THE THIRD GAS REVOLUTION: WHO WILL GAIN THE MYTHS AND WILL UkRAINE FIND A WAY FROM HIGHER CUSTOMS REALITIES OF CUSTOMS TO BENEFIT FROM IT? DUTIES? UNION MEMBERSHIP № 6 (48) MARCH 2013 ELECTION-FREE ERA KYIV AS A TESTING GROUND FOR 2015 WWW.UKRAINIANWEEK.COM Featuring selected content from The Economist FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION |CONTENTS BRIEFING FOCUS POLITICS Keep Your Head Down! The Henchman: First Impressions: Despite overall While the opposition The turmoil with Kyiv mayoral and city council positive responses from international continues to announce elections may be a test of voters’ and the experts, the new Criminal Procedure radical initiatives, the opposition’s reaction to a future without a Code contains many pitfalls in terms of regime is strengthening presidential or parliamentary election practical implementation in the domestic its positions judiciary system 4 6 9 NEIGHBOURS Georgia’s ex-Deputy Minister of Tactics Without a Strategy: Russia is Arming Itself, Justice Eric Svanidze shares his What lies beneath but Against Whom? The opinion on the new Criminal Svoboda’s slogans – a reasons and prospects Procedure Code closer look at the interview of its large-scale with its leader rearmament campaign 12 14 18 SECURITY ECONOMICS Strategic Incompatibility: Import Duty as Geopolitics: Eonia 6 64,835 16 66,565 Defence spending in Ukraine 19 72,530 5 5 7,800 Unable to choose between Who will benefit from the Slovakia and NATO members, USD Hungary Latvia Spending per Armed Forces, , serviceman, in thousands USD, 2011 2011 23 106435 lic 100 89,080 64,000 The Czech Repub 1000 oland NATO or Russia, the higher car import tax P R USSIA ate UAH exchange r 192 331,080 Average annual Aual spending. * Great Britain Ukraine * 144 11,985 government seems to be 29 26,140 227 235,440 Bulgaria France 1427 512880 Italy 192 157,415 Turkey omania omania T h e U S A 7 1 10,115 R 12 495 29,255 destroying its own Armed e Spain Greec 124 51,815 36,065 205 234,830 66 Germany Forces instead 22 24 The Mythical Benefits Philippe de Lara The Third Gas of the Customs on Kyiv’s tightrope Revolution: The Union and the major walking between the world on the eve economic problems it two opposite unions of a methane causes for its members hydrate era 26 29 30 Shell’s Vice President on Ukraine Russia’s Wounded Giant: Graham Tiley talks about the British The world’s biggest gas giant’s Ukrainian partners and producer is ailing. It should environmental controversies in be broken up unconventional gas production 34 36 SOCIETY HISTORY Knowledge is Power – and Cash: How The Light to Education: university rectors are turning their offices The progress of education from into lucrative lifelong sinecures secular to universal and accessible to the public at large 39 42 CULTURE & ARTS NAVIGATOR A New Music Generation: 10 Carpathian Water Top 6 English-language Attractions: The Ukrainian bands in Ukraine Week dives into the watery wonders of the mountains 46 48 Natalia Romanec, Shaun Williams, Editors; Anna Korbut, Translator Mailing address: PO Box 2, Kyiv, 03067 The Ukrainian Week № 6 (48) March 2013 Publisher address: vul. Mashynobudivna 37, Kyiv 03067 Ukraine Founder: ECEM Media Ukraine LLC Publisher: The Ukrainian Week LLC E-mail: [email protected], Tel.: (044) 351-1300 First published in January 2010 www.ukrainianweek.com State registration certificate Print: The Novy Druk, LLC, 1 Mahnitohorska Str. Series KB No18352-7152ПР of October 24, 2011 Ordering number: 13-5852. Print run: 15,000 Bohdan Andriytsev, Director, ECEM Media Ukraine LLC Sent to print on 29 March 2013 Serhiy Lytvynenko, Editor-in-Chief, The Ukrainian Week Free distribution № 6 (48) MARCH 2013|THE UKRAINIAN WEEK|3 BRIEFING| 14 -27 March The opposition launches The European Com- The Verkhovna the Rise Ukraine! cam- mission discloses a Rada ratifies paign. Rallies take place report on Ukraine that the simplified in Vinnytsia, Uzhhorod includes criticism of the visa regime and Lviv (see more on Yanukovych regime agreement with p. 14) the EU latter continued its equally per- Keep Your Head Down! suasive advance towards authori- tarianism. Chairman of the Proce- dure Committee, Volodymyr Makeyenko, notorious after push- While the opposition continues to announce its ing to strip Serhiy Vlasenko of his latest radical initiatives, the Yanukovych regime is MP mandate, registered a draft resolution to increase the PR’s strengthening its positions presence in several key VR com- mittees by squeezing out opposi- he opposition is continuing Author: full control of the government to a tion representatives. The commit- to raise its level of resistance. Oles Family premier, after Yanukovych tees include those for European In addition to the Rise Oleksiyenko & Co failed to have the parliament integration, tax and customs pol- TUkraine! campaign, it de- vote for him. The opposition is icy, legislation on law enforce- manded