Ukrainian dilemma

“It’s impossible to get freedom until criminals are beheaded” - Robespierre

Ukraine is now in a deep ethical and geopolitical crisis solving of which depends on what security agencies (the Office of Public Prosecutor, SSU and MIA) actually can do to fight criminality in Ukraine.

How far would the president go to keep his promises of turning Ukraine into a modern, European-oriented, wealthy, jural and democratic state?

Will Victor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko be able “to build up democracy in a single state” (paraphrasing Stalin) when it’s surrounded by anti-democratic regimes, when criminal clans, pretending to be opposition, lead guerilla warfare against the president, government and own people?

These are complicated academic questions difficult to be given definite answers. Although, if Herculean job of turning Ukraine into jural state isn’t over, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate those perversions inherited from former criminal, incompetent and corrupt authorities.

The three cases, listed below, show baffling complexity of task not only for Victor Yushchenko but for Ukrainian society as well.

Mykola Melnychenko, the owner of the most popular phone taps in the world has been exculpated from the charges as to legality of tapping in the president’s office. On his behalf, he has to testify to American FBI.

Suppose he’ll tell everything to FBI, and will name the person (Mr. X) who’s got the idea to tap the president’s office, and motives for that. Sure, if he didn’t act on his own.

If Melnychenko behaves like that what will happen to Mr. X? Will he be prosecuted and put behind the bars, Like Kolesnikov and Co.?

Suppose Mr. X charged Melnychenko with tapping of Kuchma’s office. As a result, there appeared tapes showing bribery and corruption of Kuchma’s regime.

These tapes caused Orange Revolution and made Victor Yushchenko the president of Ukraine. They have turned into weapon in the hands of those who overthrew Kuchma’s regime and wiped out Kuchma’s favorite candidate Victor Yanukovych.

The tapes, having undergone numerous expert examinations seem to prove Kuchma and company’s taking part in Gongadze’s kidnapping. The kind of crime which presupposes long-tern sentence.

The murder wasn’t originally planned. But now, when the murderers are detained and plead guilty, the “customers” of the murder must be detained and prosecuted.

So, what’s then Mr. X’s fate? My suggestion is, as well as Melnychenko, to decorate him with an order, the highest state award in Ukraine.

Kuchma has already honored Fidel Castro and Jassir Arafat with such an order. I doubt, Melnychenko and Mr. X did less for Ukraine. Are they worth such an award?

It’s clear that the mentioned above “customers” of Gongadze’s kidnapping: Kuchma, Leonid Derkach and the late Yuriy Kravchenko pinned their hopes on Yanukovych to avoid imprisonment for the crime.

Vladimir Putin is the only president who sympathized with them and was ready to help. He proved that having taken an active part in Yanukovych’s pre-election campaign.

Putin almost instructed his Ambassador in Ukraine, Victor Chernomyrdin, how to become associate of what might be called flawed elections. Chernomyrdin helped to organized criminal “Russian Club” in Kyiv which openly ignored Ukrainian laws and did everything possible to aid Yanukovych.

One of its founders, Maxim Kurochkin, who safely lives under Putin’s protection in Russia, is under retrieval of Ukrainian security agencies.

Consciously or not, Putin promoted elections fraud and later on went further, sheltering Ukrainian criminals.

Those, believing that MIA General Olexiy Pukach (one of the main suspects in Gongadzegate) is hiding somewhere in Israel, are mistaken.

Is it possible that self-assured, with a childish smile, Ihor Bakai is hiding in Russia without Putin’s ok? Bakai, on his behalf, tells Ukrainian people he is inviolable under protection of Russian security services and Putin’s shelter.

How would Ukrainian laws overcome these obstacles? Will the gossips come true? Is that true that Bakai paid Russian Security Services $1 million to find there shelter? Why does Ukrainian Minister easily meet Bakai in Moscow? Such meeting do not take place in jural states.

Why do Victor Medvedchuk, Victor Yanukovych and Nestor Shufrych shed tears for Kolesnikov, Pukach and Bakai? Are these people victims of Yushchenko’s regime?

This revolting question arouses another one, and far more serious: how long will the administration bear the opposition members of which have criminal records resulting in enormous material losses for the country?

Who are they? Loyal opposition of just a criminal clan trying to get back the lost power and sources of income?

