How Tymoshenko Got Fired

Ukrayinska Pravda recaps Tymoshenko’s ouster, with video from the Rada Channel.


Would-be PM Azarov rips outgoing PM Tymoshenko


PM Tymoshenko strikes back


Speaker Lytvyn puts her to a vote
Yea:
PRU, 172
BYuT, 7
NUNS, 15
CPU, 27
LyB, 19

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2010/03/3/4827934/
http://www.rada.gov.ua/~dtrp/

Mother Knows Best

Labor Minister Lyudmyla Denysova, who hired her daughter out of college to run the price controls board in Sevastopol, carries a lot of weight in the family.

During a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a camera-armed Gazeta.ua reporter intercepted a text message on her cell phone's screen.

Lenochka: Mommy, dad got a call from the min of housing and utilities of ukraine with an offer of deputy ministership:) He’s asking should he go for it? They’re expecting an answer in the afternoon.

Note: Lenochka (diminutive for Olena in Ukrainian/Yelena in Russian) is obviously Denysova's daughter.

There she comes...




The Ukrainian government: connecting people:)

No judgment day
To be afraid
No heart-shaped check marks colored red to give away
No jobs in spring
No growth to sing
In fact, here’s just another profitable day
No moral pain
No powerless gloom
No getting fired for a debt that has ballooned
But what she is
Is nothing new
Made up of things that make this country poor and blue

I just called to say dad loves you
I just called to say how much he cares
I just called to say dad loves you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

Sources:
http://www.gazeta.ua/index.php?id=293107
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/5/20/95067.htm
http://obozrevatel.com/news/2009/2/19/287030.htm

Adminresurs, Astroturfing Redux As Oranges Near Divorce

Sparks are flying in the Orange coalition endgame — sparks of Kuchmism.

With the nasty fight getting nastier and the country holding its breath in disgust, the Ukrainian media draws parallels between today’s crisis and pre-Orange Ukraine. Here's a small glossary:

Adminresurs refers to the autocratic use of government resources (local authorities, law enforcement, state-run media, etc) for campaign purposes;

Astroturfing refers to the public relations technique (popular in the USSR and the US) of imitating grassroots support for a political party/politician.

And here’s a short battlefield report:

Last week, United Center, the pro-Yushchenko loyalists, rounded up college students and public employees in Zakarpattya oblast for an anti-Tymoshenko human chain rally along the highway. Watch footage of the event.

Голова Перечинської РДА Михайло Данча 2

Скачать видео

The two videos feature Mykhailo Dancha, head of Perechynsky rayon (county), presidential appointee and “community organizer” who exudes self-confidence and swears profusely. (H/t Obkom)

Meanwhile, friends of Tymoshenko have plastered the Cabinet’s Web site with a plethora of rave reviews from "ordinary Ukrainians" containing boilerplate language from the Kuchma era. (H/t Ukrayinska Pravda)

According to some sources, the Lytvyn Bloc has agreed to join the coalition in a last bid to reunite the Orange camp and stave off a snap election that may throw the fence-sitting LB back to wilderness. The reports have yet to be confirmed.

Most experts believe that Tuesday’s session of the Verkhovna Rada will see the final collapse of the Orange tandem and the creation of a PRU-BYuT coalition.

Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHWMMlhxY4&e
http://obivu.net/play14332
http://obkom.net.ua/news/2008-09-13/1315.shtml
http://pravda.com.ua/news/2008/9/12/81204.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/9/15/81245.htm
http://www.zaxid.net/newsua/2008/9/13/130541

A Damsel in Distress

Watch Tymoshenko reflect on the stress coping technique she exhibited while awaiting a vote of no confidence on Friday. The vote failed to gain enough support.

Reporter: Yulia Volodymyrivna [patronymic], yesterday the whole country saw how you jammed your fingers with a piece of stationery. Did you really feel that nervous or is it just a habit, perhaps a bad habit? Do you often do things like that?

PM Yulia Tymoshenko: Well, taking into account that the Government has its fingers constantly jammed in the doorway, I was training myself to get used to pain.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/89615.html

Bohoslovska Pulls Tymoshenko’s Hair Over Privatization

Here’s an exciting fragment from the Ya tak dumayu (That’s What I Think) talk show on Channel 1+1:

MP Inna Bohoslovska, PRU: Currently, the Tymoshenko government behaves like a lady of loose morals who has an inheritance from her ancestors…no I won’t shut up about it…
Hanna Bezulyk, host: Please, in this case…

Inna Bohoslovska: We just can’t play circus about this!
Hanna Bezulyk: Inna Hermanivna [patronymic], please. We’ve known each other for a long time.

