Triple “P” of the Crimean government’s hundred days: populism, patriotism and passportism
Simferopol, June 06 (Navigator, Astra Yazyka) – The Crimean government under the leadership of Sergei Aksenov today sums up the results of the first “hundred days”. Appointed as part of Ukraine, the Council of Ministers, with virtually no personnel changes, transferred to the Russian Federation and received broad powers as the highest executive body of the republic.
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A press conference by the prime minister, who has recently been acting head of the republic, is not expected on this matter. Only a short interview with ITAR-TASS gives an idea of Aksenov’s assessment of the work of his ministerial pool.
“It was easier during the war. Everything was clear there while there was a transition period, who is the enemy, who is the friend, but now everything has turned into a process where management decisions need to be made, while the formation of the team is just underway,” says the acting director. head of the republic.
He admits that management decisions bring inconvenience to Crimean residents, but the dynamics of work allow us to count on the sooner establishment of the socio-economic life of the republic, and Crimea will live “not between heaven and earth, but according to the legislation of our country.”
In fact, the problem areas for the normal functioning of the republic remain the same as at the very beginning of the government’s work - the banking sector, transport accessibility, energy independence and water supply.
Back in March, First Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea Rustam Temirgaliev assured that there were no difficulties in providing the republic with water, electricity and gas, as well as in the work of the banking sector and the transport sector. The North Crimean Canal cannot be blocked at the border of the peninsula, the Deputy Prime Minister assured. Thanks to solar power plants, own generation reaches 50%, the deficit is covered by mobile diesel stations imported from the Russian coast, and Krymenergo has no reason to turn it off - payment is made in full. As for gas, Chernomorneftegaz completely covers the needs of Crimea. There are agreements with the National Bank of Ukraine on the operation of the bi-currency system, which will ensure the circulation of the hryvnia until the end of 2015. The transport sector is stable and is complemented by an increase in flights of the Kerch-Caucasus ferry crossing.
Of all the positions, Temirgaliyev was not mistaken in only one thing - Crimea is provided with gas from its own production. However, fuel extracted on the sea shelf used to go to consumers, it’s just that now all sorts of gasket enterprises have disappeared from the chain, adding their percentage to the cost of gas. There has been a bit of confusion regarding the electricity generated by ourselves - it turns out that solar power plants have stopped operating since April. The Activ Solar company, part of the business empire of Andrei Klyuev, stopped receiving budget compensation for the “green tariff”, and the Crimean authorities refused to pay 5 UAH per kW/h in order to maintain world leadership in generating electricity from sunlight. It also failed to reach an agreement with Rinat Akhmetov on the Russian re-registration of Krymenrego in the republic - the company changed its registration to Kyiv and does not want to open ruble accounts to pay for services. With the closure of the North Crimean Canal, all government assurances completely turned into pure populism: either the authorities did not know that the valves could be closed and the water could be released through the locks into the Black Sea, or they relied on the strength of oral agreements, since there are still no written ones . The banking sector, which, according to Temirgaliev, is the most sensitive, has completely failed. Plans to replace the most extensive network of Privatbank with the republican Bank of Crimea somehow did not fit in with the public position of Igor Kolomoisky, who, from the throne of the governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region, wanted to ignore obligations to the Crimeans. Russian financial institutions are still in no hurry to move to Crimea, fearing sanctions on their European assets. The transport accessibility of the peninsula has gone completely wrong - air traffic cannot cover the entire need for the delivery of passengers and cargo. Firstly, it is expensive, and no airline will fly at a loss, even despite partial subsidies. Secondly, international flights have not returned to Simferopol airport, although the issue with ICAO was promised to be resolved by the end of April. The route to Crimea by rail has become much longer due to border controls, and, alas, no safer. Passenger bus services are being reduced due to falling demand. Where demand increased, the republican authorities reacted belatedly - motor tourists who arrived for the May holidays languished for days waiting for the crossing of the Kerch Strait.
As a result, the Council of Ministers “on the fly” had to solve many problems, ranging from the water supply of Eastern Crimea to the payment of benefits and pensions through post offices, which have been cut as unnecessary over the past few years. Now new ones have been added to them - despite the reduction of VAT to 4%, and for the group of basic goods to 2%, prices for food products are rising. Ukrainian suppliers include transport risks in the goods, since trucks with goods spend 15 hours in line at the entrance to Crimea. Since June, all payments in the trading network have switched to the Russian ruble, which for suppliers means conducting foreign economic activity in a territory that remains internal to Ukraine. You can bypass the economic fork using the intermediary services of Russian envelopes, which again adds interest to the cost of products. Suppliers from Kuban are still of little interest in the Crimean market - Russian prices are not affordable for the Crimean consumer.
The resort industry, which has always saturated the economy of Crimea, albeit a shadow one, does not shine with effectiveness. The May figures of 130 thousand holidaymakers are not objective - the Ministry of Resorts also considers the arriving business travelers to be “business tourism”. At the end of May, the beaches, with their emptiness, pleased Crimeans more than ever, but did not please the owners of hotels and private households - their summer earnings were in great doubt. Considering the capricious plans of 8 million holidaymakers (a more modest 3,5 million is already being heard), these statements by the Council of Ministers cannot be called anything other than populism.
The only positive quantitative indicator of government activity remains the issuance of Russian passports. Data on the number of applications submitted and already received passports of citizens of the Russian Federation are announced as field reports. The pace is picking up every day - the election campaign is just around the corner, and headquarters, commissions, and other “workhorses” of the electoral process must be completely certified. Moreover, for the percentage of turnout that gives the right to speak on behalf of all Crimeans, it is necessary to bring FMS employees even to those villages where bread is delivered once a week. However, their turn will come only after the crowds at the passport offices of cities and regional centers disappear. There is no talk of organizing the issuance of international passports now; the workload on employees is too great.
But the biggest problem for the Crimean government remains the shortage of managerial personnel. As if on cue, all the ministers reoriented their rhetoric from “Crimea is the pearl of Ukraine” to “Crimea is a self-sufficient subject of the Russian Federation,” and instead of speeches of gratitude addressed to Yanukovych, President Putin is now showered with similar epithets. Their leaders rarely talk about the specific actions and results of their ministries, citing the difficulties of the transition period. However, the biggest challenge for them is the management function itself. Over the years in independent Ukraine, the Crimean ministries have become accustomed to the role of extras, and in all troubles they have become accustomed to pointing to Kyiv, which either does not give authority or money. Having received both, managers are in no hurry to take the initiative into their own hands, fearing responsibility. They are more willing to accept delegations from Moscow, travel to neighboring regions to gain experience, but use it little. By and large, during business trips and meetings with the new Moscow authorities, Crimean leaders are trying to resolve their interests and gain support and patronage. And all problematic issues are actually resolved manually. In addition, the emerging legislative initiative completely unsettled members of the government - ministries were not used to writing laws, especially Russian ones.
The result of the first “hundred-day” work of the Crimean government is one: other than the bloodless transition to the Russian Federation, the authorities have nothing special to be proud of. The popularity and ratings of the head of the republic contrast with the performance of his subordinates like Everest and the Mariana Trench. And this is confirmed by the dissatisfaction expressed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin at a recent meeting in Crimea on the work of defense industry enterprises.
“Crimea is ours, the enterprises of the peninsula are ours, but it is still impossible to organize work on them, since there are no necessary documents that were discussed a long time ago, back in early April! – Rogozin was indignant. “These are difficult times, why is everyone walking around so relaxed?”
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