There are a couple of Kuchmagate figurants, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Olexandr Volkov and Andrew Derkach, who played tricky to find Yushchenko’s political shelter for the sake of their families and own political future.

What will happen to them? Should Leonid Derkach be forgiven ‘cause his son backed up Orange revolution in a proper time? Will that be a fair decision?

Even Yushchenko can’t give them absolution. He’s just empowered to amnesty prisoners. In such a way he represents authorities’ function of acquitment.

After a many-week investigation that is still in process, The Office of Public Prosecutor seem to considerably advance in the case of managers of “Naftogaz Ukraine”, Leonid Kuchma is believed to run.

This group has worked out secret scheme together with “Gazprom” to cheat and steal from Ukrainian and Russian people.

The scheme implied offshore company serving as operator for transporting of Turkmen gas in Ukraine. This operation, the investigators and Yulia Tymoshenko testify, resulted in a $1 billion loss for the budget.

No one knows where the money is. But many people believe part of it was given to one criminal magnate who safely lives in Moscow. This person is said to buy protection from Federal Security Service.

The dilemma is: how far will the prosecution go; will they contents themselves with just Ukrainian participants of the case or will they declare the case international and prosecute people from “Gazprom”, who worked out illegal schemes as well as offshore company managers who now live happily somewhere in central Europe?

If Ukrainian prosecution makes the case international they will have to find out Putin’s role in this scheme. Did Putin command the head of “Gazprom”, Alexei Miller, to stick to the scheme?

It’s not likely that Miller acted on his own. It’s not clear if Putin got his reward for participating in the project. Have they got the “dough” from offshore companies? Or did Kuchma bring them in a “Gucci” leather brief-case?

Is Ukrainian government ready to move that far? Will it make the case opened and will it announce the names of Russian officials, involved in the project?

It’s a pity but there are still some people in the president’s circle who still doubt in their devotion to president and who refuse to tidy up corrupt power and energy branch.

Moreover, they seem to be satisfied with the existing scheme of Turkmen gas transportation to Ukraine. The company “RosUkrEnergo”, Ukraine has nothing to do with, has the same shady schemes as the previous one and it gets enormous profits.

Ukrainian business should be run by those who knows it pretty well but not by those who profit from it.

It’s the most delicate secret case that is being investigated at the moment. It’s the most complicated and involved as well.

Victor Yushchenko was poisoned by overdose of dioxins supposedly added to his meal when having dinner with Volodymyr Satsyuk, SSU officer, fired after the accident. Satsyuk is believed to be involved in poisoning. Although, Satsyuk denies it.

There is also evidence that dioxins were brought to Ukraine from Russia and that Russian Federal Security Service is involved in this crime. There were serious accusations in mass media that the highest officials personally supervised it.

Is it really possible that a criminal gang consisting of Putin, Kuchma and Yanukovych, worked out the plan of murdering Yushchenko to make Yanukovych the president of Ukraine?

Was this plan connected with criminal structures in Ukraine, this group profited from?

When criminality and government unite their efforts and constitute one whole, the legal system is destined to decline, as it was in Ukraine back in Kuchma’s times and as it is now in Putin’s Russia.

Although, there is a strong tendency to slow down the case and keep it from its logical end. There are different reasons for that, but the main thing is realization that it will be extremely difficult to prosecute murderers and “customers” without spoiling Ukrainian-Russian relations for decades.

That’s why it’s quite possible that people responsible for Yushchenko’s poisoning won’t be found and tried whatever administration is at power.

Experience shows that Putin and his team are not quite honest and decent people. They issued themselves an unreal challenge to create “a new liberal empire” no matter what.

Are today’s Russian leaders capable of creating a new empire? Every modern politician, who believes that USSR breakdown was the most tragic thing ever happened on Earth, is either ignorant or pathological fibber.

Such a leader can’t create any empire, even more or less liberal. Thus, attempting to implement this crazy project in life he will spread horror in the whole world.

The recent five years showed that Ukrainian-Russian relations won’t become better till Putin is Russian president.

Russia insists on demonstrating its doubtful power; it tries to intimidate, sometimes bluffing, Ukraine and Baltic countries to let them know it is still capable of dominating over post soviet countries. Ukrainians have to acquire Polish and Baltic experience to understand that such form of blackmail of just ineffective.

