Invitation to an “electric chair”

Yesterday the power has filled to the full the information vacuum. In the morning the dismissal decrees, followed by the decrees on appointing the high-ranking officials, started to appear on the president’s website. The proposed government rotation has again proved that the experts’ forecasts were accurate only partially (Borys Kolesnikov, Serhii Tihipko and Andrii Kliuiev have not entered the Cabinet) – only the president knows what surname will appear in one or another decree. This lack of transparency, polishing of the notorious vertical of power is a great drawback of the way the current government is organized. So, what are the appointments?

Read bellow the details of the analysis of the new government by The Day’s experts.

COMMENTARIES

Andrii MOKHNIK, Ukrainian MP, party Freedom:

“Taking into account the fact that the Tax Administration and Customs Service have been merged into a single Ministry of Revenues and Taxes, this government will be robbing Ukrainians. Since the abovementioned bodies were fulfilling different duties, greater efforts will be taken to strengthen this new ministry.

“The situation in the Cabinet of Ministers proves that the ‘Family’ has acquired stronger positions. Proof of that is appointment of Arbuzov the First Vice Prime Minister, Klymenko – Minister of Revenues and Taxes, whereas the Minister of Interior Zakharchenko and Minister of Finance Kolobov have retained their positions. We can also see the presence of representatives of Akhmetov’s and Firtash’s groups. Correspondingly, Vilkul and Boiko are vice prime ministers. It is a shame that Moscow’s quota has been preserved, and Tabachnyk was made the minister of education again. He will continue to implement the anti-Ukrainian policy, sabotaging of Ukrainian national education, which is extremely inadmissible.

“As we can see, Kolesnikov has been substituted by Vilkul. The way Euro-2012 was held and prepared proves that Kolesnikov is a problem even for Yanukovych. Besides, the public factor of equipping Ukraine’s railway with Hyundai trains was disadvantaging for him.

“Speaking about the new faces, we can mention the minister of social policy Korolevska. It appears that this office goes to every multibillionaire who puts tens or even hundred millions dollars into his/her election campaign, no matter what the election results are. In this respect we can mention Tihipko, who came third in the 2010 presidential race and was appointed the minister of social policy. Now we have Korolevska. All this is mockery at Ukrainians. What can a person who does not count her money understand about social security? Now it becomes clear that she was a project of oligarchs.

“As for Kozhara, his mission aimed at discrediting Svoboda in Great Britain, for example, has failed. I think appointing him the minister of foreign affairs won’t be a success either. Apparently, by this change Yanukovych is trying to show a kind of alteration in the country’s vector of foreign policy, but the personality of the minister of foreign affairs won’t be influential, as Ukraine’s foreign policy vector much depends on solving the problems in home policy, in particular, selective justice, political prisoners, etc.

“It is highly unlikely that this government will bring any good to Ukraine. I think the new Cabinet of Ministers will be a transitional one. Prime Minister Azarov will remain in his office till the first serious test this government faces. It will be connected with the fact that Ukraine’s socioeconomic situation is going to an abyss. People’s demonstrations, protest actions will be a catalyst for the change of government.”

Volodymyr LANOVY, president of Center for Market Reforms, former vice prime minister and former minister of economy:

 “Young professionals without experience will be in charge of the economic bloc in the new government. Of all, only Yurii Kolobov has experience in working with state finance. That is why, these are quite unexpected appointments. It is highly unlikely that people, who haven’t been involved in the economy on large scale or in individual companies, associations, or industries, will cope with systemic problems that our economy is undergoing at the moment. I don’t see program or, as it is popular to say now, creative approach from the president, which would specifically deal with problems of structural, financial, and economic character that have accumulated in our country.

 “Besides, the fate of the National Bank was also in question today. I don’t think that today it is so easy to substitute Serhii Arbuzov with someone else. His appointment as Vice Prime Minister looks more like a rescue from complete failure. In 2013 we should really expect big problems with exchange rates and payments.

 “Another interesting fact is that the Tax Office was raised in status to the Ministry of Finance. This suggests that the Prime Minister himself will oversee the tax inspection, unlike it was in the old structure where Ministry of Finance performed this function. Mykola Azarov wants to control all the money in the country.

 “They say that the key task of this government of young professionals will be to rescue the 2013 budget by all means. But I wouldn’t make such conclusions. They will not pull out anything, ‘manual’ management will not do any good. It is not possible to solve the problem of state finance by only changing people at the key positions.”