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Title: Our Ukraine Update: Tymoshenko: Populism, Revisionism and Economic Illiteracy
- To: <max@brama.com>
- From: "People's Union Our Ukraine" <update@ourukraine.org>
- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:25:01 -0800
- Content-Length: 20136
- Content-Type: multipart/alternative;boundary="============_CoolerEmail_============"
Monday, February 27, 2006 Volume II Issue 14
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is in opposition to the liberal Our Ukraine. Its main goal is to capture the government premiership using all means, including creating a new leftist ideology called "solidarism."
— Vira Yariv, political analyst, Ukrainian News Information Agency Tymoshenko: Populism, Revisionism and Economic Illiteracy
The successes of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in the pre-election campaign so far are a result of its leader's charisma and strongly held beliefs. However, local and international business leaders make no secret of their fears that Yulia Tymoshenko may come to power. Her re–privatization policies while in office and the denial of them while out-of office coupled with price–fixing and other populist policies and rhetoric demonstrate the absence of any economic policy grounding. It is precisely the coupling of economic illiteracy with populism that businessmen seeking a stable and predictable investment environment fear most.
Yulia Tymoshenko Many believed Tymoshenko's removal from office last fall would force her to learn from mistakes and strengthen her foreign policy and economic credentials. Recent statements by party leaders prove the party remains wed to populism as a tool to gain power. The non-ideological nature of the parliamentary election campaign suits Tymoshenko well because it does not force her to divulge neo-socialist economic views, which are grounded in strong state control of business, limited free market activities and a "take from the rich and give to the poor attitude" toward economic policy. Tymoshenko favors economic redistribution rather than the economic growth and prosperity policies pursued by President Viktor Yushchenko. She focuses on picking battles with personalities who cross her path to power, sometimes at the expense of her own party colleagues. However, she shies away from criticizing the widely popular Yushchenko, for fear of losing her stagnant electoral base.
Nuclear PR and the Holtec Fiasco
This week Yulia Tymoshenko made waves by divulging that an American company called "Holtec" was transporting to Ukraine nuclear waste from the US and other foreign countries for burial. She claimed an agreement between the Government of Ukraine and Holtec was signed behind the scenes without either a public tender or public discussion being held. The party leader further claimed the Chernobyl nuclear site would be turned into a nuclear waste graveyard for foreign atomic and nuclear fuels. She then called for the resignation of state officials responsible.
A typical used nuclear storage erected by Holtec in the U.S. If the story was true, Tymoshenko could have taken credit for uncovering "yet another" alleged government scandal. However, reporters accustomed to Tymoshenko's cries of "wolf" began investigating the situation and uncovered a completely different story.
As it turns out, the Holtec agreement with the Government of Ukraine was signed in July 2003. An international accounting firm organized the tender on behalf of the state company Energoatom. Four companies took part in the tender, one each from France, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. Holtec from the US won the tender, which is intended to give Ukraine a safe cost-effective method to address its nuclear waste storage concerns. The program foresees long-term employment for scores of Ukrainian professionals and craftsmen in the manufacturing sector.
According to the US Embassy, "there has been a great deal of misinformed reporting" about the Holtec agreement. It said the agreement was not secret and the project would make Ukraine's fuel storage capabilities self-sufficient in two years. Further, it will save Ukraine $100 million dollars annually and will store fuel from nine Ukrainian nuclear reactors only. So far, no statement retracting Yulia Tymoshenko's allegations have been received.
London Stock Exchange Selling Ukrainian Land
During the past year, hundreds of Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses have expressed interest in publicly trading their shares as a means of increasing capital for growth and expansion. In 2005, three Ukrainian pioneer companies raised funds on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). At least a dozen more are expected to list initial public offerings (IPOs) in London, New York and on other international exchanges this year. The moves signal an opening up the Ukrainian market, the tradability of company shares and opportunities to grow business and investment.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc does not welcome these moves and recently claimed that a Kyiv real-estate company sold Ukrainian land on the LSE for $103.8 million. Mykola Tomenko, the number three man behind Yulia Tymoshenko, claims Kyiv City Officials sold land on the cheap to the Kyiv-based company, which in turn raised hundreds of millions of dollars in London for prime city real estate.
Mykola Tomenko If the allegations were true, it would have been "yet another" government scandal unleashed by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. However, nothing could be further from the truth. First, Ukrainian law forbids the sale of land to foreign entities and owners. Second, a local company raised funds from the IPO based on long-term leases it posseses for municipal property. The funds will be used to develop the land and return concessions to the municipal budget. Local real estate brokers and capital markets analysts labeled Tomenko's statements provocative and unprofessional.
Court throws out whistle blower evidence
The September 2005 government scandal that led to the dismissal of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was started by a whistle blower claiming corruption among President Viktor Yushchenko's inner circle. Three Yushchenko aides were removed from office and the President sacked Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her government based on the inability to find a team approach to governing.
Court cases filed against Tymoshenko and her colleagues demanded the former Prime Minister prove the allegations with factual evidence. After months of court review, all cases were either thrown out or the Tymoshenko team was forced to issue public statements of apology. The cries "wolf" of the Tymoshenko bloc is beginning to erode voter trust and is preventing Yulia Tymoshenko from increasing her team's opinion poll ratings, despite the most outrageous populist tricks and allegations.
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