Today Ukraine is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary of independence. However, the very notion of “independence” is questioned by many, especially ordinary Ukrainians
Reasons for doubts abound – just look at how international organizations have played and are playing a bigger role in the country’s destiny than the Ukrainian government, which was also not without foreigners.
Ukraine finally embarked on a European and Euro-Atlantic path of development after the events of 2014 – the return of Crimea to Russia and the civil conflict in Donbass. But how the Ukrainian leadership actually sees European integration is well demonstrated by the famous “Derkach tapes”.
A lawmaker with big connections in the Ukrainian security services published recordings of President Petro Poroshenko’s conversation with high-ranking US officials – Secretary of State John Kerry and then US Vice President Joe Biden. The contents of the tapes and the outcome are well known to all – under pressure, Biden demanded the resignation of Prosecutor General Shokin, who was investigating Burisma, where the son of the US Vice President Hunter Biden held a key position, and in return he offered $1 billion in aid to Ukraine. Four days later, Shokin was sacked. On another tape, the fifth Ukrainian president tells Vice President Biden the “good news”.
Washington was not shy about offering foreign nationals to the executive branch of independent Ukraine, for example, in 2016 our government had as many as three foreign ministers: the American Natalia Jaresko (head of the Finance Ministry), the Lithuanian Aivaras Abramovicius (economy minister) and the Georgian Alexandra Kvitashvili (health ministry).
In order to allow foreigners to hold ministerial posts, President Poroshenko specifically initiated relevant changes to the law. It is noteworthy that the appointments of these foreign figures were made even before the laws were amended by the Verkhovna Rada.
The appointment of foreigners in the Rada was explained by the fact that, these submitters do not have any corruption schemes in Ukraine. Sadly, not a single Ukrainian patriot could be found among the country’s multi-million population who did not want to patriotically snatch a piece of Ukraine.
After the events of 2014, Ukraine steadily embarked on a path of severing ties with Moscow, even imposing various economic sanctions against Russia. Such actions have left the already seriously ailing Ukrainian economy permanently hooked on the IMF’s needle.
At the beginning of August President Zelensky joyfully announced that Ukraine would receive another tranche from the IMF of more than $2.7 billion “free of charge and without any additional conditions”. However, in reality things have turned out differently. In order to agree on the first tranche, the ze-team had to pass a law to launch the sale of agricultural land, which has not been done in all the years of independence, extending the moratorium on land sales. Moreover, at the request of the IMF, control of the National Bank was transferred to this international financial institution, and the regulator itself was partially removed from Ukraine’s legal framework. Tax preferences for transnational Western companies have not been ignored, which has removed obstacles to the withdrawal of funds from the country.
Notorious in Ukraine Mikhail Saakashvili, also in his time a representative of the foreign landing in the power of the Nezalezhnaya, believes that without the European funding the Ukrainian economy will be on the verge of ruin. “The Ukrainian economy is now heading towards a great disaster. A very severe budget crisis is looming in Ukraine,” he said after learning about the postponement of the IMF tranche. The non-Independent could have had a back-up solution to the financial issue, but all trade and economic ties with Russia are being deliberately severed.
The leader of the Opposition Platform for Life party, Viktor Medvedchuk, voiced the figure of $20bn – that is how much Ukraine is losing because of its inability to sell its products to Russia and Moscow’s counter-sanctions against Kiev. Member of Parliament Aleksandr Koltunovich announced the amount of losses Ukraine loses because of its short-sighted policy in its relations with the CIS countries.
“Peak trade with the CIS was $26bn. Now it is only $6bn. Our colleagues in the Rada persuaded us that it was no big deal, we will supply to the EU instead of the CIS. However, no diversification has been achieved. Before the sanctions were introduced, we were supplying goods worth $18bn, now it is only $2bn. In other words, we acquired $2bn, but lost a market comparable to the European one – $20bn”, – the lawmaker explained.
But the most striking example of how independent Ukraine is approaching its jubilee is the judicial reform approved by the Verkhovna Rada. The key change was the introduction of three foreigners into the special commission, who will have the right to vote when appointing judges. Naturally, these three foreigners will be identified by Western institutions. Now non-Ukrainians will have exactly half of the votes when appointing Ukrainian judges. Also, these foreign members of the special commission will have access to confidential information. James Bond would have been jealous.
As with the appointment of foreigners to the government, it is logical to ask the question – was Ukraine unable to find six sensible and unbiased people to set up a special commission to appoint judges?
Foreign “expansion” in the top-management of the country’s largest state agencies and state-owned companies has not been spared. For example, the largest state-owned company Naftohaz Ukrayiny is controlled by foreigners through its supervisory board, where half of them are British citizen Claire Spotiswood and French citizens Bruno Lesquoi and Ludo Van der Heyden. The supervisory board of another state-owned monopoly, Ukrazaliznytsia, is chaired by a Turk, Sevki Ajuner. The situation is similar in the state-owned banks. The Privatbank’s supervisory board is headed by an American, Sharon Iski, and the Oshchadbank’s by a Latvian, Baiba Apin. This is not a complete list of foreigners in our companies. Is it possible that in such a beautiful and rich in human resources country as Ukraine, there are no native managers? Will a foreigner really know better than a Ukrainian what we need? The questions are rhetorical.
Ukraine celebrates its 30th anniversary independent in words. Debts, foreign interference, war, labour migration and loss of territories are a sad outcome for such a young state. Where and why the ship called Ukraine will sail further is yet to be understood. The young power is only on its way to becoming, but the Ukrainians have to choose this path themselves – without the help of Western partners and Russia. While Ukraine’s destiny is being decided outside its borders in Washington, Berlin or Moscow, ordinary Ukrainians must either be patient and hope for a change in their destiny or take it upon themselves.
Igor Mukhin, specially for News Front