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Thursday, August 30, 2007


Not All Brands Are Created Equal: Witness the Evolution of Yanuk!

Agreed, it’s a small world, but who would have believed?


If Blue Concept ever needs a celebrity endorser for the Ukrainian market, they should know their options. Well, maybe our guy should make the first move, by aggressively cross-bundling himself with the jeans brand to better reach the youth voting market.


“Witness the evolution of Yanuk” reads like a public relations doppelgänger that rivals the sales pitch crafted by Yanukovych spin doctors.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

good news -
Dynamo and Shaktar advance.

bad news -
Ukraine Grain Exports Fall

KIEV -- Ukraine's grain exports will shrink 58 percent this year after a three-month drought, Agriculture Minister Yuri Melnyk said Wednesday.

The country, the world's biggest barley exporter last year, will ship 4 million metric tons of grain abroad this marketing year, compared with 9.6 million metric tons last year, Melnyk said. (Bloomberg)

Luida

Anonymous said...

Taras - could u explain the whole Pora and NU-NS thing to me? and why NUNS is in ire over P going it alone?

What am I not getting? I know that P has gotten out Kaskiv and is, I guess in the midst of splitting yet again, but these cracks started awhile ago? no, yes?

Pora Ready To Cancel Its Registration For Rada Elections In Case Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense And Tymoshenko Bloc Unification
http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/63044.html
Pora registration irks Yushchenko bloc
http://www.ukrainianjournal.com/index.php?w=article&id=5110
CEC Registers Pora For Elections To Rada
http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/62737.html
Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense Bloc Asking Law-Enforcement Organs To Investigate Falsification Of Pora’s Documents
http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/61789.html

Luida

And congrats to Yulia/BYuT for changing minds in the eastern regions as her party numbers are on the rise in those geographic regions.

Anonymous said...

so many articles about the unfolding events re: Pora and NU-NS.

НУ-НС хоче через суд повернути Пору до списку
http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-209915.html

Luida

Bravecat said...

Who will you vote for?

Taras said...

Luida,

Long story short, two kings, one castle.

Pora as we knew it during the Orange Revolution no longer exists. We could say it has followed in Rukh’s footsteps.

Let’s examine both sides of the story regarding the Kaskiv-Hodunok split.

Version A calls Vladyslav Kaskiv’s leadership qualities and commitment into question. It argues that after the OR Kaskiv focused on his work at the Secretariat to the detriment of Pora’s advancement, contributing to his party’s plight in the 2006 election.

Kaskiv, so the story goes, monopolized the Pora brand for self-aggrandizement, and essentially left the rank-and-file holding the bag. Moreover, some claim that in his disservice to the party Kaskiv “sold out” to the Regionalists, having softened his anti-PRU rhetoric for a handsome price.

http://www.gazeta.lviv.ua/articles/2007/05/14/23368/

Naturally, Version B challenges Yaroslav Hodunok’s credentials and intentions. Kaskiv charges that by registering his “baby Pora,” Hodunok aims to strip the already NUNS-allied Pora of legal status to disqualify it from the election. Kaskiv describes his arch-rival as a PRU pet project, and has vehemently denied accusations that linked him to the Yanukovych camp. A court overturned Hodunok’s registration a few hours ago.

In the absence of a firsthand intelligence gathering capability, I’m not in a position to judge who’s who in this vendetta with an absolute degree of certainty. But I tend to believe that Kaskiv’s leadership has shortchanged Pora, the “YMCA” of the Orange Revolution.

Taras said...

Qatar Cat,

Consider me a late decider:) As always, I’m vacillating between BYuT and NUNS. And whom would you vote for?

Bravecat said...

I wouldn't vote even if I could. None of the options sound appealing to me. Somehow choosing the lesser of two (or more) evils when it comes to the government makes me very sad. Aren't people supposed to vote for the best, as opposed to something other than the worst?

I am extremely cynical when it comes to Ukrainian government. And I am pro monarchy. So there.

;-)

Taras said...

