Ukraine's Image

[makcum]

A recent two year study of Ukraine's image conducted world wide by two companies, MIP and Troon Fields produced 5 large volumes of data. It shows that Ukraine is seen in the eyes of policy makers around the world as a state run by the mafia: a corrupt, unreliable and rather distasteful place. Most respondents associate Ukraine with the killing of Gongadze and the long string of scandals and corruption which have plagued the country for the past 7 years.

The only pleasant associations they saw in Ukraine were "culture" and sports. The company which commissioned the study, Ukraine Cognita," when releasing the study, announced that it had applied to the Ukrainian government for a grant of 20 million Hryvnia's to bolster the image of the country.

It plans to do this by first inviting a group of 20 or so journalists to tour parts of the country and show them the finer side of Ukrainian reality. This might indeed be a painless way of improving the image in the short term, but in the greater picture it would be a terrible waste of money. In order to improve Ukraine's image in a meaningful way, much more needs to be done then merely wining and dining 20 journalists so that they in turn would write nice articles about Ukraine.

A few suggestions which might save Ukrainian taxpayers 20 million hryvnia's and dramatically improve Ukraine's image can be as follows:

1. President Leonid Kuchma should resign his position as President of Ukraine immediately and new elections be held within a period set by parliament. He is the person most responsible for Ukraine's terrible image and there is no way that a Ukrainian state led by Kuchma will ever improve its image in the world.

2. The real killers of Gongadze must be arrested and tried in a court of law. Those among them who presently hold parliamentary immunity must of deprived of this shield. Their names are not a state secret and every reasonable person who has followed developments in the case knows their names, as does Mr. Piskun, the new Prosecutor General. For some strange reason however, he pretends that he knows nothings and insists that elected members of parliament and journalists also refrain from learning the truth √ under penalty of prosecution. Mr. Piskun promised to bring the killers of Gongadze to trial in 6 months, by January 2003. Will he keep his promise to a parliament which confirmed him, or will he continue to push Ukraine's image into the gutter as his predecessor Poteben'ko did?

3. Those responsible for illegal arms sales to criminal regimes and those who stole millions, including those now hiding in parliament, must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This includes such people as Alexander Volkov for his alleged money laundering and other illegal acts; Andriy Derkach for his alleged involvement in illegal arms sales and financial crimes, Ihor Bakaj for alleged fraud and depriving the state treasury of millions of dollars by his activity as head of Naftogaz Ukraina. Mykola Azarov must be brought to trial for abusing his official position by activities which were highly illegal. Mykola Poteben'ko should be tried for obstructing justice and possibly receiving bribes. Vadym Rabinovich should be made to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the illegal arms trade. Yuriy Lytvyn should be made to answer charges of being an accomplice to a number of high crimes. Oleksander Tkachenko should be made to stand trial for alleged fraud. Gregoriy Surkis should be investigated for possible involvement in the murder of Jefferey Ostrovsky in New York. This is the short list. The long list is too long to elaborate upon. Once they are indicted and placed on trial you can count upon Ukraine's' image to dramatically improve.

4. The Ukrainian military must be brought under civilian control before it is too late. Their record of incompetent criminal behavior followed by cover-ups reached its limits by the downing of the Russian airplane over the Black Sea and the tragedy at the Lviv Air Show disaster. It seems that the military leadership of the country cannot be trusted to command when left to it's own cadres. If anything, they are a major factor for Ukraine's terrible image of a state out of control.

5. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be investigated for possible criminal activities, including bribe taking for assigning positions abroad, illegal commercial activities, incompetence of some of its staff and mismanagement.

6. The SBU should be deprived of a role in domestic police work. It cannot be a tool of the President to gather compromising information about his political opponents. The numerous illegal operations mounted by Mr. Leonid Derkach when he headed the SBU contributed greatly to the image of Ukraine becoming what it is today. This seems to have ceased under the new management, but it can emerge again.

7. Ukraine's borders should be made more visitor friendly. The long and complicated entry procedures, the needless redundant paperwork and the often hostile attitude of the border inspectors all contribute to a shocking "welcome to Ukraine" for first time visitors. Why is it that Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and other former socialist countries have managed to make their entry points friendly and welcoming, while the protectors of Ukrainian borders are still more geared to keeping Western spies out of the country then making visitors feel welcome? The Soviet era managers of Ukrainian borders should once and for all be told that the cold war has ended, that Ukraine wants to join NATO and that visitors from the West are not saboteurs and agents, but VIP's who do not want to pay the outrageous bribe charged by the "VIP Lounge" in order to be treated as people.

Ukraine, as they say, must "clean up its act" and then its image will improve very rapidly. There are many people in the West who want to see Ukraine succeed and join the European community of states. The image will not improve however, if the hard political and legal measures are avoided. It is no use trying to fool the World by pretending that the cause of Ukraine's poor image is the Western press which is "hostile to Ukraine." This is nonsense. You do not shoot the messenger of bad news.

[scruffykitkat]

Hi Makcum,
I was wondering if you would as kind enough to help me with a problem that I have been given from school (UK). I have been asked what affects Ukraine has on the International Community? After reading through your message I realise that you are well aware of many issues. Something that I am not totally up to speed with, however need to be in about 2 weeks time. Thank you for taking the time to consider helping me
Kate

[johncullen]

all you need now is another three to four
comments from that number of individuals and you have the
makings of your essay.
see zhuk's comments to tracey your fellow classmate along
with johnstruthers. That with macum's report, and the latest
economic reports from britannica on ukraine. use this as your backdrop and the hopes or aspirations of the interviewees will make plenty of sense. plagiarise nothing.
understand what is written and said and rewrite it all in
your own words, except when you are quoting someone. you can
back up what you are saying with direct quotes.
check your your local library for books on ukraine

[Freedom1]

Certainly, laws are the glue that hold contemporary, civil, and free societies together. Laws and the general acceptance of them. Good stuff, Maxim.

[Edited by Freedom1 on 5th June 2003 at 05:16]

[Volodya987]

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[Volodya987]

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