Russia is no more a superstate. It’s reach in energy supplies and resources but even with that it can’t impose its will or monopolize Euro-Asian space. With its demoralized army, corrupt MIA and FSS, Russia look like “Paper Tiger”, the way Mao Dze Dun called Soviet Union.

At the same time, one should keep in mind that greed and money rule the Kremlin. It’s not patriotism of Russian chauvinism. Greed makes them dangerous and self-assured enemies capable of making irrational steps to reach their objectives.

This greed makes them approve and maybe support guerilla was led by former authorities against Yushchenko; greed causes economic sabotage and provocations against Yushchenko’s administration.

Though true Russian patriots are always ready for dialogue, they are in petty opposition. At the same time, Kremlin’s masters do not understand the meaning of the word “patriotism” and smile cynically when they hear this word. The only thing they understand is “dough”, US bucks.

Try to recollect “patriotism” of any Russian Minister of People’s Deputy and you’ll see a vacant look. They do not trust you.

They look like Kuchma’s supporters who yell about “police state” after years of robbing this country. Having begun fight against criminality Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have to stick to this course. They promised that to their voter and now can’t turn back. The country is too weak to stop and forget the past crimes. That would be not just a dreadful precedent but weakness of the new administration. The present guerillas like Shufrych wouldn’t spare them.

As to Putin’s supporters, they will fight, bite and yell. They were so sorry to see their secret-service network demolished in Ukraine.

But all in all, if Ukraine sticks to the course, Putin’s supporters will be absolutely isolated and will have to realize they should find common language with Ukrainian authorities and learn manners id they want to sit at the table.

Some background on Yulia Tymoshenko

He is supported by the nationalist Batkywschtschyna Party led by the millionaire (or, according to some sources, billionaire) former vice-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The methods by which she attained her wealth can be compared to those of the worst of the oligarchs and mafia bosses in the Yanukovich camp. Her appeals for “liberty” and “democracy” against the Kuchma regime, to which she owes her wealth, are utterly cynical.

Tymoshenko, who is 44, comes from the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk. She came to Kiev at the beginning of the 1990s with her acquaintance Pavel Lasarenko. The two followed Kuchma, who also originates from Dnepropetrovsk.

In 1996, Lasarenko became prime minister and, along with Tymoshenko, amassed considerable wealth. Tymoshenko developed a mechanism for exchanging Russian oil and gas for Ukrainian industrial goods, under conditions where a substantial share of the proceeds ended up in the coffers of the company she had personally founded—United Energy Systems.

Lasarenko came into conflict with various oligarchs and was ditched by Kuchma in 1998, in connection with a corruption scandal. Lasarenko currently sits in a US prison on charges of money laundering. Tymoshenko managed to worm her way out of the affair and was appointed deputy to Prime Minister Yushchenko in 1999.

In its edition of November 26, the Guardian newspaper of Britain quotes from a book by Matthew Brzezinski, Casino Moscow, which devotes an entire chapter to Tymoshenko, describing her as an “eleven-billion-dollar-woman.” Tymoshenko, having concentrated 20 per cent of the wealth of the country under her control while the country as a whole starves, is reportedly guarded by an entire unit of former Soviet special forces.

She now presents herself as a leader of the democratic opposition, although in the acquisition of her personal fortune she engaged in practices no less dirty and bloody than those of her adversaries in the Yanukovich camp.

The article next criticizes the Kuchma camp with equal ferocity. Perhaps the author is being relatively even handed.

http://www.countercurrents.org/ukraine-richter011204.htm

Ukraine is having a hard way to go. Corruption is pandemic there and will have to be dealt with before matters progress.

It would help if the Ukrainian government would joint venture with foreign corporations in the privatization of state industries which would allow for double oversight.

Ykraina!

Priviet!

"Corruption is pandemic there and will have to be dealt with before matters progress."
Well, like the 40 years wandering in the desert from OT - the previous generation will need to die out. Thus the progression to a "jural" condition [more precisely speaking, the transculturation into the Western Civ from the Orthodox Civ, in Huntington's nomenclature] would take at least 2 generations - and why should it be any easier in Ukraine than it was for Turkey of Ataturk? The problems in both these cases have/had similar magnitudes. One could even argue about the degree of Ataturk's success.

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