ChernoCo Profit Slashed; Hijacked City Council Caves in to Kyivites
Kyivites’ utility bills will double, the Kyiv City Council ruled Thursday, overturning the 340 percent hike championed by Mayor Chernovetsky.
The City Council also undertook to carry out an audit of Khreshchatyk, the municipal bank, and Kyivenergoholding, a conglomerate of utility companies, by July. According to the opposition, Chernovetsky’s friends and relatives have been quite energetic in trying to gain control of these cash cows.
A few days ago, the City Hall denied registration to a petitioning group working to arrange a referendum to impeach Mayor Chernovetsky. To ensure success, a total of six teams were set up by the opposition to make separate filings and gather the required signatures. The Central Electoral Commission has advised Chernovetsky against further stonewalling.
The resolution to backtrack on the bills was passed, in small part, due to the so-called imperative mandate bill. This recent piece of legislation applies to turncoat lawmakers sitting in local councils and puts pressure on them to “return to base” or face expulsion. Needless to say, Tymo jumped on television to take a bow for the disciplinary effect of the bill she had sponsored.
However, there’s another way to look at it. The resolution may have a pacifying effect on the public and may be intended by ChernoCo as a survival kit.
Friday, February 09, 2007
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4 comments:
This is still good news.
I am glad to see that there is an effective political opposition in Ukraine.
As a non-Ukrainian it's not really my business, but I do not mind if Chernoco stays in business, so long as they pick their battles wisely and continue to engage in clean graft...
dlw
Clean graft? You're kidding:) ChernoCo's graft practices are as old as time and as clean as Chernobyl. ChernoCo's only battle was with Kyivites.
Colonizing the Moon would be the only way for ChernoCo to expand its domain, since an estimated 300 hectares (741 acres) of municipal land have already been parceled out to stalwart vassals.
Did I grow up to see Medieval forms of social contract spring in my city?:( According to polls, most Kyivites dread at the thought of sharing Kyiv with ChernoCo, and that's one scenario we Kyivites should avoid:)
Welcome to a ChernoCo-free Kyiv (hopefully) on the last weekend of May. That’s when we celebrate our 1525th birthday:)
Come now, ChernoCo did make some changes with his use of philanthropy for the poorest Kyivites as a means to secure the mayorship?
That's gotta mean for something, if anything it means that displacing ChernoCo will include continuing some of his philanthropic practices.
Anyways, I now share your hopes that ChernoCo will get replaced. It seems like he misjudged the extent that the institutions had changed in Kyiv and thought that more business as usual could continue on after he was elected.
Developments in Kyiv are truly signs of how Ukraine has changed and the old ways of doing things will not last!!!
dlw
You should know that these quasi-philanthropic practices come at a very high price to Kyivites as a whole:( A lung cancer prevention program funded by a tobacco company would be a good comparison.
An average Kyivite does not ride in Chernovetsky’s Maybach. An average Kyivite rides the metro. Unless Chernovetsky’s practices are just expenses in a business plan, which I’m sure they are, the loss of mayorship will not preclude him from continuing charitable activities. If it comes from the heart, it will keep coming. Otherwise…
I’m having a 24-storied condo built right in my face. Chernovetsky promised that, once elected, he would personally descend on every unholy construction site and would help Kyivites stand up to this kind of evil. Has he?
Come see for yourself. It’s business as usual just like you said. The Babylonian construction boom trudges on. Playground after playground is being leveled to the ground. Tree after tree is being chopped down. Construction sites continue mushrooming in sardine-packed mode, stealing the sunshine from entire neighborhoods.
Have homes become more affordable? You wish. Unbridled profiteering in the housing market has placed the Ukrainian Dream out of reach for most of the fledgling yuppie middle class. And as for city employees, it gets even more absurd. To buy a low-end, barebones apartment, these cash-strapped species should assume a lifetime of 110 years and — virtually no cost of living expenses. (no exaggeration here) From Prague to Paris, comparison shoppers may find Kyiv apartments a little too rich for their blood, not to mention that their purchasing power can be three to ten times as high.
No Batman character has transpired in Chernovetsky. The guy gave away his agenda. We can’t go looking for utilitarianism where there is none. He can afford just about any home on this planet. We can’t. That’s why we want him out. We want a different mayor:)
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