Wednesday 24th of April 2024
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remembering when ukraine was corrupt in 2014 — and still is in 2022…….

 

The International Monetary Fund's board this week [May 2014] signed off on a $17 billion bailout for Ukraine, whose economy has been weakened by months of upheaval and a stand-off with Russia.

Ukraine's previous two IMF programs were suspended after the government did not stick to earlier promises, such as raising natural gas prices. This time, the IMF required Kiev to implement 12 reforms before receiving any money.

The following highlights some of the IMF's new requirements:

Energy Sector

-Stick by promises to raise gas tariffs for consumers by 56 percent, effective as of Thursday, and raise heating tariffs by 40 percent on average from July 1. Both tariffs will go up 40 percent in 2015 and 20 percent in 2016 and in 2017.

- Aim to contain the deficit of Naftogaz, the state-run oil and gas company, to 3.3 percent of GDP this year, 1.9 percent of GDP in 2015, and eliminate the deficit completely by 2018. Naftogaz now sells gas below cost to Ukrainian consumers, running a constant deficit.

- Provide government support for utility payments for the 27 percent of Ukrainian families that cannot afford higher energy prices, with the scheme to start on July 1.

Central Bank

-Maintain a floating exchange rate for the national currency, and start removing all existing foreign exchange restrictions by the end of July.

-Adopt inflation targeting by the central bank within 12 months of the IMF program's approval, or by May 2015.

Financial System

- Complete studies and review business plans for the 15 largest banks by July 31 to assess capital adequacy. The 20 next largest banks must complete the studies by the end of September. The bank system faces severe liquidity shortages, losing about 12.5 percent of deposits from February to the end of March.

- Ensure the 35 largest banks can comply with the Tier 1 capital target of 7 percent by the end of February 2015.

- Establish criteria by May 31 for the government to bailout insolvent banks or restructure them if private shareholders are unable to help.

Fiscal Deficit

- Reduce the budget deficit by about 2 percent of gross domestic product each year from 2014 to 2016, mainly by cutting spending.

- Scrap wage and pension increases for the public sector scheduled for July and October, and keep a hiring freeze for government workers.

Structural Reforms

- Complete a study of the government's laws and anti-corruption framework by the next IMF review in order to trace the laws' impact on the judicial system, tax collection and the business climate, and design further reforms accordingly.

- Simplify the regulatory environment and reduce compliance costs for businesses. The IMF blames weak governance and resistance from vested interests for the failure of Ukraine's previous two IMF aid programs.

For the full IMF report, click here.

 

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/factbox-ukraines-imf-bailout-deal/499353.html

 

All this should make the Ukrainians happy...

 

 

READ MORE:

https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/28360

 

 

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jo corrupt biden…...

biden's sacrifice...

We should acknowledge that Biden's dealings with Burisma/Ukraine were not corrupt, but HIGHLY CORRUPT. Mind you, Joe Biden was prepared to sacrifice his clean Christian image so the US could spread de-mo-cra-cy in Ukraine — in the name of justice and freedom the American way and take Ukraine away from the clutches of Nasty Russia. 



Ukraine being a highly corrupted country, in order to get a look in, one needed to play the game, even after the Revolution of Dignity (Maidan 2014 — inspired and financed in a great part by US cash to the Ukrainian Nazis).

To recap:

Burisma was (is) a company that “belongs” to Zlochevsky, a former minister of Ecology in the Yanukovych government, who awarded gas and oil leases to himself. Corruption galore.

Burisma was thus prosecuted under the Poroshenko regime for Zlochevsky awarding gas and oil leases to himself when a minister. 

Poroshenko was a smart operator who wanted “some of the Burisma cake”. Poroshenko had made his fortune by importing chocolates, sinking and buying all his competitors and “making” deals with other big business in ways that could be compared to Mafia's protection money. When he became President of Ukraine, he got all the big companies investigated by the PGO. The concept was to stop all operations of these companies until they paid bribes. Poroshenko was not too greedy as to kill the goose (geese), though.

For example, Zlochevsky’s Burisma was asked to pay $1million a month to the Poroshenko outfit. This was in the form of free gas to Poroshenko’s own companies. Zlochevsky was still “investigated", but his company was thus allowed to operate. Zlochevsky was not too happy. he wanted the investigation closed. He made a proposal in 2015, relayed by a certain Onyschenko to Poroshenko:  $50 million to Poroshenko to close the investigation. Onyschenko secretly recording his conversation with Poroshenko (eventually the recording became public. There is a small connection to Shell and ExxonMobil being exempt of something).
Petro Poroshenko: "Kolya [Zlochevsky] is a good guy... I’ll think about what can be done. The Americans have been getting angry about him lately.” 
Oleksander Onyschenko: “in theory, They shouldn’t do anything against him, because Biden’s son is on the board. And so is Kwasniewski. So Westerners won’t be stepping on our toes when I talk to Kolya [Zlochevsky]. 
Petro Poroshenko: “Well, I’ll think about what can be done. say hello to Kolya for me."

Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Polish president and a board member for Ukrainian gas company Burisma, said that when Hunter Biden was "asked" in 2014 to join its advisory board, he told him that the company was working to overcome a difficult past and was determined to be well-managed and transparent. Kwasniewski and Hunter Biden were placed on the Burisma board by Zlochevsky, for “protection”.

