crimes was found in his home. The man described all his crimes in detail. According to his records, Alexander Bychkov had killed 11 people, but the remains of two victims have not been found yet.
The cannibal was reading crime novels and watching crime TV shows. He was committing the crimes only during warm months.
Alexander Bychkov grew up in a dysfunctional family and was brought up by single mother. His childhood was difficult. The boy grew up and became a cowardly, but a cruel young man.
Psychologists say that Bychkov was committing atrocities to gain credibility in the eyes of his girlfriend, Svetlana. According to local newspapers, he said that the killings instilled self-confidence in him. He stopped being shy with his girlfriend, who would often criticize him for his softness and call him a doormat.
According to lawyers, if found sane, Bychkov may well expect a life sentence. Psychiatrist, PhD, Igor Yanushev, told Pravda.Ru:
"Such shocking crimes occur on a regular basis, even in much more socially advantaged countries than Russia. Foreign cannibals can be much more sophisticated in their perverted crimes than Russian ones. In Russia, believe me, cannibalism is much more prosaic, but its scale is more impressive. Every year, police catch several cannibals, and it goes about proved cases only. Usually, cannibals are mentally ill individuals.
"In most cases, cannibals get into medical, rather than penitentiary institutions after verdict. A person, when recognized mentally ill, undergoes compulsory medical treatment until he or she is healed - it doesn't last for life. After treatment, their case is reviewed again, and that's when they can face a criminal punishment.
"I personally know several cases when mental patients were recognized healed and were released to freedom right from the courtroom - the statute of limitations expired. They can be released to freedom, despite the fact that they may commit their hideous crimes in 80 percent of cases."
Klitschko Steers Clear Of Ukraine Parliament Brawl
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine'slawmakers brawled in parliament for a second day on Thursday, minutes before reinstating Prime Minister Mykola Azarov
Luckily for his colleagues, newly elected boxing champion Vitali Klitschko stayed well out of the fight.
The Ukrainian parliament Thursday voted to reinstate its prime minister after dozens of opposition and pro-government lawmakers brawled for a second day in the chamber notorious for its fisticuffs.
Newly-elected world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko sought to stand above the fray by staying well out of the fighting that came just before parliament voted to re-appoint Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.
Deputies in suits and shirtsleeves climbed on tables, shouted and grappled with opponents in an angry protest against lawmakers pressing electronic buttons to vote for absentee colleagues.
While lawmakers are legally obliged to vote in person, many of them run around pressing buttons for absent colleagues.
Opposition politicians rose to their feet and rushed to blockade the speaker's tribune, while being pushed back by pro-government lawmakers.
Amid angry shouts and calls for calm, some clambered on desks from where they dealt blows and jumped down on opponents.
At least one opposition lawmaker had a bruised face after being thrown to the floor and receiving punches and kicks from ruling party lawmakers, the Interfax news agency reported.
The towering boxing champion Klitschko, whose opposition party UDAR, or punch, has won 42 seats in the parliament, refrained from joining the skirmishes and could be seen seated, watching the fight calmly.
"You could call the fists of a world champion a nuclear weapon. I don't think we will use this weapon yet," Klitschko said, quoted by his party press service.
But he added: "We do support the blockading of the tribune."
After a break, the parliament managed to restore calm and hold a vote to reappoint prime minister Azarov that had been postponed from Wednesday.
A total of 252 deputies out of 450 in the single-chamber parliament supported Azarov's return to office, including President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party, the Communists and several independents.
Three opposition factions -- Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party close to jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the UDAR party of Klitschko and the Svoboda nationalist movement -- did not back Azarov.
"The politics of the Regions Party of which Azarov is a representative is anti-Ukrainian, anti-social and anti-democratic," said comments from Svoboda.
It remained unclear why Azarov, 64, took the dramatic step of resigning earlier this month, with the presidency saying at the time that Yanukovych had accepted his request to give up his post and become an MP.
Azarov called on the parliament to leave behind the "confrontation" to "face together outside challenges" including the global economic crisis that is already hurting Ukraine.
The parliament's opening session on Wednesday had earlier seen fighting erupt between opposition lawmakers and deputies whom they accused of defecting to the pro-government camp.
