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2<br />
No.48 SEPTEMBER 27, 2018<br />
DAY AFTER DAY<br />
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
By Ivan KAPSAMUN, The Day<br />
Weheard no “new and surprising<br />
things” presidential faction<br />
representatives had announced<br />
in Petro Poroshenko’s address to<br />
the Verkhovna Rada. As always,<br />
we can appreciate the good work of<br />
speechwriters, but, judging by the speech,<br />
there will hardly be any radical changes in the<br />
approaches to the head of state’s policies. The<br />
only difference is that the address was shorter<br />
and generally comprised the main directions of<br />
Poroshenko’s upcoming election campaign.<br />
Incidentally, he did not announce, contrary to<br />
some expectations, the intention to run for the<br />
presidency again. In all probability, he will<br />
choose a different, more favorable, moment to<br />
do so.<br />
Here are some of the president’s chief messages:<br />
“I request you to support amendments to<br />
the Fundamental Law on irreversibility of the<br />
course towards Ukraine’s membership in the<br />
EU and NATO.<br />
“It is proposed that the clause that allows<br />
the Black Sea to base in Ukraine be deleted from<br />
the Constitution.<br />
“Ukraine has issued 10 million biometric<br />
passports.<br />
“I have brought into force the National Security<br />
and Defense Council’s decision not to extend<br />
the treaty on the so-called friendship<br />
with Russia.<br />
“Ukraine has closed its representation at<br />
the constituent bodies of the so-called Commonwealth.<br />
“The Ecumenical Patriarch’s envoys have<br />
arrived in Kyiv to prepare a decision to grant<br />
autocephaly to the Ukrainian Local Orthodox<br />
Church.<br />
“The National Television and Radio Council<br />
has published a report on Ukrainian-language<br />
quotas for radio stations.<br />
“I hope you will approve innovations to military<br />
regulations, which introduce the longawaited<br />
salute ‘Glory to Ukraine!’ – ‘Glory to<br />
Heroes!’ by October 14, Defender of Ukraine<br />
Day.<br />
“Each of these events confirms our break<br />
with the colonial past. Each of them is a step towards<br />
our full freedom from the empire.”<br />
Then the president in fact further explained<br />
and supplemented the abovementioned<br />
directions, repeating the slogans written on<br />
By Alla DUBROVYK-ROKHOVA, The Day<br />
The Ministry of Economic Development and<br />
Trade of Ukraine has presented, with<br />
support from the European Bank for<br />
Reconstruction and Development, Ukraine’s<br />
first export brand which will help<br />
market Ukrainian products worldwide.<br />
“Export brands strongly influence the country’s<br />
positive image. In other words, the stronger<br />
the brand of Ukraine is, the more successful<br />
Ukrainian export will be. It is a credit of trust in<br />
a commodity. At the same time, we are speaking<br />
of Ukraine as a reliable partner of other countries.<br />
The mission of an export brand is to project a<br />
strong image of Ukraine as a reliable partner in<br />
the world. It is a platform for building and<br />
strengthening the positions of Ukrainian exporters<br />
on the global market,” Stepan Kubiv, First<br />
Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for Economic<br />
Development and Trade of Ukraine, said.<br />
Project initiators promise that from now on<br />
every Ukrainian exporter can use the reputation<br />
of all the other Ukrainian exporters irrespective<br />
of the economic sector.<br />
In Kubiv’s words, the export brand of Ukraine<br />
will establish a stable visual link between various<br />
segments of the economy by applying the same<br />
style to the goods and services of different ranges<br />
and types.<br />
“For example, the success of Ukrainian IT will<br />
help other Ukrainian exporters, export commodities<br />
and services enter international markets<br />
and form class, quality, and innovativeness,” he<br />
pointed out.<br />
billboards throughout the country: “Army,<br />
language, and faith are not a slogan. It is a formula<br />
of contemporary Ukrainian identity. The<br />
army defends our land. The language defends<br />
our heart. The church defends our soul.”<br />
“Consider that you heard all the 70 minutes<br />
of Poroshenko’s speech – his address to<br />
himself, which he has failed to fulfill in the<br />
past four years,” MP Aliona Shkrum writes on<br />
her FB page. “It’s interesting to watch the atmosphere<br />
in the parliament hall. MPs do not<br />
listen much and chat with one another. The<br />
present government members think about<br />
something personal. The premier cannot hide<br />
outright boredom and sometimes laughter. I<br />
can understand him. For some reason, it is<br />
mostly women from the Petro Poroshenko<br />
Bloc who listen attentively. They feel it awkward<br />
to use cell phones and take a nap, as men<br />
do. Poroshenko repeats 20 times his mantra<br />
about the army, the faith, and the language.<br />
He reads off the teleprompter: ‘We failed, unfortunately,<br />
to end the war… We failed to… –<br />
‘Sell Roshen,’ some MPs behind me prompt.<br />
People smile. ‘Don’t smuggle capital out! Invest<br />
in the country!’ This causes a burst of<br />
laughter.”<br />
The Ministry of Economic<br />
Development and Trade<br />
presents Ukraine’s first<br />
export brand<br />
Photo by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day<br />
Where are the promised surprises?<br />
Trade with Ukraine<br />
Expert: “President<br />
Poroshenko’s address<br />
to parliament in fact voiced<br />
his main election messages”<br />
Poroshenko did not forget about the future<br />
