The Influence of Economics on Politics

Economic crisis is typically bad for the incumbent - there is now some evidence that this is even the case in Ukraine.

"Our findings indicate that, even in a flawed `electoralist' democracy such as Ukraine, repeated parliamentary elections do serve as a mechanism of accountability with respect to economic performance. Disregarding electoral format, political control tends to work through political parties/partisan blocs. Only in the case of single-member district elections, however, is there a statistically significant relationship between economic performance and chances of winning, i.e. when economic performance is poor, voters punish legislators from a pro-presidential groupand reward legislators from the opposition."

http://ppq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/1/91

This is good news as it gives incentives to politicians to care about their electorate -given the behavior of Ukrainian politicians, one might wonder however whether this incentives is powerful enough...

Meat

KYIV, November 25 /UKRINFORM/. In October - November 2009, the consumption of meat in Ukraine dropped by 50%, says Yelyzaveta Sviatkivska, meat expert with the Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business.

She says the demand slump influenced purchase prices. Particularly, the prices of live cattle of over 400 kilograms reduced over the mid-October - mid-November period from UAH 12 (1 USD - 7.99 UAH) to UAH 10.5 per kilo, the prices of pork from UAH 18 to UAH 15.1 per kilo, and half-carcass chicken from UAH 21 to UAH 20.5 per kilo.

The import of meat also reduced over the period under review, from 45,000 to 35,000 tons against the previous month. "The fall of 10,000 tons is rather essential to Ukraine, which imports the bulk of the meat consumed," Sviatkivska says.

She added the consumption fall owed to the flu epidemic and lower incomes of population.

http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/order/?id=175148

A drop of 50% in consumption but only a drop of 10% in prices suggests a very inelastic supply curve.

Wanted: Economics Education

A good example of the need for more economics journalism education

http://www.day.kiev.ua/288086/

Ukrainian Happiness

An interesting article about happiness in Ukraine

http://www.day.kiev.ua/288083/

the most interesting part about this article is it's creative interpretation of statistics

“We wanted to have something to cheer up our fellow Ukrainians now that we’re living through all such disheartening political and economic events. In fact, our findings indicate that most Ukrainians feel happy despite all problems and worries. For example, 28.5 percent of the respondents stated they feel happy about their daily life; 24.4 percent feel happy several times a week, while 13.6 percent, several times a month. In other words, two-thirds of the respondents are happy at least once a month. One-fifth rejoices on rare occasions, while 12 percent are not sure. This poll proves that there is a direct connection between the small joys of life and happiness; most Ukrainians feel happy about every day of their life."

I don't see much reasons to be happy with the fact that 'two-thirds are happy at least once a month'.

Most studies on Ukrainian happiness come to the conclusion that Ukrainians aren't that happy (which would also be my conclusion based on the above data).

A nice analysis on life satisfaction in Ukraine can be found here

http://www.kse.org.ua/uploads/file/library/2005/kramarska.pdf

And The Winner Is

Ukraine...

Ukraine beats Argentina to have the highest 5 year cumulative probability of sovereign default

http://www.cmavision.com/images/uploads/docs/CMA_Global_Sovereign_Credit_Risk_Report_Q3_2009.pdf

Some Economics of Football

The most recent game of the Ukrainian national football wasn’t a particular success on the pitch for Ukraine but Mr Akhmetov and Mr Surkis’s pre-match confrontation on ticket prices might well bring Ukrainian football to economics class rooms all around the world. The ticket price discussion indeed makes an excellent case study, illustrating many economic principles.

That a match organizer fixes a price that is too high to get a full stadium is not a surprise – the organizer is a monopolist (he’s the only one to organize that specific match) who will aim to maximize profit, not to maximize attendance. By restricting the demand somewhat, a monopolist will be able to charge a higher price, resulting in a higher profit overall. In fact, very few matches in Ukraine’s national competition, including Shaktar’s home matches at the Donbass Arena are completely sold out. If match organizers would be interested in maximizing audience, they clearly should put very low or even zero UAH prices.

