An orange carrot called Euro-2012

Before the early winter of 2004 Ukraine was nothing but a grey smudge somewhere on the periphery of a contemporary Europe. It was a country with a developing democracy and with its fair share of problems as it tried to shake off the legacy of the Former Soviet Union, but when the Orange (R)evolution took place, the world started to take notice. As a result of the bloodless revolution, a revolution of smiling cooperative Ukrainians, wanting to build a better nation, one based on democratic principles, Ukraine was offered a carrot. That carrot was the Euro-2012 Football Championships which it is to co-host with its Western neighbor Poland; a country that through a great deal of shock therapy reformed itself from being a key member of the Warsaw Pact into a functioning democracy.

However, Ukraine somehow, to this day, even twenty years of independence has not gone through the reforms necessary in order to become a truly functioning democracy. The unlawful trial, unethical detainment and the flimsily grounded, yet brutally enforced verdict on former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, announced by a clearly in-the-pocket judge, is just one such incident - prominent because of Tymoshenko’s high international profile, yet very indicative of the unmistakable ruthlessness of the current regime.

“In Tymoshenko’s trial, however, many elements of Stalin’s grotesque legal charades are present: a near-hysterical prosecutor, a compliant judge, a ruler who washed his hands of the affair like Pontius Pilate.” wrote Nikita Khrushchev’s great granddaughter, Nina Khrushcheva in the The Daily Beast on October 10 a day before the verdict was announced.

Yanukovych’s master of spin Hanna Herman had at some point stated that the president was “not aware of the charges brought against Tymoshenko” and annoyed by this, but how will his annoyance play out? Particularly if one takes the time to ask oneself: If despite all the heavy international condemnation of this trial, and despite all the looming political and economic consequences, for a regime that appears so busy trying to build some sort of legitimate image abroad, the verdict was still followed through on, in full force, without even blinking, then one can only speculate about the level of ruthlessness which this government goes about with its daily business when the rest of the world is not watching, and Ukraine is not under the microscope?

Earlier, if the modus operandi by those who came to power was divide and conquer, now it is clearly seek and destroy, using any possible means. It appears that at times principles of revenge are placed higher than any political or even economic rational. Although, there is very well grounded political and economic rational behind eliminating from politics the regime’s Number 1 opponent.

So who will the regime’s next opponent be? Maybe when the consequences of this show trail are felt by Ukraine’s politicos, they will with the restrained brutality of Stalin, put an end to the political careers of the prosecutor and judge in the case as suggested by Nina Khrushcheva? After all they were nothing but useful-idiots employed by the regime to eliminate the opposition, they too are expendable.

But will there be consequences? Yanukovych’s advisors are certain that Ukraine’s strategic importance is too big for Europe to simply switch to hard measures of boycotts, travel bans, account freezes, etc. The officials in Kyiv think that they can manage to balance their instances of unconcealable lawlessness, corruption and brutality, with their efforts to appear democratic and progressive by appeasing the West with select deals and partnerships. Getting ready for Euro 2012 in the most pompous way possible, is one of these efforts.

Yet the common everyday good people of Ukraine have nothing to do with the Euro-2012 Football Championship. Most eek their way through life based on principles that are so far away from the current occupiers of government seats. In speaking to a friend yesterday, his mother’s pension was recently reduced again, and that considering that the average pension in Ukraine is somewhere around 100 dollars a month, in a country where prices for everyday necessities are topping those in the West. In short, any standard of life is unthinkable, and it is a continuously spiraling downward.

Meanwhile Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov is touting the economic viability of the country and how all the stadiums and infrastructure for Euro-2012 as such an economic accomplishment. An economic accomplishment that was presented to the people of Ukraine as one that would be financed by foreign investors. Now who can tell me how much direct foreign investment has come into Ukraine because of the wonderful and honorable game of football? Probably not a single nickel! The roads, airports and many other things were all things that should have been taking place regardless of whether Ukraine was hosting Euro-2012, they were things that had to be done and now those in power are doing them in such a way that they can ingratiate themselves to the tune of at least 30% of each project’s value.

For example, let’s take a look at the reconstruction of the Olympic stadium in the nation’s capital. By the best estimates of any professional in the industry, the project should have cost at the very most 300 million dollars, but when you hear that it cost close to 550 million dollars, one has to start seriously wondering. So where did 250 million dollars vanish to? These are monies that could have gone toward pensions, improving the state of health care or education?

