With the presidential election over and spring finally coming to the capital, embattled mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy has more on his mind than how to please the new authorities and avoid the prospect of pre-term mayoral elections. That problem is the huge amount of sand and mud and litter strewn across Kyiv streets and sidewalks after the recent thaw. Chernovetskiy’s administration was rightly criticized for failing to clear the huge snowfalls blocking roads, housing and pavements and almost bringing life to a standstill. The administration was slow to act and the public did not appreciate one of his deputies saying that municipal workers and machinery were somehow to blame. Clearly Iryna Kilchytska was passing the buck. And now we are seeing the same tardy and inept response with the spring clean up.

But with senior Kyiv city officials preoccupied it seems more by the allocation of land plots and keeping their seats than providing quality services there are now plans to raise the cost of heating. The renovation of the Olympic Stadium for the Euro-2012 football tournament is months behind schedule and after the tough winter the state of roads is such that they need to be resurfaced quickly.

Indeed, last week Anatoliy Holubchenko, who is Chernovetskiy’s first deputy, announced plans to repair asphalt surfaces around residential buildings within three months. But the city, just like the state, has no budget for 2010. The repairs will cost around 100m hryvnyas. Credit deals have been signed with suppliers with the council providing guarantees that the debt will be paid once a budget is in place. The problem is that residents are being asked to fork out more while spending and accountability seem to be totally out of control. A new mayoral election would not necessarily change anything. Kyiv, like the entire country, needs reform of public administration and proper accountability of officials. But seemingly we have no politician big enough to overcome narrow self interests and lack of political will to implement such reform.