It’s also not surprising that a stadium owner will be interested in having more spectators than the match organizer. Indeed, some research on US sports found that a spectator spends about as much on the ticket to the event as on consumption of drinks, food and souvenirs in the stadium.

A social planner, who has the good of the whole society in mind, also would opt to fill the stadium completely as once the event takes place, the more people can attend the better.

Economists also can understand Mr Akhmetov’s concern about the size of the audience as there is some research that shows that the size of the audience does influence the outcome of football games. It’s indeed a well established fact that there is a ‘home advantage’ in football, that is, everything else equal , the home team is much more likely to win a game. One explanation for this home advantage is the presence of the home fans. One thus could argue, though there is little scientific evidence for this, that the home players will play better if there is a larger audience who cheers them on. A second explanation, for which there is some scientific evidence, goes through the effect of crowd size on the referee – larger crowd sizes make it more likely that the referee will make decisions in favor of the home team. Given Mr Akhmetov’s recent warning to referees, referring to his past as a boxer, it’s likely Mr Akhmetov was thinking about this second explanation.

With Euro 2012 coming up, the issue of the right level of ticket prices is likely to resurface in the future. To minimize future discussions, I would advice to Mr Akhmetov and Mr Surkis to start thinking about dynamic pricing – given it’s hard to know the demand for a match beforehand, rather than setting fixed prices, it would make sense to vary prices over time, increasing them when demand for tickets is high and decreasing prices when prices seem to be too high, not unlike airline companies are doing now. In the US, some sports teams have already started to experiment with dynamic pricing and companies have been founded that specialize in helping sport venues to optimize their pricing strategy. Maybe Mr Akhmetov and Mr Surkis could start a joint venture to professionalize ticket pricing in Europe?

Fertilizer Industry

KYIV, November 20 /UKRINFORM/. The Ukragroconsulting analytical center notes that the Ukrainian chemical fertilizer market has started reviving gradually following its fall in early 2009.

In 2009, a drop in production of nitrogenous fertilizers made up over 30%.

Ukragroconsulting forecasts production of 3.2 million tons of carbamide in 2009, production of other fertilizers will be cut.

A reason for the increase in production of salpeter that was unprofitable till now by Ukrainian plants is reduction of imports and a rise in prices on Ukraine's domestic market. Presently, the export prices are less than that of on the domestic market.

http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/order/?id=174803

The last sentence is interesting: export prices are now less than the domestic market - so the government has intervened in the market so that the local consumer pays more than the world market price.

The Economics of Football Ticket Prices

What's the optimal price of a football ticket? And interesting discussion between 2 Ukrainian 'tycoons'

"Most tickets for the decisive match to be played in Donetsk, following a Saturday 0-0 draw in Athens, cost between 24 and 98 dollars - roughly a week's salary for an employed middle-class Ukrainian. VIP seating tops out at nearly 1,000 dollars a spot...

Shakhtar Donetsk is prepared to donate 1.5 million dollars to the FFU, if all 50,000 seats to the game could be sold at one-tenth of face value, giving the FFU a total income similar to a typical UEFA match, according to the text of the Akhmetov letter.

"This is nothing more than loud black public relations," Surkis said. "If he (Akhmetov) wishes to subsidise a benefit game, then he can purchase all the tickets at their face price, and then do with them what he pleases."

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/294899,ukraine-tycoons-trade-snubs-over-ticket-prices-for-greece-play-off.html

As far as i am aware Akhmetov owns the stadium, the football association 'owns' the match and thus probably rents the stadium. So why didn't they agree beforehand about prices of tickets?

In any case, it's time for economists to find a mechanism that would and give maximum profit to the football association and result in a full stadium!

