“Triumph” with a hint of irrelevance…
Notes on the first 100 days of Government report
Last week the Cabinet had publicly reported to Ukrainians for the first time. As the prime minister assured, it was only a first step to open government reports. “Every member of the Cabinet will give a detailed account and extensive answers to the questions that disturb our society the most,” said Yatseniuk.
Press conferences are going to be held during the next two weeks. At the moment ministers attended a three-hour meeting where each of them revealed what had been done by that time, and what is the current agenda of their ministry.
Arsen Avakov, Minister of the Interior, announced the renovation of the district policeman system and the reform of inter-district traffic police departments, and the establishment of new patrol police in Kyiv and three more cities this summer. Stepan Poltorak, Minister for Defense, plans to implement new quality standards for the army and improve the welfare of the military.
Aivaras Abromavicius, Minister of Economy, promised to reduce the ministry staff by 30 percent. Pavlo Klimkin, Minister for Foreign Affairs, assured that electronic visas would be implemented “soon.” Ministry of Ecology revealed the plans of creating the Polissia Biosphere Reserve in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. At the same time they are now evaluating the damage to the reserves in the ATO zone, according to their boss, Ihor Shevchenko. Pavlo Petrenko, Minister of Justice, informed that more than 400 of highest officials were fired in the course of lustration.
The most interesting report was of the finance ministry. They consider the “major achievement” in the IMF provision of 17.5 billion dollars to Ukraine. “Finally – and, perhaps, most importantly – the adoption of the state budget and amendments thereto has opened the path to the loan agreement with the IMF that amounts to 17.5 billion dollars, and to the support of other international partners bringing us more than 7.5 billion dollars,” said Natalie Jaresko.
The detailed written account is available on the Cabinet website.
However, what the officials did not say yesterday, is the price of such an agreement with the IMF. Indeed, according to the new laws, endorsed by the IMF, the government, instead of reforms, reduced the pensions and raised tariffs on gas and electricity. As The Day wrote earlier, Ukrainians are now paying for the preservation of oligarchic clan system in Ukraine, which had long ago replaced the state. It becomes increasingly clear that the government has only Russian aggression to thank for the fact they are still in incumbent – but certainly not the popular support.
