Ukraine's President Zelensky to BBC: Blood money being paid for Russian oil

Ukrainian President Zelensky stated European countries that continue to buy Russian oil "earn their money in other people's blood".

Germany and Hungary block effort to embargo energy sales, which Russia stands to make £250bn ($326bn) this year.

"Some of our friends and partners understand this is a different time now, no longer an issue of business and money, but an issue of survival."

“Some news sources speculate that tweets declaring the former comedian’s net worth at $1.5 billion were efforts to undermine support for Zelensky and the Ukraine.
So how much is Zelensky really worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Zelensky is worth roughly $1.5 million — not $1.5 billion. The site says that the president’s financial disclosure from 2018 listed total assets worth 37 million hryvnias, the Ukrainian currency. At the time, that gave him a net worth of $1.5 million USD, although, due to foreign exchange rates, the amount fluctuates.

Zelensky earned most of his money as a Ukrainian entertainer, starring in Russian-language films including “Love in the Big City,” “Office Romance,” and “8 First Dates.” The tri-lingual president, who is fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, also dubbed the Ukrainian voiceovers for “Paddington”and “Paddington 2.”

From 2015 to 2019, he starred in a political satire comedy series, “Servant of the People.” The oddly prophetic show, which aired for 51 episodes, chronicled the adventures of a high school teacher turned president of the Ukraine. In 2019, Zelensky ran for office and was elected as president.

Although this marked Zelensky’s first foray into politics, he does have the education to back up his recent career change. He graduated from Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics with a law degree.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s determination to cleanse the country of the oligarchs and their influence didn’t impress only Ukrainians, but also international political players. The anti-oligarchy plan is strongly supported by the U.S. government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while the Ukrainian NATO membership candidature is linked directly to resolution of the corruption in the country, reports The Washington Post.

Zelensky and his office came up with the new legislation which would target issues of oligarchy through establishing a register of oligarchs — defined as people who have political power, media ownership, market monopolies, and a minimum of $100 million in assets. The registered oligarchs will be obliged to declare their wealth and refrain from privatizations and connections with political parties.

Volodymyr Zelensky is married to a beautiful lady, Olena Zelenska, who is a successful woman herself and one of the most influential women in Ukraine, according to Tatler. An architect by education but a screenwriter by profession, she is a part of Kvartal 95 and its success. Zelenska met Zelensky when they both studied at Kryvyi Rih National University, and she soon joined Kvartal comedy troupe as a writer. While she wasn’t excited by Zelensky’s idea to run for the presidency, she soon changed her mind and supported her husband fully.

Zelenskyas as Ukrainian president earns only 28,000 Hryvnias annually, or just $930 per month, per Celebrity Net Worth — which is an annual salary of roughly $11,200 per year.”
https://www.grunge.com/

“It makes no sense from an economic or contractual sense for any country to insist on transit fees. If the other side has a better alternative and takes it, there is really no recourse they have,” Mikulska said.

“This is why I believe that the argument that Nord Stream 2 should not start working because this would strip Ukraine of an income is not really convincing,” Mikulska reasoned.

“In fact, if we are talking about making sure Ukraine is not dependent on Russia then keeping dependency on transit fees is quite the opposite. If Ukraine needs those fees, they become a source of dependency, including geopolitically. Not that much different than depending on supplies of gas, right?”

Mikulska and others suggest that Ukraine should not need or ask for transit fees at all, but should look for ways in which it could use its location and existing infrastructure to generate income. “This includes being able to transfer gas both toward the West and the South as well as its extensive storage infrastructure,” said Mikulska.

“Ukraine could be the gas basket of Europe in terms of storing natural gas to increase security of supply in Europe,” he added.”

kraine could think more strategically in terms of linking up with Turkey to transit gas from Azerbaijan to Ukraine through existing networks such as the Trans-Balkan pipeline and the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan under the Caspian Sea bringing gas to Ukraine via the Caucasus and Turkey.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) could also play a role for Ukraine. LNG terminals in Turkey, Greece, Poland and Croatia could help Ukraine diversify supplies and give access to providers beyond its immediate neighborhood, including the US.

Meantime, Russia is making plans and is building pipeline capacity to export it to China, but it will take time before Russia can substitute Europe for China as its main market.
https://www.dw.com

Putin Plan of Action for the establishment of a control system over the economic and political processes in Ukraine

BANKING SYSTEM
1. Establishing control over the National Bank of Ukraine and suspending operations on money withdrawal, imposition of currency control.
2. Establishing external monitoring over commercial banks to prevent asset embezzlement and transfer of depositors’ funds abroad.
3. Safeguarding banks’ storage facilities in order to prevent looting cases.
4. Connecting banks to the Russian inter-bank data exchange, payments and settlements.
5. Introduction of 100 per cent repatriation and compulsory sale of foreign exchange earnings of exporters to the National Bank.
6. Termination of currency exchange operations (excluding payments for received import), freezing of all foreign currency deposits.
7. Introduction of bank holidays in order to prevent withdrawal of assets.
8. Introduction of a moratorium on: servicing and repayment of foreign loans, transfer of profits from enterprises and property income abroad, export of capital.
9. Introduction of external management in banks that stop servicing the population and issuing deposits.
10. Introduction of temporary moratorium on currency exchange operations, except for the current trading operations of legal entities.

TRANSPORT
1. Renewal of railway communication between Ukrainian cities and Russia.
2. Establishing control over air navigation and organize a Russian-Ukrainian airline for regular air traffic.
3. Port nationalization.
4. Ensuring smooth operation of railway transport.

ENERGY
1. Establish control over nuclear power plants, restore normal operation on Russian fuel elements.
2. Nationalization of electric grids and strategic electricity generation facilities: hydroelectric power stations, large thermal power stations.
3. Establishing control over the natural gas transmission system of Ukraine.