Greece vs Ukraine and the Second Leg Home Advantage

Today Ukraine plays Greece in the first leg of the qualification for the World Cup - Recent research shows Ukraine has an advantage by playing away first, and home second.

"The home advantage is a widely acknowledged sporting phenomenon, especially in association football. Here, we examine the second leg home advantage, an effect that is discussed in the public domain but which has received very little scientific attention. The second leg home advantage effect occurs when on average teams are more likely to win a two-stage knock-out

competition when they play at home in the second leg. That is, both teams have a home advantage but this advantage is significantly greater for the team that plays at home second. Examining data from three different European Cup football competitions spanning 51 years, we show that the second leg home advantage is a real phenomenon. The second leg home

team has more than a 50% probability to qualify for the next round in the competition even after controlling for extra time and team ability as possible alternative explanations. The second leg home advantage appears, however, to have decreased significantly over the past decade. Possible reasons for its existence and subsequent decline are presented."

http://heythrop.academia.edu/documents/0000/9344/Page_Page2007.pdf

More on Tobacco Taxes

An excellent detailed analysis of the Tobacco Tax in Ukraine can be found here

http://www.tobaccofreeunion.org/files/182.pdf

While this analysis was sponsored by an anti-tobacco initiative, it's very comprehensive and a very good starting point for a rational discussion on the optimal tobacco tax (obviously one can have different beliefs on the elasticities used in this report) - both Tymochenko and Yushchenko (and their advisors and speech writers) would benefit a lot from reading this kind of materials and making their decisions based on a detailed analysis, rather than based on the need for budget funding or the wish to inflict political damage on an opponent.

Watch Out For Value Destroying Christmas Gifts

"According to the survey, an average Ukrainian will spend about Hr 1, 200 to buy gifts, about Hr 850 on food, and Hr 450 on entertainment."

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/52738/

In these crisis times, the deadweight loss of Christmas presents becomes even more important to avoid:

Imagine the following: some days before Christmas, you go shopping to buy some Christmas gifts for your family. In one of the shops, you notice an interesting book. You browse through the book, find it interesting and consider buying the book – you decide that you will buy it if it costs not more than 50 UAH. You ask the shop lady for the price and she tells you the book costs 100 UAH. Given that the cost of the book (100 UAH) is higher than your valuation of the book (50 UAH) you decide not to buy the book.

On Christmas Eve, your family gathers under the Christmas tree to exchange gifts. You open the gift presented to you by your uncle and to your surprise, you see the book you noticed in the shop some days before. You’re excited – you get a book that you valued 50 UAH, for free. Your uncle is happy that you like his gift.

The above scenario is a typical Christmas scenario and most people wouldn’t see anything wrong with it. Economists however would immediately indicate that despite the fact that everybody is happy, value was destroyed. Indeed, your uncle paid 100 UAH for something that you value just at 50 UAH.

Imagine now that your uncle had bought you another book that costs 50 UAH and that you also value at 50 UAH. If he had given this book to you on Christmas Eve, you would have been excited since you would have gotten a book that you valued at 50 UAH, for free. And your uncle would also have been happy seeing that you liked the gift. The only difference with the first scenario is that in the current scenario your uncle still has 50 UAH left which he can either save or use to buy a gift for your aunt (or an additional gift for you!). In that way, more people would have been happy (or you would have been happier receiving two gifts rather than one). Hence, by giving you a present that costs more than you value it, your uncle clearly did not make the best choice.

For many people the above story should be familiar. Most of us indeed have received gifts that they don’t like which is just an extreme case of the above example – you value at zero something that somebody else has paid for. A recent survey by Ebay found that 80% of people already did at least once receive a gift they didn’t like. Moreover, 60% of people expected to receive a gift they wouldn’t like this year.

Given this, it should not be surprising that the amount of value destroyed by Christmas gifts is substantial. The American economist, Joel Waldfogel, who first studied this issue, found that the receiver of a gift on average values the gift 10% less than what the giver has paid for it and computed that, given the amount of money that is spent on Christmas gifts, several billions of dollars in value are destroyed each year at Christmas.