Inna Bohoslovska: That’s right.
Hanna Bezulyk: In this case, out of respect for me, please, use a different terminology…

Inna Bohoslovska: …I’m talking about the government…
Hanna Bezulyk: …you can talk about the government, but, please, use a slightly different terminology.

Inna Bohoslovska: All right, imagine…
Hanna Bezulyk: Thank you.

Inna Bohoslovska: Imagine the heirs who inherited a treasure trove, and that dozens of generations had worked to amass these treasures, which they passed on to this girl, or family. And she, in turn, instead of…well, we know that if there’s no money to build something, to pay for the kids’ education, or if there’s a difficult situation, someone needs medical care, it is then — and only then — that we sell the best gifts that we receive from our ancestry. Today, the government is offering to sell this treasure trove just to splurge it all on consumption. Nothing gets built, nothing gets invested, it just gets consumed, that is, the girl who gets this simply wants to splurge it all or, by giving it away to someone dirt cheap, to show how generous she is.

Inna Bohoslovska, a seasoned Tymoshenko demonizer, rubs salt into the Prime Minister’s battle-scarred plan to auction off Odesa Port to proceed with her pet program of “returning” Soviet savings. (Tymoshenko’s privatization agenda has met stiff resistance from President Yushchenko.)

But if you think of Bohoslovska’s argument purely in terms of Friedman v. Keynes, or guns v. butter, think again.

If you look beyond the dovish veil of “don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,” you may find a sleeper cell of hawkish privatizers.

In Ukrainian politics, “to privatize or not to privatize” is not the question. “To pay the market price or not to pay the market price,” that’s the question.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/83080.html

Tymo: Keep That Camera On!

Locked in mortal combat with President Yushchenko over every major issue, Prime Minister Tymoshenko counts on the camera to get her points across.

PM Tymoshenko: I’ve long noticed that, unfortunately, when I raise questions concerning the rather deep corruption, concerning systemic reforms, some journalists sitting in the room would nod to their cameras to have them turned off. It’s just that I’ve noticed it. Next time, I will address people by name and will ask them not to turn off the cameras.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/82946.html

+ =?

Fed up with the chronic turf battles and micromanagement in the Orange camp, BYuT blew a fuse Wednesday.

BYuT DEMANDS THAT PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO STOP HIS ANTI-UKRAINIAN ACTIVITY

We demand that President Yushchenko stop his anti-Ukrainian activity.
The Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, seeking to preserve the democratic coalition and consolidate the democratic forces in parliament and society, has long ignored the aggressive and unfounded attacks of the Head of State and his Secretariat regarding the coalition Government, and specifically regarding the Prime Minister and the democratic coalition.

However, todays’ confrontation between the President and his Secretariat on the one hand, and the Government and the democratic coalition on the other, has gone so far that one cannot remain silent.

Therefore, the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction in the Verkhovna Rada has the authority to state the following:

1. The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, seeking to preserve a thin hope of re-election, has resorted to complete destruction of the beginnings and initiatives of the democratic Government;

2. The President of Ukraine has blocked all the anti-corruption programs of the democratic government (namely, in the area of land trade); the Head of State has virtually become a guarantor of corruption schemes. The Secretariat has also blocked the implementation of certain items of the coalition agreement (namely, building a professional army, combatting corruption and entitlement, etc);

3. The President and his Secretariat are knowingly and deliberately fanning the hysteria and panic surrounding the country’s inflation, as if without knowledge (or perhaps, on the contrary, with full knowledge) that a mere mention of inflation by the Head of State already raises prices by several percentage points;

4. The President of Ukraine is blocking and stalling a civilized privatization process, thereby destroying the state budget of Ukraine and crippling the social policies of the Government;

5. The President of Ukraine and his Secretariat are trying to take under their wing the shadowy schemes in the natural gas industry and secure “third-party interests” in this area at the cost of Ukraine’s national interests.

6. As in the year 2005, the President of Ukraine has turned the National Security and Defense Council into a stronghold of confrontation vis-à-vis the Government. The National Security and Defense Council is staffed by people who profess separatist ideas and stand for, or stood for, the partition of Ukraine; are infusing society with provocative ideas, such as making Russian an official language; and stand against Ukraine’s integration into Europe;

7. The President of Ukraine and his Secretariat have taken under their wing the corrupt management of the State Property Fund and of the Kyiv City Hall;

8. The President of Ukraine has consolidated around him yesterday’s leaders of clans and oligarch financial groups, which under the cover of charitable activity, are trying to return to power;

9. The President of Ukraine and his Secretariat are knowingly fomenting discord within the democratic coalition, and by putting nonsensical items on the parliamentary agenda, are trying to block the work of parliament;

10. The President of Ukraine, V.A. Yushchenko has systematically disgraced the Ukrainian State by making statements that denigrate Ukraine the world over.

