In late January the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade held, with some delay, the final (for 2011) board meeting. Opening the meeting the First Deputy Minister Vadym Kopylov suggested congratulating Valerii Heiets, director of the Institute of Economy and Forecasting, Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences on being elected the member of Russian Academy of Sciences. He also added that this event shows recognition of Heits himself as well as Ukrainian economic science in general and our intellectual potential. The deputy minister noted that thanks to Heiets “Ukraine will move just forward by leaps and bounds.”
In fact, the whole time of the meeting allowed for press coverage was devoted to presenting this thesis as already accomplished fact. Kopylov in a couple of minutes managed to report to those present at the meeting about the things they already had to know as part of their duty “about what was accomplished and in what spheres qualitative changes took place, which not only was captured in statistics but was also felt in business circles and by average citizens.” Deputy minister, however, promised to analyze possible gaps and what should be in focus this year, but this was left for later when press is asked to leave the meeting room. To improve the morale of the present he began with praising achievements of his ministry, which in difficult conditions of reforms preserved “economic stability, price stability, and relevant financial independence.” He called positive tendencies in Ukraine’s economy a “competitive advantage” and urged to continue preserving it. Was it the reason why right away there was a call voiced “to introduce in the ministry monitoring of impact on improving the conditions for doing business in center of the country and in its regions, to develop imitation models, etc.”
Noting the success of the ministerial apparatus, Kopylov said that last year’s budget process was for the first time considered on the basis of the project of state program. Kopylov continued: “This state program, after it’s been improved (we only have made the first step in this direction so far), will become the main instrument in implementation of state social and economic policy.” As they say, this is the thin edge of the wedge. According to the deputy minister, taking into account “all the factors of social and economic situation in the country and their influence on social and political attitudes before the up-coming parliamentary elections, the year 2012 is expected to be difficult.”
Here we can’t help recalling the analysis of the situation in the country presented by President Viktor Yanukovych, when he thanked Valerii Khoroshkovsky for service, after he transferred him from SBU to the Ministry of Finance and appointed the new acting head of state’s security Volodymyr Rokytsky. The president said that he feels that the country could earn good decent life for each of its citizens if there had not been such a wild outburst of corruption and people wouldn’t steal so much. There seems to be enough money in the budget, but the president bitterly complained that it is absolutely unclear what those money are spent on and where they disappear. Was that also the topic for discussion in the closed part of the meeting of the first deputy minister with his subordinates? Did he try to persuade them not to take budget money any more or, if they did, to be, at least, more careful not to be caught? Is that why design of a system for analyzing implementation and correction of ineffective government programs received the status of the most important task of the ministry?
Those are, of course, rhetorical and speculative questions. But why in the information paper, consisting of four pages, that was prepared by the Ministry for journalists at the meeting, it says about the simplified licensing system, about social policy and reforms in consumer protection, which has now become the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, while nothing is said about tender procedures, which are now the legal loophole for “honest” budget appropriation that worry and disturb the president. Of course, it is highly probable that the closed part of the meeting was dedicated to these issues, but people usually hide what can’t be shown.
One of the officials, to whom The Day complained about the closed meeting and hinted that it must be for a reason, noted that if the meeting was attended by the First Deputy Prime Minister Andrii Kliuiev things would be completely different. Maybe, but, according to Kopylov, Kliuiev is sick.
Meanwhile, the results of Kliuiev’s trip to the US for negotiations with the IMF (together with the Minister of Finance Khoroshkovsky, who was at first appointed the head of Ukraine’s delegation) are still a complete mystery. Are there no results?
