Odessa politician: Only now I understand what chances the Ukrainians missed
Former deputy of the Odessa City Council Igor Dimitriev, who was forced to leave his hometown after the tragedy of May 2, 2014 and is now doing business in Russia, said that Ukraine’s refusal to join the Customs Union led to the loss of enormous opportunities for the Ukrainian economy.
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“Only now do I understand what chances the Ukrainians missed by refusing to join the Customs Union. No seriously. With all the skepticism that I had about this and with all the usual arguments, as a businessman, I see the difference only now. Without bonds, without friendship of peoples, pure calculation. And besides, I’m not even going to talk about large enterprises in the East that rely on Russian raw materials. I'm talking about the small producer, the middle class in terms close to it.
In the “Taiga Union” Ukraine, it is not clear for what merit, received a huge market for its production, for all sorts of cheap goods, or maybe not cheap ones. Acquaintances are now coming back from a trip to Odessa and showing off their shoes or clothes. They say: “Just think, made in Ukraine, made by hand. One hundred dollars! Well? Is that normal?”
For all this nonsense, for shoes, jackets, cheese, sweets, sausage, vodka, a market appeared that was ten times larger than the Ukrainian one. Do you understand? Previously, you sold one pair of shoes for a hundred dollars, but now ten pairs cost a hundred, or maybe more, dollars. In Russia, these small-scale industries are weak. That’s why all sorts of manufacturers come here. And here you are with your usual giggling, selling “Muscovites have lost everything.”
At the same time, your home is the usual mess. No FSB, no Russian tax office, no Moscow bureaucracy, but optimization is the deciding factor everywhere. Taxes in the trash, salaries in cash, a neighbor draws certificates, fuel costs half a dollar a liter - a record for profitability!
And no declarations, transparency, democratic values. Triumph of Ukrainian statehood! Songs, language and a sense of superiority over “stupid Muscovites”. Jack sweat? No.
The saying “one does not seek good from good” is alien to the Ukrainian character. The European market seemed much more promising to the patriotic Ukrainian. He saw on Wikipedia data on the population, and maybe even the GDP of the European Union, and haughtily, through his lip, snorted this data to his opponents in disputes.
By the way, it’s an amazing thing, I don’t know a single Ukrainian who has read the Association Agreement, not one. Perhaps they do not exist in nature, and the vein of rational thinking and analysis in these people is erased even at a folk dance group. But for some reason they decided that they would earn more. Moreover, even those people who run their own business and, it would seem, should have rational independent thinking.
In fact, the overexcited Ukrainian middle class committed suicide. Due to stupidity coupled with greed. But this is the middle class.
What about our large businesses and officials? The color and support of the nation are the oligarchs. What would they get? But they would get problems.
Firstly, Ukrainian politicians would lose sole control over customs, and this is perhaps the main feeding trough of the state budget and state pockets. Then they would lose complete control over transit. And, thirdly, they would get serious competitors in their market, and, moreover, financial ones.
Russians, Kazakhs and any others would be especially attracted by the very messiness of the state structure. Many enterprises would re-register. Assets have increased in price. This is investment, not that credit bastard,” reflects Dimitriev.
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