In the current situation, the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction is demanding that the President of Ukraine stop his ANTI-UKRAINIAN activity and refrain from destroying the opportunity for democratic development of the Ukrainian State. We demand a stop to the cynical destruction and wreckage of the democratic coalition, which is being carried out today in the name of Yushchenko’s victory in the next presidential election. We demand that the President immediately rescind all the decrees and directives that are blocking the work of the democratic Government, and let this Government finally work. We demand that the Ukrainian agenda be restored to the National Security and Defense Council and that this organization be cleared of mismatches.

Today, amid the global economic crisis and the revival of aggressive anti-Ukrainian developments abroad, Ukraine is facing formidable challenges which it should meet adequately. We find it unfortunate that in this difficult situation the activities of the President of Ukraine pose one of the major threats to the independence of Ukraine and its sovereignty.

We also warn that whatever adventures are being masterminded in the Secretariat of the President, such as direct presidential rule and a summary referendum on the Constitution, they will receive an adequate response.

Our statement regarding the President of Ukraine in no way concerns our colleagues and friends in the democratic coalition, from the bloc of Nasha Ukrayina-Narodna Samooborona. We will do everything in our power to preserve the democratic coalition, and we will not let anyone destroy the opportunity for civilized, democratic development of Ukraine.

We believe that in the current situation there is only one civilized and legitimate solution: amending the Constitution in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which will put a stop to the lawlessness and disorder and will put the country back on the track of democratic development in the interests of all its citizenry.

Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction

Sources:
http://www.byut.com.ua/ukr/news-5767

Socialist 500L

Ukrayinska Pravda grills the transportation habits of Yosyp Vinsky, a former member of the Socialist Party and current Minister of Transport.

As shown in the picture, Mr. Vinsky was recently sighted exiting a Mercedes S500L 4Matic. Further investigation revealed that the car belongs to SMAP, a state-owned company controlled by the Ministry of Transport (MoT), and carries a price tag of 1,167,000 hryvnias ($231,090).

That’s a tad too bourgeois, considering the manifesto with which the Tymoshenko Cabinet graced the airwaves a month and a half ago:

As long as there are poor people in Ukraine, Cabinet members will not be buying such expensive cars. If you look at the French government, they don’t ride in S-Class there. Even in America you won’t see such things. And here it’s as if we’re the richest country.

The promise boiled down to a price cap of $100,000 on cars purchased for Cabinet members. Technically, the car was not procured for the MoT. Still, it does give the impression that some Cabinet folks are too cool to observe the $100,000 rule.

When questioned about the story, Vinsky casually replied: “I don’t know what car I ride in. I just use what they gave me.”

That’s no accident. In Ukraine, $ocialists and civil $erpents spend tons of money without noticing it.

Take Vinsky’s former colleague and MoT predecessor Mykola Rudkovsky, whose embezzlement case is pending investigation. And don’t forget former Naftogaz chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko, another S500 Mercedes lover bankrolled by taxpayers’ money, whose love of luxury sparked a scandal that cost him his job.

It remains to be seen whether the stink will sink the king this time.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/3/13/72989.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/1/30/70653.htm

Rada Approves Tymoshenko Cabinet

First Vice-Premier, Oleksandr Turchynov, BYuT
Vice-Premier Ivan Vasyunuk, NUNS
Vice-Premier Hryhoriy Nemyrya, BYuT

Minister of Education and Science, Ivan Vakarchuk, NUNS
Minister of Transport and Communication, Yosyp Vinsky, BYuT
Minister of Culture and Tourism, Vasyl Vovkun, NUNS
Minister of Economy, Bohdan Danylyshyn, BYuT
Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Lyudmyla Denysova, BYuT
Minister of Defense, Yuriy Yekhanurov, NUNS, Presidential Appointee
Minister of Healthcare, Vasyl Knyazevych, NUNS
Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers, Petro Krupko, BYuT
Minister of Regional Development and Construction, Vasyl Kuybida, NUNS
Minister of Housing and Utilities Affairs, Oleksiy Kucherenko, NUNS
Minister of Internal Affairs, Yuriy Lutsenko, NUNS, Presidential Appointee
Minister of Agricultural Policy, Yuriy Melnyk, NUNS
Minister of Industrial Policy, Volodymyr Novytsky
Minister of Justice, Mykola Onishchuk, NUNS
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Volodymyr Ohryzko, Presidential Appointee
Minister of Family, Youth, and Sports Affairs, Yuriy Pavlenko
Minister of Finance, Viktor Pynzenyk, BYuT
Minister of Coal Mining Industry, Viktor Poltavets
Minister of Fuel and Energy, Yuriy Prodan, NUNS
Minister of Environmental Protection, Hryhoriy Filipchuk
Minister of Emergency Management, Volodymyr Shandra

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/12/18/68590.htm