If Burisma succeeded in tapping into Ukraine's gas deposits, it would help Ukraine get energy independence from Russia, a key part of its broader struggle to exist as an sovereign nation. 

“Independence from Russia…” is the key to the whole charade…

Thus the US embassy in Kyiv was in two minds about investigating Burisma. Some  staff “wanted" an investigation. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt was neutral. And Poroshenko “had to agree with the Americans”… According to whistleblowers, this was seen "as a way to get some black cash for the US elections"… They could participate in the  collection of bribe moneys from Burisma. Biden saw Poroshenko in 2015. Joe Biden gave six hours to Poroshenko to stop the prosecution into Burisma. The Prosecutor was Shokin. 

Was this a corrupt act from Joe Biden? YES AND YES AND YES. ONE CANNOT GO IN ANOTHER COUNTRY AND INTERFERE WITH ITS JUSTICE SYSTEM, crooked or not... But Biden gloated about it:

“I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars. I said, you’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money. Well, son of a bitch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time."

The investigations were terminated by prosecutor Lutsenko in 2017 who got a lot of money to stop the investigation — as well as Poroshenko.

----------------------

The investigators had raised the hard fact that Hunter Biden was on the board of Burisma. This was annoying to their probe… Poroshenko could “not do everything… because the American (Hunter Biden) was there."

The prosecutors in Ukraine were afraid of losing their visa to the USA, should they prosecute Burisma, because of the US connection via Hunter Biden.

Despite Kwasniewski assurances, Zlochevsky had ONLY given the job to Hunter Biden to prevent any investigation into his company, as Joe Biden was the Vice President of the United States. This has been rigorously verified.

But in order to really stop the investigation, before Shokin came along, there were "suggestions” within Burisma of bribing the prosecutor general office (which demanded bribes to stop the investigation)…

Zlochevsky paid, sharing the money to Poroshenko and to the PGO… Controlling corruption by benefitting from corruption was the name of the game. It has been confirmed that investigations into Burisma started under prosecutor Vitaly Yarema.

Shokin (the new so-called “inefficient” prosecutor) had found out that Burisma didn’t just pay $50,000 every months to Hunter Biden but about $3.6 million in hidden money transfers to a Hunter Biden Company. Poroshenko told Onyschenko that Biden had interests into Burisma and they would close the case. So, Zlochevsky paid dark moneys to Biden and Poroshenko. Case closed (after Joe Biden’s intervention) — before the US elections. Now the case has been reopened.
Documents have shown that many members of the Ukrainian parliament had been bribed [by Poroshenko’s government] to vote in favour of Shokin’s removal as a prosecutor.
Meanwhile in the USA, Shokin would be described as "an inefficient prosecutor" by the State Department, replace by "someone who was solid at the time…"
And the “liberal” MSM publishes that Shokin was removed because he was inefficient… Joe Biden is above board. Easy fix. 
And we still don’t know of other Biden fiddles, which might surface tomorrow...
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"If His Name Was Hunter Smith He Probably Wouldn't Be Getting Paid"

 

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https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/35235

 

 

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corrupt volodymyr?…...

German newspaper Die Welt has put Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s “secret deals” under the microscope, publishing an extract from a new book which suggests the head of state may have evaded taxes at home.

Published last Wednesday, the excerpt comes from a new book released this month, ‘Zelensky: A Biography’. The paper cited parts of the book that deal with alleged cases of corruption involving the Ukrainian president.

It says that in 2019, Zelensky was found to have offshore accounts in Cyprus, and research by Slidstvo.info revealed that the former comedian owns companies in the British Virgin Islands and Belize, including the “previously unknown” Maltex Multicapital Corp., which owns apartments in central London worth $7.5 million. The corporation is also said to have received a total of $40 million from Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky since 2012. Zelensky apparently transferred his shares in this company to a close friend shortly before the 2019 presidential election, which he went on to win.

While it was not clear what the purpose behind the scheme was, Ukrainian investigative journalists speculated at the time that Zelensky might have used it to dodge taxes at home, or that he participated in money laundering for Kolomoysky.

The excerpt also states that the airing of a documentary called ‘Offshore 95’, which centered on Zelensky’s alleged shady dealings revealed in the Pandora Papers, was canceled in Kiev at the last minute last October. The cinema’s manager had apparently received a call from the SBU, Ukraine’s security service, the extract said, citing Ukrainian media. It was only thanks to public outcry that the screening did take place later in the day, it said.

Despite initially refusing to answer questions posed by Slidstvo.info, Zelensky’s office explained in October 2021 that “everyone relocated their business abroad, especially in the TV industry” during the “Yanukovich times,” a reference to former President Viktor Yanukovich. Zelensky also claimed that the tax authorities looked into his dealings “almost every day” at the time, implying that they never found any violations. He also vehemently denied involvement in any money laundering, but dodged a question about whether he had actually paid all the taxes due at all times.

A journalist from Slidstvo.info was, however, apparently not satisfied with the president’s reply and suggested the next day that the mere existence of this offshore corporation pointed to the fact that Zelensky does not “trust the country in which you built up your business and which you are in charge of.”

“You want to conceal something, and you have a reason for that,” she said.

According to the book, on October 27, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention announced that it had conducted a probe into Zelensky’s business activities and found nothing illegal.

 

READ MORE:

https://www.rt.com/russia/560472-german-media-zelensky-shady-affairs/

 

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GusNote: The Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention is likely to be corrupt.... Who knows.

 

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