the parliament to start possibly counting on support ment, the VR procedures, envi- considering the opposition-spon- from Arbuzov’s potential support- ronmental and health. Unless the sored draft law on the impeach- ers and the Communists to collect opposition offers due resistance, ment of the President. Meanwhile, the 50 votes it still needs for par- the PR may take over more VR Arseniy Arseniuk announced the liament to declare its no-confi- committees. collection of 174 signatures from dence in Mykola Azarov. In addition, last week it be- the opposition for the no-confi- For the opposition, even such came clear that the Kyiv mayoral dence vote against Mykola Az- a scenario will be convenient, and city council election will arov’s government and called on since it would aggravate conflict probably be postponed until 2015. the Communists to support it. The within the power conglomerate Signs emerge of deliberate delay latter, judging by their leader's and political instability in in the allocation of re-elections in words, do not appear to have any- the five districts, where the CEC thing against this. Of course, ef- was unable to determine a result. forts to promote the draft law on THE REGIME IS GROWING As a result, they may be post- impeachment could lead to an- MORE INSOLENT IN ITS DESIRE poned until the party in power is other blocking of parliament, in sure that its candidates will win. view of the fact that the Party of TO USURP POWER AND At the same time, opposition can- Regions (PR) is reluctant to con- BANISH ANY CRITICISM didates have faced increased pres- sider it now. In the meantime, the sure in the districts where the PR PR has already taken very conve- lost the 2012 parliamentary elec- nient positions through the Ukraine. However, this is only tion. Arkadiy Kornatskiy, who ran speaker, Volodymyr Rybak, who helpful if the opposition is ready Mykolayiv Oblast, and Viktor Ro- stated that top priority issues to be to use this situation in its interests maniuk, who won against Tetiana addressed during the coming ses- which is doubtful. In addition, the Zasukha with a difference of sions of the Verkhovna Rada, implementation of this scenario 10,000 votes in District No. 94 of should be draft laws that are a could mean that one group or an- Kyiv Oblast, but was later stripped mandatory part of preparations other within the pro-government of his win by the decision of the for the signing of the Association majority is confident of strength- local court, are in hiding abroad. Agreement with the EU. ening its positions, should the ex- On March 22, Romaniuk was ar- The initiative on the no-confi- isting parliament stop working or rested in Milan on the basis of dence motion against Azarov can is dissolved, and has an algorithm Ukraine’s application to put him be seen in the context of prepara- for achieving its goal. on Interpol’s wanted list. On tions of his replacement by Serhiy While the opposition was try- March 26, the Shevchenkivsky Arbuzov. Such a scenario is possi- ing to look persuasively decisive District Court of Kyiv approved a bly the easiest one for transferring in its battle with the regime, the decision on his detention as a pre- The month in history 9 March 1814 19 March 1930 20 March 1917 Taras Shevchenko, one of Lina Kostenko, an outstanding Historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky is Ukraine’s greatest poets, contemporary poet and writer, elected President of the Tsen- is born and representative of the Six- tralna Rada, the revolutionary ties generation, is born parliament in Ukraine 4|THE UKRAINIAN WEEK|№ 6 (48) MARCH 2013 |BRIEFING A snow storm and the inactivity Boris The Ukrainian football The Georgian of Kyiv authorities leave the capi- Berezovsky team wins in matches parliament votes tal paralyzed. Volunteers with dies against Poland and to restrict the presi- off-road cars and pull thousands Moldova and improves dent’s powers of cars, including ambulances, out its chances of getting to of snowdrifts the 2014 World Cup ventive measure, to speed up ex- Yanukovych’s hometown, Yenaki- tradition to Ukraine. evo – UAH 100mn (while Odesa Most importantly, the govern- Oblast only got UAH 19mn, Kher- ment’s games around Kyiv may- son Oblast – UAH 18mn, Poltava oral and city council election and Oblast – UAH 13mn, Cherkasy the re-election in the problem dis- Oblast – UAH 10mn and Cher- tricts could signal that the govern- nivtsi Oblast – UAH 7mn). A fur- ment is testing the reaction of the ther UAH 90mn was allocated opposition and society and pre- among the districts of the MPs paring a scenario of postponing who approved this decision. the parliamentary election if the Such behaviour of the regime parliament is dissolved and the demonstrates the growing inso- party in power is uncertain about lence in its desire to usurp power its ability to win a majority in the and make any criticism impossi- early parliamentary election.