Of course, one should not interpret the above as a reason to stop giving Christmas gifts. Indeed, the gift industry makes a big part of its turnover during the Christmas period and the sales of gifts creates value. Instead one should try to minimize the lost value caused by unwanted Christmas gifts. There are several ways this can be done.

First, receivers of unwanted gifts can reduce the loss of value – the typical solution so far consisted of passing the gift to someone else. The technological evolution has provided another solution – EBAY now organizes in some countries special Christmas actions stimulating people to auction off their unwanted gifts.

Second, the givers can spend extra effort to buy the right gifts – that is to find gifts with a price that matches the valuation of the receiver. Givers should try to get information about the preferences of the receivers. This is what people typically do – they go from shop to shop to check out what is available on the market and could fit a friend or family member’s preference. My own experience tells me this whole process is rather stressful and many friends have confirmed this, which makes one wonder whether this process doesn’t destroy even more value than just giving unwanted presents. An easier alternative to optimize gift giving is simply asking people what they would like to receive – though many people are reluctant to reveal their preferences. A simpler way out is to give gift certificates - these typically limit only where one can buy but not what one can buy. Obviously, to completely avoid the value loss of Christmas presents, one can always just give money. If you rap it nicely, I am sure the receiver will be happy.

Tobacco (Industry) Rules

President Yushchenko refuses to sign a law that would increase taxes on cigarettes. One can (should) debate whether or not the taxes on cigarettes today are at their ideal level. The arguments used by the presidents against this law, however, seem like written by the Tobacco Industry.

"Yushchenko said in his proposals that he cannot sign the law, as the increase in excise rates for tobacco products creates the risk of tobacco smuggling to Ukraine. He said that according to calculations, after the increase in tobacco excise rates, marketable cigarette brands in Ukraine would cost 1.5 times higher than in Russia.

Moreover, the introduction of new (higher) excise rates for tobacco products may lead to the reduction in output, and, consequently, to the fall in cigarette sales.

Yushchenko also said that the fall in the production of tobacco products could bring the reduction of jobs in the industry."

http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/order/?id=174086

A more independent argument would compare the loss of jobs and the loss of tax income (it would be nice to see some elasticities) against the benefits of having less smoking.

The argument Yushchenko makes apply to any tax increase and in fact, could be used to argue that the taxes on cigarettes (and other products) should be decreased to zero.

On Lemons, Garlic and Onions

[ forthcoming in the Ukrainian Press]

The recent flu panic in Ukraine has shown itself in many interesting ways – there are the confusing declarations of politicians, there are the rumors and conspiracy theories, there are the masks (the newest status symbol) and now there are the prices of lemons, garlic and onions.

According to several media sources, the prices of lemons, garlic and onions has increased dramatically, making people unhappy, making politicians protest and even provoking the Anti Monopoly Committee of Ukraine into starting legal action.

That sellers of lemons, garlic and onions increased prices, however, should not come as a big surprise: if demand suddenly goes up, prices go up. This increase in prices signals to the suppliers they should supply more and once the extra supply arrives (or the extra demand stops), prices will go down again. It’s the same mechanism that explains the increased price of real estate and the increased level of wages during the economic boom period.

Increased prices will thus make it more likely that lemons, garlic and onions will come to Ukraine rather than other countries where there is no panic, and within Ukraine, will make it more likely that the lemons, garlic and onions are used by those who want them for their alleged health qualities, rather than for those who’d buy them simply for taste or decoration. In short, forcing prices to stay fixed at their pre-crisis level would not be smart as those lemons, garlic and onions available would not be used optimally, and the shortage of these products would last longer.

