Last week the first meeting of the Regional Development Council was brought to order under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the Party of Regions. One of the causes of social inequality in Ukraine is one’s place of birth. Urban residents have better prospects of survival and providing their offspring with a better education and employment opportunities than rural residents.
However, inequality is also present on a regional basis. For example, some polls show that residents of Kyiv, Mariupil, Kryvyi Rih, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhia, and Poltava are among the most prosperous citizens because these cities are home to Ukraine’s largest industrial enterprises whose workers are paid 20 percent more than the country’s average. Donetsk, Dniprodzerzhynske, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Cherkasy, Khmelnytsky, Ivano-Frankivsk, Bila Tserkva, Symferopil, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Chernihiv, Makiivka, Lutsk, Uzhhorod, Rivne, Lviv, Ternopil, and Kherson are listed as less prosperous ones. The poorest cities (or rather their residents) are Sevastopil, Kirovohrad, Horlivka, Luhansk, Zhytomyr, and Chernivtsi.
In a nutshell, an effective regional policy aimed at evening out the socioeconomic situation in rich and poor cities and oblasts has not lost its validity and requires the cabinet’s immediate attention.
Naturally, this situation is playing into the hand of the Party of Regions and the current Ukrainian government, unless the latter has forgotten all about doing its party job, what with the recent political confrontations leaving little time for carrying out election campaign promises.
Prime Minister Yanukovych recently sent a signal to the effect that no one has deleted any regional problems from the government’s programs. He also visited Chernivtsi, the city at the bottom of the problem list. He did not promise any mountains of gold and made it clear that regional problems cannot be resolved overnight.
“The tasks of building relations between the center and the regions and separating responsibilities will last for our lifetime; this is our future,” said Yanukovych, opening an interbranch conference in Chernivtsi on Dec. 19. He also stressed that there is no alternative to decentralizing power in Ukraine, and that this process will result in a boost for the economy and better implementation of central budget funds. “This reform began in 2006 and we now have to figure out how to move forward. This is only the first part and it is not completed. We have to enact a number of laws to make the first part of the constitutional reform start functioning properly. The other part consists of local self- government reform. When this part starts functioning, we will see changes for the better in our political system; in other words, our government will show a far better performance.”
Yanukovych suggested that the regions adopt a “future relationships model” even at the current stage, which should be based on partnership principles and a clear- cut delimitation of authority and responsibility. “We can start generating a model of future business relations now. To do this, we must combine our efforts to develop various kinds of joint programs,” the prime minister said and suggested that the bureaucrats in charge of Chernivtsi oblast study the possibility of collaborating with the cabinet within the constitutional reform framework, and “if they reply in the affirmative,” to “start working on this project.”
Yanukovych’s visit to one of Ukraine’s poorest oblasts and his attempt to launch it into constitutional reform orbit — which is continuing in a creaky fashion — may serve as proof that the Party of Regions is trying new approaches to the recruitment of people willing to cooperate, if not supporters (the former appears to have better prospects) even in oblasts traditionally considered to be territories controlled by this party’s political opponents.
Nor was it coincidental that Chernivtsi became the first city in western Ukraine to be honored by the prime minister’s visit after the memorable “attempt” on his life, when an egg was hurled at him by an onlooker, an event that his opponents used to the best advantage and very creatively, but within the limits of decency. Will our prime minister — his entourage, to be precise — learn to use creative approaches to their achievements and failures, and adequately respond to the political opponent’s challenges? Naturally, in time we will learn the answers to these questions.
Meanwhile, in his commentary carried by The Day, Mykhailo Umnikov, the director of the Donetsk- based asset managing company Dan (part of the Financial Council investment group), failed to specify the impact that the central government’s regional policy is having on the oblast where he lives and works. It looks as though the Financial Council is inadequately informed about this regional policy, although its officials clearly support the Regionals’ policies. Umnikov’s professional activities allow him to point out that investments are being made in Donetsk oblast because the local administration does not change as often as it does in Kyiv: “Money loves peace and quiet,” said the financier, citing the old adage.