elections either. “As a president, I guarantee<br />
the free, fair, and democratic elections<br />
of the head of state, a new parliament, and local<br />
government bodies,” he said. Meanwhile,<br />
the latest survey data show that Poroshenko’s<br />
rating is 9.9 percent among those who have<br />
made their choice and will vote and 7.1 percent<br />
among all of the polled people (third<br />
place). As before, Yulia Tymoshenko ranks<br />
first with 18 (13) percent, followed by Anatolii<br />
Hrytsenko with 10.4 (7.5) percent.<br />
Experts estimate that the main rivalry will<br />
be between Tymoshenko and Poroshenko, but<br />
it is not ruled out that other candidates may<br />
fray the leaders’ nerves. These are the abovementioned<br />
Hrytsenko, Yurii Boiko, and even<br />
Oleh Liashko, to say nothing about showman<br />
Kubiv also said the export brand would be first<br />
presented at the national stand of Ukraine at a<br />
large-scale China International Import Expo in<br />
Shanghai on November 5-10.<br />
The first vice-premier emphasized that the<br />
brand’s creation “did not cost the Ukrainian<br />
budget a single kopeck.”<br />
According to Stefan Schleuning, Team Leader<br />
on Financial Cooperation, Support Group for<br />
Ukraine at the European Commission, the total cost<br />
of financing the brand was about 50,000 euros.<br />
“The European Union allocated this money as<br />
part of the EU4Business initiative,” he said.<br />
Photo by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day<br />
Volodymyr Zelenskyi and singer Sviatoslav<br />
Vakarchuk if they choose to run in the race.<br />
Coming back to the president’s speech, we<br />
can note another particularity which still remains<br />
crucial. “How many nice words which run counter<br />
to reality and disguise the desire to defeat opponents<br />
and remain in power at any price!” MP<br />
Taras Batenko wrote in a social media.<br />
How do experts appraise the president’s Address<br />
to the Verkhovna Rada “On the Internal<br />
and External Situation in Ukraine in 2018?”<br />
● “TO SOME EXTENT, THE SUBJECT OF<br />
REFORMS AND THE ECONOMY HAS<br />
RECEDED TO THE BACKGROUND”<br />
Petro OLESHCHUK, political scientist:<br />
“This is a pre-election statement, rather<br />
than a presidential address. He in fact voiced<br />
his main election messages. We can see that<br />
emphasis will be put on patriotic rhetoric,<br />
face-off with Russia, and the religious question.<br />
I think all of these things will be reflected<br />
in the president’s election program<br />
and further statements. To some extent, the<br />
subject of reforms and the economy has receded<br />
to the background, but we heard some<br />
symbolic promises the fulfillment of which<br />
the president will not have to account for. For<br />
example, he called Russia Muscovy – this political<br />
position is of great symbolic importance<br />
and shows that the president is resisting<br />
the aggressor. He did not say whether he<br />
would be running for the presidency, maybe,<br />
because his team is so far afraid to make a<br />
false start. For if he announces his participation<br />
in the elections, his next steps will proceed<br />
from this only. But now he can maneuver<br />
and does not afford grounds to speak that<br />
he does not fulfill his presidential duties.<br />
“The step towards constitutional amendments,<br />
as far as European and Euro-Atlantic<br />
integration is concerned, is also a political positioning.<br />
But it should not be forgotten that<br />
these amendments are not a mandatory condition<br />
for joining NATO. Integration into this<br />
organization is impossible without the consent<br />
of the Alliance itself and the political will<br />
on the part of the Ukrainian leadership. Of<br />
course, the populace should take a positive attitude<br />
to this and certain standards are to be<br />
met. However, making certain changes to the<br />
Constitution will not guarantee a political will<br />
or inevitable admission because power constantly<br />
changes in Ukraine, as do the priorities.<br />
Accordingly, any decision can be revised.<br />
We can remember the way constitutional reform<br />
was canceled under Yanukovych. Figu-<br />
Ukrainian Cabinet<br />
adopts sanctions<br />
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine<br />
has adopted proposals concerning<br />
“special personal economic and other<br />
restrictive measures (sanctions)”<br />
against 35 Russian publishing<br />
companies in Ukraine that keep producing<br />
“anti-Ukrainian materials.” According to the<br />
Press Service of the State Television and<br />
Radio Committee, the draft resolution reads<br />
that such sanctions are to be submitted to the<br />
National Security and Defense Council<br />
(RNBO). Such sanctions will be imposed on<br />
Russian-language publishing companies found<br />
to have been producing anti-Ukrainian<br />
materials on a regular basis.<br />
Media reports say the State Television<br />
and Radio Committee has been closely watching<br />
for such anti-Ukrainian productions<br />
for the past three years and there is a list of<br />
such publishers, that their publications are<br />
aimed at destroying Ukrainian national independence,<br />
inciting interreligious and interethnic<br />
violence, as well as acts of terrorism<br />
– all this contrary to universally recognized<br />
human rights and freedoms. A report<br />
dated August 15, 2018, lists 167 publications<br />
put out by 35 Russian publishing companies.<br />
This Cabinet decision is emphatically aimed<br />
at ensuring Ukraine’s national interests, defense,<br />
sovereignty, territorial integrity,<br />
and an independent economy.