A Peep Into Yanuk’s Birthday Celebrations

On July 9, 2008, Viktor Yanukovych celebrated his 58th anniversary.

MP Borys Kolesnikov, PRU: Well, Viktor Fiodorovich...Viktor Fiodorovich [patronymic transliterated from Russian] once loved to go hunting and fishing, that’s speaking of hobbies. Everyone…everyone will act depending on their imagination and financial capabilities, I think.

MP Anatoliy Tolstoukhov, PRU: And it’s not hunting gear that will prevail, but, say, landscapes, paintings.

MP Hanna Herman, PRU: I presented Viktor Fedorovych [patronymic transliterated from Ukrainian] with a portrait of his mother. We searched for a long time and finally found an old photograph. I magnified it and fit it into a frame, and today I put it on the leader’s table.

MP Leonid Hrach, CPU: Well, there’s no gift that a poor person could present to a rich one.

MP Oleh Lyashko, BYuT: Well, obviously some of the leaders will greet him, but you do realize that, in reality, it’s all a game. They greet each other in public, they smile, but in reality they everyone looks for ways to nail each other.

Valeriy Heletey, chief of the Ukrainian Secret Service (UDO): All the people who are under protection…we always come to terms and we always greet people on their birthdays. We always wish that they would feel secure and comfortable.

Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky: I don’t…I don’t have any such things. I have nothing. I can even show you my pockets.

Mr. Hrach, Mr. Chernovetsky, you guys are incredible!

Tabloid has a picture report of the event.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/89421.html

Kolesnikov on Kyiv Mayoral Race

MP Borys Kolesnikov, PRU: Well, we have, according law, 15 days, starting today. We will decide on our candidate, and our main effort will go into the Kyiv City Council, that is, the Party of Regions’ representation in the Kyiv City Council. I want to emphasize that the Party of Regions has always insisted on the independence of regions, including financial and administrative independence. That’s why I believe that Kyivites should support us, meaning, to the extent that we, so to speak, win their sympathy and trust.

In plain English, that means supporting Chernovetsky for Mayor while trying to increase the PRU presence in the Kyiv City Council, right?

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/80179.html

Kolesnikov: “Banning the Party of Regions Is Like Banning the Sunrise”

MP Borys Kolesnikov, PRU: Banning the Party of Regions is like banning the sunrise. I’m telling this to my opponents upfront. I want to tell these pseudo-nat…pseudo-patriots that the Party of Regions — and the regions they represent — have made the biggest contribution to Ukraine’s independence. And they have secured the economic dependence [sic] of Ukraine…Ukraine. So here’s how it is: They’ve learned this anthem in the Ukrainian language, they put their hands on their hearts, or wallets, they sing this anthem — and that makes them the patriots. And the fact that the south and the east are working around the clock and are securing eco…economic independence — the Donetsk oblast alone accounts for 25 percent of the country’s GDP. That’s inde…the contribution to the country’s independence.

The Party of Regions has a progressive record of thought-provoking slips of the tongue. In 2004, it was presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych who spiced up the debates with “We must secure for our citizenry a state of feeling insecure.”

It didn’t stop there. Soon, the foot-in-mouth trajectory of Yanukovych’s rhetoric put a whole new spin on some of the big names in local poetry and industry.

So how does the word independence figure into the Ukrainian economy? Most of the export-oriented industry of southeastern Ukraine operates independently of domestic consumption.

Short of that, it’s one sort of dependence or another. The metals they pump for sale to China depend on cheap labor, cheap natural resources, cheap pollution, and “cheap” energy.

Kolesnikov's 25 percent figure for Donetsk oblast’s contribution to Ukraine’s GDP constitutes a steep decline from the “80 percent” urban legend that energizes every election campaign in the east. (The fact that Donbas did not pose as the sole donor of Ukraine's industrialization gets scant notice.)

Meanwhile, no such decline can be witnessed in the net worth of the local oligarchy. The sun never sets on the dons of Donbas.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/79308.html

Russia Tumbai, or Political Crossdressing — PRU Style

«Общеизвестно: американцы - лучшие маркетологи в мире. Не сделать таких профессионалов частью команды - просто глупо. Кто лучше других раскроет плюсы предлагаемого социального пакета? Кто лучше объяснит макроэкономические показатели? С Партией регионов на выборах будет работать команда, состоящая из лучших специалистов, которые есть в мире”.

"We all know Americans are the best marketing talent in the world. Failure to make these professionals part of the team would simply be stupid. Who can best spell out the major selling points of the social contract we offer? Who can best explain the macroeconomic indicators? In this election campaign, the Party of Regions will be working with a team that has on its board the best talent in the world."

— MP Borys Kolesnikov, PRU

Source: http://www.grani.kiev.ua/exp.php?ni=16821&type=2

P.S. Puts a whole new spin on that "Yankees go home!" business, doesn't it?