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PoRnoholics Passive & Plagiaristic

I believe that the possibility of a meteorite falling on the head of some earthling is a thousand times higher than that of the Orange Coalition voting and electing a Speaker on Tuesday. In this situation, we are passive bystanders and are watching this coalition rot and implode.

— MP Mykhailo Chechetov, Party of Regions

Passive bystanders? Is that really so, Mr. Chechetov? And by the way, wasn’t this meteorite thing already explored by some other Regionalist? Anyway, your bet is accepted.

$179.5

In 2008, Ukraine will pay $179.5 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas, Gazprom Chairman Aleksey Miller and Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Boiko agreed today in Moscow.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/12/4/67828.htm

Coalition Bribery Caught on Candid Camera?

The video allegedly features a conversation between an Orange MP and a man who bears a striking resemblance to Mykhailo Brodsky, a friend-cum-foe of Yulia Tymoshenko’s. It’s one of the four videos released by BYuT on Friday.

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Uploaded by kalina_ukr

There’s this fucking thing called “Better a horrible end than endless horror.” I personally believe that my position is clear. You have to decide whether you’re on this side or on that side and get it over with and proceed.

You won’t have those 228 [votes]. Listen, Yulya will not be Premier, that’s point number one. Two, in case Yulya doesn’t get to be Premier, her faction ends up in the opposition. Yulya will not agree to any other kind of deal, that’s point number two. Three, I still don’t understand what difference it makes to you as to who gets to be Premier and who doesn’t get to be Premier, and so on and so forth.

There’s your capital — this one thing, the voting card. You have no other capital. It’s basically a windfall for you, but, on the other hand… There’s one thing I know: If not today then tomorrow this conversation will be needed, maybe on somewhat different terms, if something else comes along. But still this conversation will be needed. So it’s your business — whether you decide now or tomorrow.

From then on, the conversations will be concise. You call Sasha and tell him if you want to. If you’re interested, we can work. If not, don’t call.

No Sleeping Pills Needed



Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/68359.html
Soundtrack of choice: "Spyat Ustalie Igrushki," from Spokoinoi Nochi, Malyshi.

Yushchenko Demands Closing of Zasyadka Mine Until Probe Complete

In a memo to PM Yanukovych, President Yushchenko has urged full closure of the Zasyadka Mine, Ukraine’s #1 killer in the mining industry.

Due to the repeat accident at the Zasyadka Mine in Donetsk, which entailed human casualties, I insist on full and immediate closure of this mine until all the circumstances and causes of the tragedies that happened on November 18, December 1, and December 2 this year are established.

What took you so long, Mr. President? Weren’t those 101 deaths from the first accident and the injuries sustained by some 44 miners in the second accident bad enough? Or maybe Zvyahilsky was scheduled to receive a medal of honor just like Kolesnikov?

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/12/3/67706.htm

Zasyadka Goes Triple

Another explosion at the Zasyadka Mine late on Sunday — the third in two weeks — killed five miners and left 66 injured.

Sources:
http://ua.korrespondent.net/main/90328/

Even Without Shyrka, We Still Have Zasyadka

What did I miss? Here’s a recap of all major events that escaped my blog while I was out of town:

No shyrka, at least not yet. The ‘NUNS on the Run’ turned themselves in after meeting with President Yushchenko, or so it seems. In other words, they acceded to the Orange Coalition agreement. Let’s see what happens next week, when it comes to the Speaker vote.

Zasyadka redux. There was another mine accident on Saturday. 44 miners were hospitalized, two of them in critical condition. No fatalities, so far. Vice Premier Andriy Klyuev, a miner early in his career, vowed to close the most dangerous area of the mine. (As though the 101-person death toll from the accident two weeks ago wasn’t enough ground.)

Coalition bribery caught on candid camera? On Friday, BYuT went public with cell phone videos of what it claims are attempts by MP Volodymyr Sivkovych, PRU, and former BYuT member Mykhailo Brodsky to bribe Orange MPs into sabotaging the Orange Coalition. MP Sivkovych, a former KGB operative, refuted the allegation and called the videos an invasion of privacy, arguing that the conversation had nothing to do with bribery. He also filed a complaint with the Office of the Prosecutor-General.

Natural gas prices to rise a little more, payable in roubles. Gazprom talks about revising next year’s anticipated price of $160 per 1,000 cubic meters to as high as $190, citing accelerating price deals with Turkmenistan. The Russian gas monopoly also insists on switching the trading from dollars to roubles. And by the way, Russia holds parliamentary elections today.

Lytvyn strategist shot dead. Oleh Sheremet, the man who liaised with a team of American public relations consultants in the Lytvyn Bloc campaign, was murdered on Friday night. Sheremet also ran a consultancy that dealt with lucrative land issues in Boryspil rayon (county) neighboring Kyiv to the east.

The upcoming week, a litmus test for the Orange Coalition, is going to be packed with events.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/12/1/67688.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/12/1/67685.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/12/1/67680.htm