In a typically raucous session, feminist group Femen also staged a topless anti-corruption protest outside the entrance to the parliament wearing only black pants.
The brawls were an ugly start to a new parliament apparently still controlled by Yanukovych's Regions Party, which claims to have won a majority in legislative elections on October 28.
The October polls were widely criticised by the international community, coming as Tymoshenko continues to serve a seven-year prison term for abuse of power that she argues is politically motivated.
The Ukrainian parliament is often the scene of scuffles with lawmakers throwing eggs and letting off smokebombs.
Two years ago several opposition deputies were badly injured in a bloody brawl prompted by the opening of a criminal probe into Tymoshenko that saw punches thrown and chairs hurled.
Ukraine: “Shame, Shame”
KIEV, Ukraine -- So, after two days of brawling in parliament, Mykola Azarov has been re-instated as prime minister of Ukraine among vociferous and physical protests from a newly-emboldened opposition.
There were shouts of “Shame, shame” on the parliament floor as the brawling engulfed the podium.
Shame it was indeed, but the shame will be bigger still if Ukraine fails to get a grip on pressing problems that include negotiating a loan package with what must be an increasingly wary International Monetary Fund.
The clashes suggest President Viktor Yanukovich’s ruling Party of Regions will find it harder to push legislation through parliament.
And as Timothy Ash of Standard Bank wrote to clients earlier in the day: “I am in Ukraine at the moment and things feel even worse than I thought.”
He was responding to comments from Azarov, before his confirmation, to the effect that Ukraine should “find compromises” with the IMF to secure a deal the country urgently needs to roll over $10bn in foreign debt maturing next year, including $5.9bn it owes to the Fund.
This is what Ash thought of that: Not sure it is about finding compromises with the IMF, Ukraine has to agree to do difficult stuff, which they would rather not do.
If I was the Fund I would have big concerns about signing on to a programme where I had big doubts over the willingness of the administration to hold to the terms of the programme over an extended period.
Any programme would have a high probability of going off track early, and I think the IMF would want assurances that politicians and ministers were suitably committed.
I just don’t see that at present, and especially given that this new government will likely be weak, and increasingly focused on the 2015 presidential election.
Investors will not be happy to see Azarov back.
He and the rest of his government resigned this month, apparently to allow him to take up his seat in parliament.
Azarov had staunchly opposed eliminating costly subsidies on household gas bills, a key condition for securing an IMF loan, and the hope was that his departure would open the way for a more IMF-friendly replacement.
However, it appears Azarov’s resignation was an attempt to secure him a second term and a fresh mandate – as indeed has happened.
But if throwing Azarov back among the brawling lawmakers is a bid to strengthen Yanukovich’s position in the presidency, it is not clear what advantage will be gained, especially if the IMF backs away from a rescue package.
The IMF may conclude that not helping Ukraine could be costlier than helping it, even with the prospect of the Ukrainian end of any deal unravelling before it is stiched together.
Maybe investors are betting as much.
The hryvnia gained slightly against the US dollar on Thursday, Bloomberg reported, and the yield on Ukraine’s dollar bond due in 2022 fell to 7.691 per cent from 7.773 per cent.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Gets New Lease On Life
KIEV, Ukraine -- Mykola Azarov is back at his old job in Ukraine. The country's newly constituted parliament has once again chosen him as prime minister.
The result shows that the ruling party has a stable majority. No big surprises.
The Ukraine parliament in Kiev on Thursday re-elected Mykola Azarov to the post of prime minister.
The candidate, who is also chairman of the ruling Party of the Regions, was proposed by his ally, President Viktor Yanukovych, and dutifully received 252 votes in the 450-seat chamber.
The country's parliamentary president, Volodymyr Rybak, also a member of Yanukovych's party, was elected the same day.
The vote took place a day later than scheduled.
Fists literally flew: expensive suits, and many a face, suffered from the confrontation, as parliament convened Wednesday for its first session since elections in October.
Deputies from the opposition tussled with colleagues from the Party of the Regions following disagreements over voting procedures.
