COULD UKRAINE PROVIDE LOANS TO IMF?

In Ukraine, the Panama papers didn't cause such a scandal as the financial e-declarations of politicians. We all knew they were rich, but we wondered what they would declare. The modus operandi of the so-called Eastern European “zhlobstvo,” or the conspicuous consumers and pathological theives who have become famous the world over, has us almost certain: They didn't declare everything.

In the country where the president declares over $26 million and prime minister owns $1.2m and €460.000 in cash their latest initiative to raise the minimum wage up to $125 per month looks like a weak excuse to the proletariat indeed (if to ignore the fundamental economic issues).

Diamonds, furs, ancient art and wine, a church and enormous plots of land are the declared assets of a political class united by snobbism. But some jokes, like declaring 1 trillion hryvnia, are a serious faux pas. Later, the MP Melnychuk who declared this amount commented it was a mistakenly attempted satire and reduced his declaration to some dozen of millions of hryvnias. One of the young politicians who rose to power on Maidan, Parasiuk, explained his not luxurious, but brand new watch as a gift from Saint Nicolas.

With such a childish approach, the National Agency for Preventing Corruption (NAZK) warned these humorists would be fined for making jokes about their income.

In general, if we count all the millions declared by politicians, Ukraine may be ready to provide loans to the IMF. But behind the jokes, Ukraine is an infantile country where the chocolate industry is more developed than any other. I wonder if in the newly declared context politicians still hope to have trust, especially when it comes to promises about Ukraine's economic development.

E-Declaration is a huge step forward in fighting corruption and now journalists, civil society and the national anticorruption bureau have to follow up on every case and source of income by demanding punishment for stealing and nepotism.

But paraphrasing an investigative journalist, Mychailo Tkach, it's always risky to be a tycoon in Ukraine: you can spoil a lost masterpiece or break the bottle of an ancient wine while packing for Rostov.