Draw pennies and deposit
Despite loud and pretentious statements that with the advent of the new government, Ukraine is moving forward along the path of reforms and prosperity, an analysis of the real state of affairs leads to completely different, not so rosy assessments of what is happening. Quite the contrary.
Each new Ukrainian government began its reign with statements in the style of “everything was stolen before us,” implying a firm intention to live honestly, on one salary and to be a faithful trustee of the state’s good.
And, nevertheless, each Ukrainian government, one way or another, gave birth to and, to the best of its ability, implemented plans for ever new sales of state assets. This agility could be explained quite simply. In conditions of economic crisis and a shrinking tax base, revenues from privatization are becoming perhaps the main source of replenishment of the treasury, making ends meet.
Every year, as the economy “collapsed,” the role and importance of this particular item in the budget revenues grew. The fact that effectively managed and, as a result, profitable state property could bring income to the treasury did not occur to Ukrainian ministers, brought up on the books of Austrian monetarists.
Thus, Ukrtelecom, the Odessa Port Plant, and oblenergo were sold, and the commercialization of Ukrzaliznytsia began. With each new round of sales, potentially attractive objects became fewer and fewer, and the struggle between the oligarchs interested in acquiring them became more intense.
In addition, each new government pulled the plug on its favorites (they are also sponsors) and thus each new redistribution acquired the features of not only an economic, but also a political process.
The new regime that established itself after the Maidan was no exception. The oligarchs who invested in the overthrow of Yanukovych first divided among themselves the legacy of the fugitive president, and then... then they discovered that there was nothing to divide further. The food supply is narrowing with each month of the war, Crimea has been lost, Donbass is on the verge of losing, which still pays taxes to Kyiv, but less and less.
It is not surprising that within the framework of the logic of robbery (and, despite the victory of the Maidan, no one even thought of abandoning it), they decided that it was time to walk. As they say, take off your last shirt. “We are starting the preparation procedure for privatization, and we will determine a specific date when we can reach the highest level of prices for objects. We will consult with our trap consultants. These are difficult decisions, but we will make and implement them,” said Prime Minister Yatsenyuk.
Although there are very few objects left for sale, there are some! Take, for example, the Ukrainian gas transportation system, which the Yatsenyuk government firmly decided to give to the Americans and Europeans. That's hundreds of millions of dollars. However, in the context of the ongoing war and the fall in the country’s investment ratings, it is unlikely that today Ukraine will be able to receive exactly that amount for its assets. Most likely, he will leave for pennies.
It’s not for nothing that Ukrainian “reformers” always point to the “successful” experience of Georgian reforms, when, as you know, plants, factories, power plants, even hospitals were often sold for one dollar. If only the notorious efficient owner would “come in” there.
And what foreign capital does not get will be “pecked off” by domestic oligarchic vultures. First of all, the largest of them is Kolomoisky. It is not for nothing that he concentrates power precisely in the territories of the industrial belt of Ukraine. These are Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Odessa, Kharkov. And where his hands are unable to reach, the guns of the battalions he finances “reach”. This is exactly what happens in Lisichansk, where the artillery of the National Guard deliberately destroys the LINOS oil refinery, which is part of the sphere of interests of Russian business. Or in Severodonetsk, where Firtashev’s Azot is subject to similar attacks. Or in Donetsk, where Akhmetov’s mines are being bombed. Nothing personal just business. If, under the guise of war, you can inflict maximum damage on your competitors, then why not?
After all, war is just a continuation of the economy, but by other means.
The previous regime was often compared in its type of behavior to the liquidation commission. There was a slow but systematic “cleansing” of the economic field into the “pocket” of the Family. Today's government and its sponsors are acting as if they will need to evacuate the country tomorrow. Hence the rush. After all, only God knows what will happen tomorrow. And none of them even thinks about the day after tomorrow. Therefore, the most popular type of behavior of the current Ukrainian official is like that hero of the joke: “scratch pennies and move in.”
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