It took a long time to elect the new head of the Crimean government. After weeks of deliberations this post is now occupied by Anatoliy Matviyenko, a Komsomol Young Communist League functionary in 1987-1990, president of the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Sociological Studies in 1990-1996, chairman of the Vinnytsia Oblast Administration in 1996-1998, Sobor Party leader, Ukrainian parliamentarian, and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for State Building and Local Self-Governance. The new head of the Council of Ministers of the Crimean Autonomy faces many challenges, like stemming the flight of investments from the peninsula. He discusses this and other problems and priorities in the following interview with The Day.
“Mr. Matviyenko, your predecessor, Serhiy Kunitsyn, said at one time that he supports you as a politician, but you have two major weaknesses. First, you have yet to form a team of your own. Second, you are not familiar with the Crimea. How are you going about getting to know the Crimea and what has impressed or displeased you? How soon will you be able to say that you have a better knowledge of the Crimea?”
“The first thing that surprised me was what I saw here: the definition of the Crimea as a rebellious, turbulent, and unstable land is a myth created by politicians. Some have even found it expedient to pull a long face and pretend that they are working in a complex region. In reality, the Crimea is a normal Ukrainian region, but it has its problems and peculiarities. But these problems are not fatal and can be resolved successfully. The Crimea’s wealth lies in its ethnic diversity. The Russian community has the right to preserve its language and identity, and we should respect this, because the overwhelming majority of Russians understand that they must develop Ukraine. I was surprised by ethnic Ukrainians, who account for 24% of the Crimean population, but they are nowhere to be heard. Nobody assimilates as quickly as Ukrainians. They live with the consciousness of a minority without being one. I don’t blame those people. It’s just that this hurts me most of all today. At the same time, Ukrainians must realize that they are a stabilizing factor, the titular nation that is responsible more than others for the kind of country we live in.
“I propose a policy of Ukrainism, not Ukrainization, for the Crimea. We must create conditions whereby all ethnic groups will be able to visualize their future in a civilized country and set the goal of developing it in concert with one another. Otherwise this goal will be unattainable. This is, so to speak, a national idea for the Crimea, and there can be no other. And this very idea will help us all to succeed. I was most displeased by the fact that political forces in the Crimea tend to take their differences to the street to sort them out in confrontations and struggles.
“This is beyond my comprehension. Here it has become the rule to fight one another instead of finding common ground and working in concert. Why do Crimean Russians oppose everybody else? Why do Crimean Tatars stage protests against everybody else? As I see it, over the past six decades the Crimean people lost the ability to build a multinational community united by a common goal. Restoring this ability should be the next stage in the autonomy’s development. And this will provide the key to resolving all problems, since the Crimea boasts very rich natural and human resources that should be put to good use for the benefit of the region and all of Ukraine. Therefore, many spheres here need to be reformed.”
“In the Crimea you have been seen as a reformer from day one. Since you mention it, what needs to be reformed in the republic? On what basis do you plan to accomplish this?”
“First and foremost, the Crimea must change its philosophy and realize that, since it has such tremendous potential, it should no longer be a subsidized region. Instead of struggling to survive, as has been the case to date, it should thrive and prosper. The Crimea can have the highest living standard of all Ukrainian regions. It has everything it needs for this. The question is of professional managers. We must find and install in office managers who would be able to most effectively manage the autonomy’s wealth. These are people for whom the wellbeing of fellow citizens comes before personal pragmatic goals or redistribution of property. I have a feeling that if everything is done according to law, everybody will get his fair share. People from around the world will come here to restore their health, bringing investments with them. The important thing is not to hurry. And we must establish our priorities correctly: national interests before regional interests followed by party interests and, finally, personal interests.”
“Let us consider specific sectors. What improvements do Crimean resorts need?”
“We must view the situation objectively. The holiday season in the Crimea is not long enough, hence the high prices that affect competitiveness. The Crimea’s tourism sector is not just about sun and sea. It has the potential to become a center of healing, which is completely underused right now. Only a fraction of Crimean mineral springs and mud deposits are being exploited commercially. Why not hold a festival of new wine, like France has, in November, when the holiday season is officially over, but the Crimean climate still makes it possible to welcome vacationers? I’m certain that this would draw thousands of guests from everywhere. Why is our winter sports infrastructure underdeveloped? Why are there so few pools and water parks? Finally, only Crimea’s southern coastline is developed in terms of tourism and recreation, which accounts for only one- third of the peninsula’s potential. The resort industry must spread to the Crimea’s eastern and western coastline, the Crimean coast of the Sea of Azov, and the Arabat Spit, all of which offer tremendous resort and tourism opportunities. So far they are a wasteland in terms of resort infrastructure. If they were developed, the Crimean network of resorts could double or even triple in size. We have big hopes for the new government program called Seacoast. We hope that this July the Ukrainian government will hold an away session in the Crimea to consider, among other things, the Seacoast program and the question of supplying the peninsula with quality drinking water. We hope the resort system receives a fresh impetus from the creation of a land register and revision of its general development strategy: from sporadic measures to purposeful development in keeping with international standards.”
“Do you agree that the economic situation and investment climate are worsening in Ukraine in general and in the Crimea in particular? Can you explain the skyrocketing prices? Is somebody fueling this process?”
“You know, this year’s budget is overburdened by social expenditures, which is understandable, for people want a better life. Large sums of money have been brought into circulation without being balanced out by an adequate supply of goods. The price hikes are primarily due to this. Real incomes of the population have shot up 35% in five months, plus the incomes in the unofficial economy. Shortages of fuel, sugar, and meat represent the normal market response to an increase of cash in circulation. Incidentally, this increase was stimulated by the previous Ukrainian government, which is why it has fallen to our government to control this process. We have managed to curb inflation, which was a mere half of a percentage point in the last month, even though it soared to 4.5 percentage points in the first months of this year. The inflow of investments has subsided today because the government is cleaning up, and in doing so, it is observing the law. I think that this slump in investment activity will be compensated by a marked increase some time from now. The same goes for the economy: where there are slowdowns, these are due exclusively to the curbs on illegal privatization schemes, contraband, as well as enforcement of the law. With time the economy will also catch up. But we have given a strong boost to the population: child support money paid at the child’s birth has increased by 1000%, and pensions for orphans have increased five to six times. For the first time we have raised pensions to the minimum living wage level. Salaries in the public sector have increased by 57%. Granted, prices are rising. They are approaching world levels. This is the law of economics. The government will do everything possible for the population to be able to afford consumer goods under such conditions. This process had to take place sooner or later, and it fell to us to cope with it. This is no one’s fault. We must wait for a balance to be established between the money supply and market supply, the kind that would satisfy producers, the retail sector, and consumers.
“Today there is talk of 50 major investment projects in the Crimea, but this is peanuts. Perhaps the largest investor in the Crimea is the National Reserve Bank of Russia (NRB), which through its Ukrainian branch has invested some $ 100 million to develop Alushta. The remaining investment projects are just drops in the bucket because there is no strategy, whereas big business cannot develop without one. The National Reserve Bank is a serious investor with a civilized investment policy. We recently met with the NRB management and sorted out all the problems. They have reversed their previous intention to stop investing, and we will continue our cooperation in a coordinated, creative, and transparent manner. We are interested in cooperating with investors of this caliber and will help them. We have some differences with Kyiv, but even there we will defend the right of the NRB to work in Ukraine.”
“It is a well known fact that you are studying the Crimean Tatar language. How much progress have you made?”
“Oh, it’s proving to be quite difficult. First, I have very little time, and two classes per week are not enough. In any case, at least I have a general idea of the language of the Crimean Tatars, one of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine.”