As of today, choosing the lesser evil is the name of the game. Monarchy? The only monarchy we had here since your departure was called Kuchmonarchy:)

It’s too hard for me visualize the blessings of the UAE’s political system applied to Ukrainian reality:)

Bravecat said...

Haha lets not implicate UAE political system in it. I can't even call it a system.

When I said monarchy I didn't mean UAE. What we have here is slavery. I think it is even worse than democracy, although it's hard to imagine something worse than 80% delinquents telling the other (sane) 20% of citizens how to live their lives.

Anonymous said...

T - Thanks for the info. Very helpful and informative. One last ques, If ok, why is NU-NS being such a nudge about something which seems to be an internal crisis within Pora? I know that it affects their bloc but realisticly would this not put spots on them? why did not NU-NS take the high road and leave it up to the people within P to duke it out?

Luida

Anonymous said...

The following was about elections in Russia but I very much agree with the following "Gleb Pavlovsky, president of the Effective Politics Foundation, said: "... It is clear that in Ukraine the Party of Regions will be the first to the finish line, but if it fails to gain an absolute majority, this will be tantamount to a defeat."
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070903/76316386.html

Sept. 30 is one heck of a major election for Ukraine.

Luida

Anonymous said...

I think the fact that we tend to have to vote for the lesser of two evils in politics is why its' best to put one's hopes and first-fruits of ones energies/time into one's local community, while not neglecting some civil responsibility to one's region and country.

dlw

Anonymous said...

Top scapegoats - Acts of God and Yushchenko. The twaddle in the following info. from Azarov's press conference is just annoying when any elementary economy student knows that high growth leads to higher rates of inflation. Argh.

"Azarov blames nature and Yushchenko for abnormally high inflation"
http://unian.net/eng/news/news-210402.html

but from Business Week interview just the week before
"Ukraine's Delicate Balance"
"...You know, the economy is operating under inertia. It has developed a certain momentum, and political instability doesn't particularly affect it..."
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_36/b4048051.htm?chan=search

Luida

Taras said...

Qatar Cat,

Well, from my vantage point here in Kyiv, I’ve always pictured the UAE as one of the most liberal and prosperous countries in the region:)

The Pareto principle of Ukrainian politics can often be summed up as 5 percent telling the other 95 percent what to do. So how long have you been in Dubai?:)

Taras said...

Luida,

Coming at a time of intense "political turbulence," Yanukovych’s “economic tigerhood” makes him a legend in his own mind, and a paradox in the minds of economists:)

One can’t help but notice a major disconnect between his bugaboo of instability and his boastful talk of "skyrocketing" household incomes.

Obviously, Ukraine’s country-unique brand of instability baffles the international business community. And at the end of the day, inflation raises more concerns than instability — a self-serving scarecrow crafted by mercenary spin doctors.

As of today, there’s only one officially registered Pora — the NUNS-allied "K-Pora":)

Taras said...

David,

Don’t worry, I’ll be the best Samaritan I can be! And I’m not emigrating to your region anytime soon:)

Bravecat said...

Liberal? UAE? What a joke. No, it's not liberal, although it is certainly more liberal than other GCC countries. The good thing about UAE - it is so safe! And service is awesome. I came here in the beginning of 2007 and looks like I'm here to stay... for many years. I was in Qatar for 5 years before that, and before Qatar I lived in Bahrain for a few years. Yes, UAE is by far more liberal, Qatar is way more local-oriented with great Arabic flavour, and Bahrain is a hole.

Taras said...

Liberal in a relative sense, of course:)

So you’re quite well-rounded geographically;)! As far as I know, Dubai resorts are popular with Ukrainian vacationers. Have you met any?:)

Bravecat said...

No, haven't had the pleasure yet. But then again, I haven't been here all that long and I don't normally hang around resorts.

I have come across many Russian speaking people, wherever they might be from, shopping in the malls though, if that counts.

Are you planning to visit? Don't expect to see much of the local culture though. Dubai is just a big global shopping village.

Taras said...

Hopefully, someday I will drop by:) Thanks for the tip. I do put culture first:)