The boycotting of the Euro-2012 should be just one of many different repercussions of the grotesqueness of the current state of affairs in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is calling on the Government of Canada to “send a clear message to President Yanukovych,” however; the Government of Canada better brush up on its lexicon before sending that message, or it, like the many other messages that were intended to be shots fired across the bow will have no effect. Warnings are not enough for these types, as I tried to make clear earlier, they don’t understand diplo-speak. Those shots should not be going over the bow, but actually hitting it, because unless all members of the regime of Yanukovych feel the economic and political consequences on their own skin, Ukraine will continue to slip further away from democracy.

The powers that be in Ukraine think they are entitled to hosting the Euro-2012 championships. They are not entitled; Ukraine was given a carrot for a job that was ongoing in terms of developing a democracy. Under the current regime that democracy has been floundering in many different areas. The common every day people of Ukraine will only be empowered by a complete and ultimate boycott of the Potemkin Euro-2012 village that those in charge are trying to take away from the people that enabled the carrot in the first place.


Vasyl Pawlowsky Independent Consultant
This commentary was first published on the Ukraine Business Online site.

Special Ops? Who is she trying to kid?

When something goes wrong it seems that most Ukrainian public officials always try to find someone else to blame, and this in most cases, is due to one or two factors: The first being their pompousness and the second being their incredibly low level of professionalism, and I mean professionalism in all of aspects, one of which is moral.

When Ukraine's Presidential Administration was contacted regarding the issue of plagiarism in the incumbent “President's” book Opportunity Ukraine by many Ukrainian journalists trying to get to the bottom of the matter, it seemed like its spokes people would be mum on the issue. However, it didn't take long for Hanna Herman to break her silence, though not by offering an explanation, but by launching an assault on the journalists of Ukrainska Pravda who broke the story of about Ukraine's latest plagiarist and absurdist.

Not only did she launch an attract against journalists of Ukrainska Pravda, there were other media, agencies which, most likely due to pressure from the current regime, committed some of the big Public Relations gaffes in the light of this poorly thought out communications project.

The first of these was pointed out by one of the UP journalists who broke the story of plagiarism within Opportunity Ukraine when he brought it to his readers' attention that the TCH the news program of the 1+1 TV station had deleted a report on the plagiarism of the president and his highly paid professionals. According to Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases notes in his article “You Can’t Just Delete Online PR Gaffes” one should never delete PR Gaffes.

Secondly, don’t deny it. “Just apologize quickly and move on,” states Kennedy. So what does our legend in her own mind and the mind of those she works for do, she denies it, and goes one step further, she takes a stab at the Fourth Estate in society. Unlike Bohateryova who seemed to not “stress too much. [because] these types of stories tend to have very short self lives,” based not only of the advice of Kennedy but any PR professional. Bohateryova, or her speech writers, clearly lifted the words of Steve Jobs for her own purpose and remained as silent as a single butterfly in the night sky.

Herman, in her attack on one of the journalists, stated on her blog, “The absurdity of accusing someone for every paragraph in a so called “investigation” presented on UP … I have come to the conclusion...that this is a strike against me.” Yes, Ms. Herman apparently it is a strike against you and your lack of morality and respect for intellectual property, not to mention that it is impossible that the incumbent President is capable on his own of drafting anything close to what was lifted from the works of others. As some journalists have already stated, when he shows up with a package of papers in his own hand writing as the manuscript for the book, then maybe the civilized world will understand.

But what really took the cake in Ms. “Double-Speak” Herman, was the following phrase. “I am convinced, that for this special operation, serious strength was put behind it” and further states that a fair amount of monies were spent for such “disinformation” Ms. Herman, who are you trying to fool? Your financiers? It is clear in my eyes that you have become a pig at the trough of those with a lot of money, and you don't want to stop your feeding frenzy. Everything is very simple, not citing sources in any publication and passing it off as your own is a punishable offense in any civilized country.

Oh, I must apologize, not to you or the regime, but to those who respect the Rule of Law. You and all the other sold out cronies, can do anything you wish. The special operation that you speak of could only have been carried out by you personally, maybe you wanted to discredit the incumbent president and find favor with someone who would pay you more. We all know that THEY have no problem of bumping off their own when the time is right.