Yanukovych took the safe path
Just 10 days ago, Azarov - along with his entire cabinet - resigned, staying on as a caretaker government.
At the time, there was much speculation in Kiev that he would be replaced by the much younger head of the Ukrainian national Bank, Serhij Arbuzov, who is close to the Yanukovych family.
That could have been viewed as an attempt to bring in some fresh political blood, but instead the president went for the tried and tested option.
"With the selection of Azarov, Yanukovych opted to maintain the status quo," Arsen Stezkiv, of the Kiev-based Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies, told DW.
Olexij Haran, a professor of political science at Kiev's Mohyla Academy, said Yanukovych wanted to go the safe route.
"Since the parliamentary election, his Party of the Regions is vulnerable," said Haran, stressing that it was entirely possible that there would have been no majority for another candidate.
The parliamentary election on October 28 left the ruling Party of the Regions with around 30 percent of the vote, about two percent less than the last ballot.
However, Thursday's vote in parliament was a clear indication that the president's party, with the backing of the Communists, has a comfortable majority.
This is also a result of the direct mandates, or those candidates who won seats outright against their opponents.
The three opposition parties together, which won more than half the votes by party list but had fewer direct mandates, therefore fell short in terms of the total number of seats and are left with little influence in parliament.
Economic crisis Experts agree that economic considerations also prompted Yanukovych to go against swapping prime ministers.
"Ukraine has gotten itself into macro-economic difficulties," say Ricardo Guicci and Robert Kirchner from the German Economic Consulting Group in Kiev.
In the third quarter of 2012, Gross National Product (GDP) dropped 1.3 percent compared to a year earlier, they said.
Industrial production in October slumped a precipitous 4.2 percent, and Ukraine's currency reserves in 2012 nose dived 15 percent.
Negotiations for a fresh line of credit from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have stalled, and if this trend continues, the German experts in Kiev say, then Ukraine's economic crisis will get even worse by no later than spring 2013.
"Considering the difficult economic situation, the new prime minister will probably be forced to make unpopular decisions," says political scientist Haran.
It is entirely possible that Azarov makes these decision and then resigns to make room for a younger successor, he added
To Maintain Ukraine: Was Money Spent In Vain?
KIEV, Ukraine -- According to the Journal of Public Procurement in Ukraine, the government spent almost 60 million euros ($79 million) on the needs of President Viktor Yanukovych and his clerks in 2012.
Lesya Ivanova and Yuriy Nikolov published the figure in the Ukrainian edition of Forbes magazine.
Such information about government funds and its use is technically available to anyone.
"The tricky part is to process the data and find all the possible purchases and expenses connected to the life of the president and the subordinate institutions," Nikolov said.
"All in all, it took us a year to collect the information and three days to analyze the data."
They found that such expenses included seemingly excessive renovation of state property and facilities.
For instance, in the past three years, almost 23 million euros ($30 million) was spent on the reconstruction of the Synhora residence in the Carpathian Mountains.
The government spent 2.8 million euros ($3.7 million) just to build a guest house, 2.2 million euros ($2.9 million) on staff quarters and another 2.2 million euros ($2.9 million) on a gazebo.
The Ukrainian news channel TVi has reported, however, that the "gazebo" is actually a restaurant where the president plans to celebrate New Year's Eve.
More money went to the state's summer residences.
All in all, 8.8 million euros ($11.6 million) was allocated for various reconstructions.
Reportedly, a little more than 140,000 euros ($184,000) was spent on digital television equipment.
Various other leisure-oriented projects saw inflated funding, as well.
For example, 11.4 million euros ($15 million) went toward reconstructing the road that connects Kiev with the Dneprovsko-Teterevsky hunting grounds.
Maintaining the state administration's garage also drew lots of cash.
As of January 2012, it contained 385 cars, including 55 different Mercedes-Benz models, 22 Toyota Land Cruisers and three BMWs.
Overall, the government spent 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) on gasoline alone.
The state also ordered train auto carriers for 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million).
Reportedly, every time Yanukovych leaves Kiev, his cars are sent ahead to meet him at the destination.
As much as the president loves to travel by car, he really seems to have a thing for flying, as well.