That people, who typically don’t mind when their wages increase, aren’t happy with these price increases doesn’t come to a surprise either – research by Daniel Kahneman, the 2002 Nobel laureate in Economics, and his coauthors showed already in the eighties that most people think that it is unfair for sellers to suddenly increase their prices if there’s a demand shock. Hence, a competitive market will provide a mechanism against excessive price increases: sellers, especially those that want to keep the loyalty of their customers, will have an incentive not to increase the price by too much, out of fear of losing their customers.

Still, governments, not only in Ukraine, often think they need to intervene. Many US states for example have anti-gouging laws that allow people to sue businesses that exploit disasters by increasing prices. While government intervention can be useful, for example, when business collude to artificially keep prices high, or by facilitating the import of the scarce goods, it’s probably not a good idea to restrict price increases that are demand driven. While market prices are sometimes imperfect, it’s hard to see how, especially in Ukraine, politically determined prices would do a better job. After all, most people probably prefer to buy at a high price rather than not be able to buy at all.

State vs Private Sector

An interesting article on the idea to have state run drugstores.

" “We will do everything possible to establish the necessary state-run network of drugstores in Ukraine. We are studying this question at the moment,” Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said."

http://day.kiev.ua/283143/

I don't see how having state run drugstores will solve shortages of medicines... They would make it easier for the government to control prices (see also the recent attempts to regulate/fix prices of medecines).

As an alternative the government might want to study how to make the market more competitive - that too should keep prices in check. Indeed, regulation often keeps prices higher than they should be:

From some open ed I once wrote but never published:

"Several studies have shown that in many cases, deregulation does not only make doing business easier, it also decreases prices because it stimulates competition. In Finland, regulations not only used to limit the sales of nicotine replacement products to pharmacies, regulation also fixed the prices and retail mark-ups of these products. Liberalization in 2006 led to a 15% decrease in the average price. Another nice example of how deregulation can lower prices can be found in the airline sector, where deregulation, allowed a low cost airline, Southwest, which initially was only allowed to fly in Texas, to start operating in other US states. A study on the effect of the entrance of Southwest on the US market estimated passengers’ savings, because of Southwest cheaper tickets, to be about 3.4 billion $. An additional 9.5 billion $ savings for passengers was realized because the competitors of Southwest decreased their prices as Southwest entered the market. Similar savings are likely to occur in Ukraine - the entry of the low-cost airline Wizz Air will not only offer the Ukrainian consumer low Wizz Air tickets, it will also force Wizz Air’s rivals to lower their own prices."

Ukrainians Make Good Migrants

Some people think Ukrainians make good migrants

"Unemployment hit 10.2% as the demand-driven retail sector cut jobs. If you want more jobs, you need more demand, and for that you need more people--especially immigrants on a mission to live better through higher materialism. It might be best to recruit immigrants from Ukraine and Russia, because they like to shop in SoHo."

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/06/open-borders-immigration-economy-opinions-columnists-michael-maiello.html

It's an interesting thought - there are already research papers on whether FDI from some countries is better than FDI from others - it should be possible to estimate whether migrants from some countries are more beneficial for the home economy than from other countries - though I'm sure some people would claim such research to be politically incorrect.

Politics and Economics

A clear example of how politics can negatively affect economics:

"The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it would resume work with Ukraine only after January elections, after a move to hike wages pushed its $16.4 billion bailout "off-track." "

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/52148/

The IMF now does what many Ukrainian and foreign investors are doing - delay everything until after the elections.

At the same time, given the choice of presidential candidates, it's unclear that much will change after the elections...

Superstition

[an article probably forthcoming next week]

Superstition is relatively widespread in Eastern Europe – one international comparative study showed that compared to Western Europeans, people in Eastern Europe are more likely to believe in the importance of good luck charms, star signs and horoscopes, and are more likely to believe in the forecasting skills of fortune tellers. Ukraine is no exception with its beliefs about the bad effects of whistling indoors, the ban on giving an even number of flowers (except on funerals that is) and the unmarried girls who shouldn’t sit at the corner of a table.

