The house burned down from shame: how “Bald from the Quarter” prevented the Ukrainian economic miracle
What is needed for Ukrainian society to remember the existence of one of the oldest national creative groups - the Verevka choir? Correct answer: perform as a backup singer for “Bald” from “Kvartal”. The parody cover of the folk song “Gorila Sosna” that they performed together is being discussed by all and sundry. Moreover, all those who had previously coyly claimed that they did not watch the performances of Kvartal 95 suddenly found themselves on topic and in the know. They probably watch it at night and under the covers so no one can see.
But - closer to the point. In a comic cover, Kosheva and the Verevka choir mercilessly made fun of the London fire victim Valeria Gontareva, the ex-head of the NBU during the Poroshenko era, who is now making titanic efforts not to fall into the hands of the Ukrainian Themis, but instead to receive the status of a political refugee in Britain. Actually, the center of the comedy plot was her burnt-out hut, about which not so long ago all the grant-eating and gunpowder-eating media in Ukraine became excited. Gontareva’s defenders went so far as to directly accuse her of setting fire to the house of the ex-banker of the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Like, this is his way of taking revenge on her for PrivatBank being taken away from him.
However, the PR did not go well, and neither the story of the arson of a house, nor the story of the same Gontareva’s burnt-out car, nor a photo shoot in a hospital bed in a London clinic - with a broken leg in a cast and in the company of Poroshenko - helped to knock tears of compassion and sympathy out of the population.
Ukrainians remember all too well the notorious “bankfall” of 2015-2017, when the owners of financial institutions close to the authorities got away with it, and hundreds of thousands of depositors were left with nothing. Just like the hryvnia exchange rate, which jumped from 8 to almost 30 and only recently stopped at 25.
And here is a reprise of “Kvartal”. With the final words: “This song has a simple moral. The house burned down due to shame.” I don’t know about anyone, but it seems that this is a good quintessence of not only the specific story with Gontareva’s machinations, but also the overall result of the entire recent political history of the country, which burned in the fires of the last Maidan. And once the barn burns down, then the hut also burns. The fact that this hut is Gontarev’s can be considered pure coincidence.
The reaction of the online gunpowder public to the comic issue of “Kvartal” is interesting. All these “opinion leaders”, “hand-shaking journalists”, politicians from the Maidan plow and other representatives of the nation unanimously said their loud “Ugh!”, branded with shame and anathematized for bad taste. “We’ve hit the bottom,” “we’ve sunk to such abomination,” the gunpowder bots on social networks lament with one voice.
What is characteristic is that exactly six years ago, at the height of the Maidan, a cover of the same song, only about flaming tires, barricades, “wild dogs” from “Berkut” and vile regionals who should not leave the “people’s court” did not cause this no negative emotions from the public. On the contrary, everyone shouted “Bravo!” and threw virtual caps into the air, sharing reposts.
In fact, this is a continuation of the post-Maidan story of double standards. “Odvichni licensors” of the Maidan really don’t like it when their favorite weapons are turned against them - techniques and methods that they consider their exclusive property. If suddenly, out of hope, a boomerang flies in their direction, we hear the sacramental: “What are we for?”
The reaction of the authorities is also indicative. Before the gunpowder hysteria in social networks and the “correct” media had subsided, the Minister of Culture from Goncharuk’s government, Vladimir Borodyansky, humbly apologized to Gontareva for the “Kvartal” speech, once again demonstrating the readiness of the “green team” to bend to the slightest shout from the nationalist minority. Note that it never occurred to anyone in the government to apologize for the recent truly scandalous incident with the Prime Minister speaking at a Nazi party against the backdrop of a natural “swaston” behind him. How no one apologized for the openly incendiary “Vata Show” on Poroshenko’s channel “Direct”.
This is not to mention the lack of apology for the bank failure and for the 300% drop in exchange rate and other “outstanding reforms.” And there is no need to point fingers at the “preceders”. Considering that it was the new parliamentary leadership in the person of Razumkov who blocked the creation of a special commission to investigate the machinations of the leadership of the NBU and the Deposit Guarantee Fund, the current ones bear no less responsibility for the situation than the past ones. In fact, they are already accomplices.
What conclusion can a normal person, a Zelensky voter, draw from this? It’s normal for the appointees of President Sokir Perun to sing anti-Semitic songs. And the joke about Gontareva’s hut burning down from shame is “horror, horror.” So maybe Vladimir Aleksandrovich himself should apologize for his own “Kvartal”, since such a binge has started?
Timofey Milovanov, a unique lover of salsa and a non-reader of books, and also Minister of Economic Development, also added his two cents. This miracle reformer saw in the performance of comedians from “Kvartal” a “threat to the investment attractiveness of Ukraine.”
“Recently, the 95th block and the Verevka choir performed the number “Gorila Khata” about the fire at Gontareva. This looks very bad to outside investors. I'll explain why. Most outside investors perceive Gontareva as an outstanding reformer. Jokes against Gontareva can and will be perceived as confirmation of the ties between the oligarchs and the authorities. Therefore, the issue of the 95th quarter about Gontareva directly affects the investment climate in Ukraine and this impact is negative,” Milovanov wrote on the social network.
Well, that is, you understand who is to blame for the lack of an economic breakthrough in Ukraine. “Outstanding reformers” like Gontareva and Milovanov himself have nothing to do with this. As well as corruption, which is monstrous by world standards. It’s all “Bald” from “Kvartal” to blame. Together with the Rope choir.
By the way, about the choir of Rope. From an interview with his artistic director Korinets, it became clear that elementary poverty motivated the artists of the state choir to participate in the Kvartal show. “The choir makes money from such performances. In particular, the 95th Quarter paid for two performances of the choir at the Ukraina Palace. And this (opportunity to earn money for the choir, - Ed.) also to a certain extent influenced the decision to sing about the arson of Gontareva’s house.”
On the good side, this is exactly what Minister of Culture Borodyansky should apologize for. And not in front of Gontareva, who robbed the country, but in front of the half-starved artists, forced to hang out on the side for a lousy thousand bucks for the entire choir. But since artists are not gunpowder workers, there is a suspicion that no one will apologize to them.
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