More than 600,000 euros ($790,000) was spent on renting two AgustaWestland AW-139 helicopters.
They are reportedly equipped with plasma TV sets, climate control and leather interiors.
Another 150,000 euros ($197,000) was used to pay the rent on the VIP plane Falcon 900.
Such a machine has all the necessary utilities for the president's comfort: a multimedia center, satellite communications, a kitchen and leather seats that easily transform into beds.
According to Nikolov, neither the government nor the opposition reacted to the release of the information.
In fact, the article was not aimed at the ruling powers at all.
"The only thing that may influence the government is something really frightening like the closing of a bank account abroad or Maydan," Nikolov said, referring to 2004's Orange Revolution.
The main purpose of releasing the figures was to aid the public in making an informed judgment on Yanukovych, Nikolov said.
"As opposed to the Czech Republic, in Ukraine television and Internet publications are separated by an abyss when it comes to the concept of freedom of speech," Nikolov said.
According to him, Ukrainian TV reports on governmental actions with a positive or merely neutral air
Lesya Ivanova and Yuriy Nikolov published the figure in the Ukrainian edition of Forbes magazine.
Such information about government funds and its use is technically available to anyone.
"The tricky part is to process the data and find all the possible purchases and expenses connected to the life of the president and the subordinate institutions," Nikolov said.
"All in all, it took us a year to collect the information and three days to analyze the data."
They found that such expenses included seemingly excessive renovation of state property and facilities.
For instance, in the past three years, almost 23 million euros ($30 million) was spent on the reconstruction of the Synhora residence in the Carpathian Mountains.
The government spent 2.8 million euros ($3.7 million) just to build a guest house, 2.2 million euros ($2.9 million) on staff quarters and another 2.2 million euros ($2.9 million) on a gazebo.
The Ukrainian news channel TVi has reported, however, that the "gazebo" is actually a restaurant where the president plans to celebrate New Year's Eve.
More money went to the state's summer residences.
All in all, 8.8 million euros ($11.6 million) was allocated for various reconstructions.
Reportedly, a little more than 140,000 euros ($184,000) was spent on digital television equipment.
Various other leisure-oriented projects saw inflated funding, as well.
For example, 11.4 million euros ($15 million) went toward reconstructing the road that connects Kiev with the Dneprovsko-Teterevsky hunting grounds.
Maintaining the state administration's garage also drew lots of cash.
As of January 2012, it contained 385 cars, including 55 different Mercedes-Benz models, 22 Toyota Land Cruisers and three BMWs.
Overall, the government spent 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) on gasoline alone.
The state also ordered train auto carriers for 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million).
Reportedly, every time Yanukovych leaves Kiev, his cars are sent ahead to meet him at the destination.
As much as the president loves to travel by car, he really seems to have a thing for flying, as well.
More than 600,000 euros ($790,000) was spent on renting two AgustaWestland AW-139 helicopters.
They are reportedly equipped with plasma TV sets, climate control and leather interiors.
Another 150,000 euros ($197,000) was used to pay the rent on the VIP plane Falcon 900.
Such a machine has all the necessary utilities for the president's comfort: a multimedia center, satellite communications, a kitchen and leather seats that easily transform into beds.
According to Nikolov, neither the government nor the opposition reacted to the release of the information.
In fact, the article was not aimed at the ruling powers at all.
"The only thing that may influence the government is something really frightening like the closing of a bank account abroad or Maydan," Nikolov said, referring to 2004's Orange Revolution.
The main purpose of releasing the figures was to aid the public in making an informed judgment on Yanukovych, Nikolov said.
"As opposed to the Czech Republic, in Ukraine television and Internet publications are separated by an abyss when it comes to the concept of freedom of speech," Nikolov said.
According to him, Ukrainian TV reports on governmental actions with a positive or merely neutral air
Friday 7 December 2012
Is South Stream too hard to handle for Gazprom?
The South Stream pipeline will be built via Bulgaria, ending in the north of Italy. The Russian gas giant has managed to obtain the consent of all the countries, through the territories of which the pipeline is going to be built. The construction may begin as early as in December of this year. Experts point out that the financial requirements of the project may undermine Gazprom's financial situation.