TRADE, LOGISTICS, INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE
1. Safeguarding large trading hubs / shopping centers, food bases, grain storages; nationalization of the latter.
2. Introduction of a temporary card system for the distribution of basic food supplies among the population in need, with the establishment of pools of interested producers.
3. Ensuring oil and fuel, fertilizers, seeds for the planting season.
4. Temporary freezing of prices on basic agricultural goods and food commodities.

SOCIAL SPHERE
1. Freezing tariffs on housing and communal services.
2. Ensuring the normal functioning of public transport.
3. Denazification of the education system:
– the removal and destruction of all educational literature distorting history, promoting Nazism and Russophobia;
– restoration of compulsory Russian language and literature classes in schools;
– organization of training courses for secondary-school and high-school teachers in humanitarian disciplines (those who refuse to do so are to be discharged);
– significant increase of the quotas for admission of Ukrainian applicants to Russian universities.
4. Granting the Russian language the status of the state language, along with Ukrainian.
5. Ensure the normal functioning of hospitals and polyclinics with the preservation of free medical care with guaranteed coverage of the deficit of funds at the expense of the state budget.

FOREIGN TRADE
1. Promoting Ukraine’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union:
– carrying out economic impact calculations;
– legal analysis;
– justification of Ukraine’s withdrawal from its Association with the EU (economic and legal findings on non-legitimacy);
– development of a road map for accession.
2. Lifting of mutual economic sanctions.
3. Re-establishment of free trade.
4. Resumption of co-operative relations.
5. Imposing a ban on the export of grain and other critical goods to ensure food security.

FISCAL SPHERE
1. Inclusion of a limited emission financing regime for the state budget deficit.
2. Revision of the state budget for 2022 with zeroing of expenditures on defense, state security, functioning of the Constitutional Court, Verkhovna Rada, functioning of the Foreign Ministry and diplomatic representations of Ukraine abroad.
3. Monitoring tax payments of structure-forming / important enterprises, excises and VAT; temporary exemption from taxation of enterprises which were destroyed or suspended their activities due to military actions.

POLITICAL AND LEGAL SUPPORT
1. Dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada, the Government, the Constitutional Court and possibly the Supreme Court as illegitimate bodies after the usurpation of power through an anti-constitutional coup d’état in 2014
2. Recognition of all legislative acts adopted after the coup d’état in 2014 invalid if they contradict the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine, which had been in force until February 21, 2014
3. Maintaining the legitimacy of local self-government bodies elected directly by the population. Transfer powers of regional state administrations to local self-government bodies, with the dissolution and liquidation of the former.
4. Delegation (by local self-government bodies) of people’s representatives to participate in the Constitutional Assembly to draft the new Constitution of Ukraine, with a national referendum afterwards.
5. Option. Hold referendums (organized by local self-government bodies) on the secession of respective regions from Ukraine. The creation of Federations of such areas with the participation of the LDPR.

PROPERTY RELATIONS
1. Seizure of assets of the persons accused and suspected of crimes.
2. Freezing of assets owned by U.S. and NATO residents, as well as offshore zones.
3. External supervision over structure-forming and strategically important enterprises, with the aim of controlling asset preservation and ensuring good management.
4. Introduction of external management on enterprises owned by persons whose assets have been seized or frozen or which have been left without director generals.
5. Introduction of external management on military industrial complex, nuclear power and industry, as well as metallurgical, chemical and other industries which pose a threat to the environment and the population.

TRANSITIONAL ADMINISTRATION
Prior to the constitutional reform, the elections to the Verkhovna Rada and the formation of a legitimate government, provisional authorities should be established. It is proposed to retain local self-government bodies and district courts on the basis of existing ones. Transitional public authorities should be formed in the order as follows:
1. Within a week, hold an election to the local self-government bodies of the liberated towns / cities (the former national authorities that were formed after the 2014 coup are to be found non-legitimate) and elect representatives to the People’s Assembly, that will convene to form new national executive bodies and draft the new Constitution.
2. Form the People’s Self-Government Committee at the first meeting of the People’s Assembly, which will be entrusted to perform the functions of the Ukrainian government until the election of the Verkhovna Rada takes place.
3. The People’s Self-Government Committee (KNS) is to appoint the ministers (except for the ministers of security forces and the foreign minister, who are to be eliminated), heads of departments, the National Bank of Ukraine, directors of structure-forming, strategically significant and environmentally hazardous enterprises (that will have external management).
4.The KNS appoints the acting heads of regional administrations, whose functions will be limited to ensuring law and order as well as the operation of regional life support systems, fiscal and other republican bodies.
5. Police units and the support systems of towns / cities will be transferred to local self-government bodies.
6. In Donetsk and Odessa, people’s tribunals – that will review the committed crimes against humanity, war crimes, political repressions, acts of genocide on the territory of LDPR and Ukraine, respectively – will be launched. The members of the tribunals shall be appointed via a general public assembly; charges shall be passed on to courts located in the areas where the crimes had been committed.
7. The People’s Assembly will impose a moratorium – for any leadership positions and participation in elections – on persons who participated in the 2014 coup and then worked for state authorities and law enforcement agencies, as well as those who are accused or suspected of committing crimes.
8. The martial law, introduced by Zelensky, will be maintained until the election of a new Verkhovna Rada. Representatives of the Russian armed forces, stationed in the respective localities, are to monitor the observance of martial law.
9. At the request of the population of Ukraine’s liberated regions, referendums will be held on secession and the creation of sovereign people’s republics.
In the future, they can unite to form new state entities (Novorossiya, Malorossiya, Slobozhanshchina …) or rejoin Russia (the reserve option).

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