I spoke to the manager of a Kyiv hospital and eventually he broached the painful subject of medications, food for the patients, which is supposed to be rich in vitamins, and how the wards were planned. “You see, the biggest problem with this country is that we have no philanthropists. People like Tereshchenko aren’t mature enough to form a social stratum,” he sounded confident, “and those few giving charity a try quickly change their mind, believing there are more important things.” We had a long talk. His experiences with Ukrainian businesspeople were extremely interesting, at times comical, he took a dim view of them all, and very soon I realized that trying to convince him differently would be useless.
The editorial office recently received a call from the Ukrainian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce. They asked we if could give them an expert opinion on a general educational [10-grade] boarding school in Berdychiv. It enrolls orphans and children otherwise denied parental care. Previously, a concerned citizens’ group of thirty was formed, including general and commercial managers of big Ukrainian businesses. Its findings were shocking. The school’s 233 inmates had their bedclothes changed twice a year; detergents, soap, other items of personal hygiene were constantly in short supply. Every inmate was allocated four hryvnias worth of medications — and this considering that the children actually required psychophysiologic correction (e.g., tranquilizers, neuroleptics). The supply delivery vehicles were in a condition implying junking rather than repair, and the same was true of the children’s footwear, textbooks, and office furniture. Butter and meat supplies were occasional rather than regular. That inspection of an ordinary boarding school was meant to encourage people of means to help, so at least one such institution could be provided adequate conditions.
I learned this on the way to the boarding school, from Oleksiy Usov, Commercial Manager of the joint venture Udt. He also recalled his first visit to the boarding school. At the time, the school principal Viktor Hnatiuk’s “Could you give us some soap powder?” had become a form of greeting. As it was, he took the visiting Ukrainian businesspeople to the school “laundry” and then showed them the inmates’ footwear (meaning only the shoes they had on, as there was nothing else available).
However, this time the journalists, arriving with the concerned citizens’ group, were in for a surprise. Walking through the lobby, with the inmates lined up in pairs (each girl’s hair tied in a bow at the top), they were greeted with polite greetings and, when asked how things were, with laconic fine-thank-yous. When asked about the living conditions, food, clothes, and teachers, everybody replied that everything was just great. They had enough food and clothes, and good teachers. Then the visitors were taken on a guided tour, following an apparently carefully planned itinerary, stepping into certain classrooms with certain classes in progress, staying noticeably longer at the “vantage points” (e.g., in front of an oversize aquarium, a recent present from the regional state administration.
“Problems?” Viktor Hnatiuk sounded genuinely surprised, “Let me see, oh, yes, we have to complete the gym. In fact, every student is paid eight hryvnias a day by the state, a perfectly sufficient sum. We are supplied with clothes, brand-new and second-hand, the food is normal, meat is served every day. And the teaching aids and textbooks are in good order... We take proper care of our children.”
In a word, we were faced with an extraordinary situation. Pentopak Director General Volodymyr Rodionov came specially to determine the amount of aid and now there was the school principal proudly declaring that they needed nothing. In fact, many believe that providing such aid can be even harmful in Ukraine, as the recipient may eventually start behaving like the old woman in Pushkin’s Fisherman and the Goldfish.
A number of businessmen agree with this assumption, but they also agree that charity is so unpopular in Ukraine due to reasons having nothing to do with pedagogy. Oleksiy Usov says that the Western legislation is geared to lessen the tax burden pro rata the amount expended for charitable purposes. In other words, businesspeople are encouraged to act as philanthropists also economically. In Ukraine, charity is taxable, so that a hryvnia given as a present is levied UAH 1.20 worth of tax. In other words, Mr. Usov explains, what little our domestic philanthropists do is contrary to their interests, which explain the meager number of philanthropists in this country.
Some of the visiting businesspeople asked to remain unidentified when they said that all philanthropic entrepreneurs find themselves especially closely watched by the controlling authorities. Experts explain this attitude differently, one reason being that there are cases when such benevolent endeavors turn out to have nothing to do with charity. However, the business circles generally regard such precautionary measures as a strong deterrent to charity.
