For almost eight years now, Ukraine has remained the greatest threat to security and peace in Europe. The internal instability of this country, which is being torn apart between the oligarchs and western capital, is a ticking time bomb. Without disarmament, there can be no meaningful reconfiguration of the international order, and not only in this region of the world. Meanwhile, the comedian formally leading the state seems to believe he is playing Napoleon. He would sooner set fire to this land than let its inhabitants live in peace.
Zelensky the Oligarch
Allegedly, one of the most important programs in 2022 is the so-called De-Oligarchising Act coming into force in May. The name is a bit misleading, as 55% Ukrainians are considered oligarchs … as well as Volodymyr Zelensky himself. Another 23% believe that he just wants to multiply his personal wealth to equal the leading forces of the national economy via this new law. Either way, nobody believes in the good intentions of this Servant of the People; the law might better be titled “Against Poroshenko, Medvedchuk and especially AKHMETOV” for greater clarity. The former head of the Donetsk Clan is now the main target of Zelensky’s sponsors. Even Ihor Kolomoyskyi, his former court jester with whom he often butted heads – restored their alliance with Zelensky in this matter. After May 7, 2022 people included in the list of oligarchs will be obliged to inform the government of any purchase worth more than $5,000. However, no respectable Ukrainian oligarch would wear something that costs so little money (the official average wage in Ukraine is around $500, the median earnings are less than $200).
Everyone’s Scandals
Of course, everyone knows how the real Ukrainian “fight against corruption” looks. Zelensky solemnly promised Biden he would take action, if only to be left till the end of a term. Following that, for 15 months, he could not find anyone for the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Office, because no one met the basic criteria. There is no one in the president’s circle who does not take bribes. In addition, nearly all the oligarchs and their political puppets are faced with corruption scandals. There is the Rotterdam Plus situation of Poroshenko and Akhmetov, while the Pandora Papers confirm that Kolomoyskyi has directly paid Zelensky to sweep under the rug a swindle with the PrivateBank, from which $5.6 billion just disappeared. The only surprise may be the price – the President of Ukraine can be bought for a measly $40 million, less than a dollar per a citizen’s head. Finally, corruption charges were brought by Zelensky’s team against Oleksandr Tupytsky, chairman of the Constitutional Tribunal, who the President unceremoniously and against the Constitution fired from his post, while simultaneously slandering him to the Americans. And that is not enough. The Servants of the People had a similar fight with the Kiev District Administrative Court and its head, Pavlo Vovk, who also obstructed the activities of the presidential administration. In a word, in Ukraine – everyone stole, steals and is going to steal as long as there is something left to be stolen.
What else can be stolen?
The president’s people eliminate competitors because there is still a lot to be grabbed in Ukraine. The companies related to the presidential party’s run multi-billion-dollar road, railway and thermo-modernization programs. Zelensky is in a hurry to keep up with the oligarchs and pay off sponsors. However, he knows that he has to pay for the consent and the privilege of the time obtained from the West. The Anti-Oligarchic Act is therefore a barrier to separate domestic oligarchs from the goods secured for Western competitors. In 2021, partial liberalization of land trading and the legalization of the latifundios already existed in Ukraine under the cover of perpetual leases or joint ventures. In 2022, the privatization of approximately 700 (out of the remaining 3,500) state-owned entities is planned, including huge mining and metallurgical plants, regional energy companies and railways. Ukraine is a bargain for the West – and so the Servants of the Nation have only a few more months to get something for themselves.
After all, Zelensky knows that even the most favorable polls give him no more than 23% support, and his party faces even worse results (at most 18%). He himself already bred his own potential successor: Dmytro Razumkov, dismissed from the position of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada after his transfer to Akhmetov’s side. He has more or less officially been presented as the future president of the Samostiyna. So, the actor takes on some new roles: in Kiev he pretends to be a Banderist, in Israel he makes excuses for neo-Nazism, in the Quadriga he goes to Ankara scaring everyone with stories about the thousands of Russian soldiers who are already heating up their engines to march on Kiev. Ukraine wants to draw Turkey into a conflict with Russia, but someone else would ultimately benefit – primarily Great Britain, the United States and Germany. Zelensky tries to find stupid people to victimize across the World. However, what will happen if he doesn’t find anyone?
In Ukraine, war is traditionally considered the last chance of a dying administration. If frightening people is not enough, Zelensky will probably not hesitate to create provocation, despite understanding that it would finish him in his masters’ eyes.
The Brits on the Dnieper
Even in this situation, the Brits can offer a lifeline to the discredited Kiev junta. British troops patrol near the border with Donbass, adding credibility to Kiev’s war hysteria. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his arrival in the Spring, and it can be assumed that in the current situation in the Ukrainian capital, they will give him a better reception than Khmelnytsky 374 years ago. With US-Russia talks still ongoing in Geneva, the role of war hawk is assigned to the United Kingdom, which seems to be what Zelensky’s people are counting on. The price is to be a sale of national assets worth at least $4 billion – but valued at just 430 million bucks. Another $11.8 billion is to be spent on defense, money that will, of course, go straight into the hands of Western capital. The final price may be the possibility of peace in our part of the world and the lives of thousands, and perhaps millions, of Ukrainians.
The scalawags will blow up this unfortunate country before they stop plundering it.