Bulgaria was the last to join the project. Last week, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, and Bulgarian Energy Holding CEO, Michael Andonov, in the presence of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, signed the final investment agreement. The document has approved the construction of the Bulgarian section of South Stream gas pipeline.
The route of the pipeline has thus been finalized. The output from the Black Sea is planned for Bulgaria, then it is Serbia that serves as a manager for former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina and also Croatia, where auxiliary branches of the pipeline will be built. Next on the route are Hungary and Slovenia. Italy will be the end point.
Just a day before, Russia and Slovenia also arranged the final investment agreement. According to the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller, the volume of investment in the construction of the pipeline in Slovenia is estimated at $1 billion. It was earlier assumed that the final point of the South Stream project could be Austria. However, the pipeline will go through Italy, where it will reach the northern town of Tarvisio.
Bulgaria will receive from Gazprom a discount of 20 percent on gas from January 1, 2013 for ten years. The preferential conditions stipulate that Sofia will buy about 2.9 billion cubic meters of gas a year, but may reduce the extraction by 20 percent without any penalties from Gazprom.
On November 15, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Serbia asked for a multi-million loan from the Russian Federation. Belgrade gave concrete numbers: 300 thousand dollars this year, and the rest - in 2013.
Bulgaria will not spend anything on the construction of the pipeline through its territory. It was originally planned that Sofia and Gazprom would finance 30 percent of the Bulgarian part of the project together, whereas the remaining 70 percent will be borrowed. However, Bulgaria claimed that it could not afford it. As a result, Gazprom took care of the Bulgarian share in financing, and Bulgaria will provide free transit in exchange till 2030. The scheme seems unreliable, to say the least.
"In the proposed scheme, the more expensive the pipeline construction is, the longer Bulgaria will be deprived of transit fees. In practice, South Stream will be built at the expense of Sofia's lost transit revenues," says Valentin Stoyanov, the former advisor to the commission on energy policy in the Parliament of Bulgaria.
It is unclear what will make Bulgaria to follow the agreement after the launch of the pipeline. No need to go to Baba Vanga to predict that Bulgaria will feel robbed after the Bulgarian part of the pipeline is launched (in 2016, according to schedule).
In the case of Nord Stream, everything looks more or less certain. There is a supplier - Russia, Germany is the buyer and the manager in one person. As for South Stream, there are too many transit countries. One should bear in mind the fact that Bulgaria, as well as former Yugoslavian republics, often dances to the tune of Berlin, although it looks like a sovereign dance.
The cost of the project is growing by leaps and bounds, but Gazprom can only careless. A month ago, the number was 15.5 billion euros. Later, after all specifications and configurations, the price has increased to 16 billion.
As experts point out, Gazprom will spend about 10 billion euros more on expanding the unified gas supply system on the way to Russia's Anapa, where South Stream will dive under the water.
It is unlikely that such a sharp increase in capital expenditure in the long term will show a positive impact on the financial stability of Gazprom. All this is happening against the background of falling consumption in Europe.
"The main financial result of the construction of South Stream is a greater credit load for Gazprom. The net debt of the monopoly already exceeds 161.882 billion rubles. One would like to find out how Gazprom is going to give these loans back under the conditions of falling gas prices. Almost all European buyers of the Russian monopoly received substantial discounts in 2013. There is also the matter of a revolution in alternative energy - many European countries already receive up to a half of the energy balance from renewable sources," leading financial analyst of Kalita Finance, Alex Vyazovsky, told Pravda.Ru.
Gazprom increases its interest in European sales and energy companies that supply gas to end consumers. The need to ensure stabile supplies grows. As a result of the asset swap with BASF, Gazprom became the owner of three distribution companies in Europe. After the failure of the deal with RWE, this is definitely some positive news for the company. In addition, last year Gazprom bought Envacom Service, which specializes in the production of clean energy. The client base of the company makes up 500 thousand people. In addition to the retail market of Germany, Gazprom is presented in respective segments of the UK, France and the Benelux countries," Gregory Birg, an analyst with Investkafe said.
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