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| PHÎÒÎ: AP |
It appears that too many cooks were assigned in the new government to deal with the crisis broth. One way or another, Iryna Akimova, Mykola Azarov, Serhiy Tihipko, Borys Kolesnikov and ministers each in their field of specialization. Plus President Viktor Yanukovych himself. An anti-crisis program would help avoid confusion but no such program has been developed so far
The second option would be control personal of top officials over anti-crisis measures but its was not introduced either. President Yanukovych was too busy dealing with political problems and Azarov was knee-deep in social issues. Without their tactful overseeing every anti-crisis warrior set their own personal goals. All the more, the president set a the task in no uncertain terms – pull out of the crisis. For Premier Azarov the main strategy for overcoming the economic crisis was passing a budget that would take into account all factors. For Akimova, it was a plan of economic reforms that has yet to be drafted, by all appearances. For Tihipko the priority in overcoming the economic crisis was landing a loan from the IMF. For the Cabinet ministers, the main objective was to get the most benefits for their subordinates and themselves.
It is worth pointing out that the Cabinet ministers were the most successful in achieving their goals. First of all, in the 2010 National Budget all expenditures to finance practically all ministries and civil service departments were increased. Secondly, most of the anti-crisis support programs for various industries initiated by Yulia Tymoshenko were extended.
As such, despite the increase in production and the rise in prices of metals and fertilizers, the government extended benefits and privileges for enterprises in the mining, metallurgy and chemical sectors by freezing the price of gas, electricity and rail freight transport. As earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers continues to pay miners’ wages and compensations to farmers from the national budget in accordance with Decree No. 946 adopted April 21.
Second place can roughly be divided between Azarov and Kolesnikov. Azarov managed to push through what in his opinion was the main anti-crisis measure - the budget. Kolesnikov is actively promoting infrastructural projects in preparation for the Euro 2012 football championships, which according to some experts, will actually contribute to economic recovery.
Third place in the ratings of anti-crisis warriors goes to Serhiy Tihipko, who has almost agreed with the IMF on a new loan of US $19-20 bn to Ukraine for two and a half years. It is totally probable that had the IMF not been so busy dealing with Greece’s economic problems, it would have signed such a treaty in the first hundred days of the government’s operation and Ukraine would have received an additional EUR 500 mn to help it fight the financial crisis. But almost doesn’t count. Akimova failed the worst in dealing with this task as the committee for economic reform she heads did not achieve anything in a period of one hundred days.
By the way, assessing and fulfilling this task is quite a challenge for the new government. Over the past months, almost any policy was described as an anti-crisis measure, including the agreement regarding the extension of the stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. In light of this, it would be more objective to assess their work in this sphere based on the steps that big business was expecting.
By and large, since the end of last year the crisis began to ebb we began"crawling along the bottom”, meaning it is no longer in decline, but not growing either. In order for revitalize the economy, businesses expected measures be taken in three directions: political stability, which is the only achievement of the new government. Largely thanks to this GDP and industry grew in the first quarter of 2010.
The second measure is the expansion of markets. This is largely dependent on global trends, but still the government´s decision will contribute to an already growing trend. This is about infrastructure projects that former Premier Yulia Tymoshenko promised to finance from the stabilization fund. But just as last year the funds were mainly channeled for social security. Third would be access to money that could be spent on post-crisis recovery and development. This can be achieved in two ways: renewing the granting of state loans to support the economy or improving the investment attractiveness of the country. The government seems to understand the risks for lack of attentiveness to the crisis. Statements that Ukraine will pull out of the economic crisis this year are getting rarer. Azarov now forecasts that Ukraine’s industrial sector will return to the pre-crisis level by 2012, while Tihipko says this will happen by the end of 2011. Finally, the president continues to assure the voter that the crisis will be come history by the end of this year.
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