While seemingly harmless, superstition does affect how people behave, and hence has many important consequences. Take, for example, the belief that marriages that took place in leap years are more likely to be unhappy marriages and to end in divorce. In his 2007 MA thesis, Yuri Strilets, one of the KSE students, showed that in Ukraine there are less marriages in leap years compared to the year before and the year after the leap year, suggesting that Ukrainian couples indeed try to avoid marrying during a leap year. He further showed that, statistically, marriages that started in leap years are not more likely to end up in divorce, suggesting there is no ground to the belief that leap year marriages are bound to fail.

Similarly, many Asians believe that children born in the ‘Year of the Dragon’ will be especially fortunate, will perform well at school, and will have overall a better life. A recent study has found evidence that this superstition has a substantial effect on reproductive behavior: in many Asian countries, there was a baby boom in 1976 which was a ‘Year of the Dragon’, in Taiwan there was even a 15% increase compared to 1975. They further showed that Asian immigrants in the US who were born in 1976 indeed were more educated compared to those from non-Dragon years, but also that the mothers of these Dragon year babies tend to be richer and more educated themselves, making the superstition a self fulfilling prophecy ‘since the demographic characteristics associated with parents who are more able to adjust their birthing strategies to have Dragon children are also correlated with greater investment in their human capital.’

Even business is affected by superstition. One study analyzed license plates auctioned in Hong Kong and found that even the price of a product can be affected by superstition – plates with 8, a sign of prosperity in Cantonese-speaking societies have higher prices while plates with 4, a sign for death have lower prices. Another study found that eclipses, which in many societies are considered bad omens, go together with lower stock market trading volumes and lower stock returns, about 10 basis points less per day over a three day window around the eclipse. These lower returns are then reversed and off set in the subsequent days after the eclipse.

Not surprisingly, economists also have investigated whether a Friday the 13^th effect exists in the stock market. One early study, published at the end of the eighties, showed that during the seventies, US stock returns on Friday the 13^th were lower than on other Fridays. More recent studies, however, show returns on Friday the 13^th that are higher than on other Fridays, both for the US and for many (but not all) other countries. This also seems to be true for Ukraine: using PFTS data for the period 2001 to 2009, the average return for the 15 Friday the 13^th s in this period is 0.6%, while the average of the 30 Fridays before and after Friday the 13^th is -0.1% (statistically a negligible difference). Hence, those that invested in the stock market shouldn’t lose their sleep this Thursday night. Or more precisely and knowing the volatility of the PFTS, they can sleep as good (or bad) as on any other Thursday night.

By Far The Best Article on the Flu Panic in Ukraine

This week's Kyiv Post has excellent coverage of the flu panic in Ukraine - especially the article below:

"If you correlate the number of those who got sick (and multiply by two because only a half of people come to the doctor), and the number of those who have died, it becomes a confirmed fact that there is no especially heavy viral disease in Ukraine. According to the data available by the morning of Nov. 2, officially 200, 000 people got sick, 60 died. The mortality rate is lower than from regular flu.

Pneumonia is the main reason for death of many people in many countries in all times. It can develop as a complication of many other diseases and traumas. If all of these deaths are reported by the media massively, nothing good will come out of it.

It’s very unlucky that so many factors have come together: crisis, election, autumn and flu. But we have to remember that a viral respiratory infection is one of the most common and light diseases. It requires calm and concrete, elementary actions, that any person can afford.

I understand perfectly well what stress a mother has and what she is capable of when every day she hears about a deadly disease going around, and then she suddenly discovers that her child has a runny nose. The only thing I don’t understand is why they’re doing it to our people."

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/opinion/op_ed/detail/52015/

Panic and Prices - Part II - the Return of the Anti Monopoly Committee

In Ukraine, the task of the Anti Monopoly Committee seems to be to investigate prices that politicians think are too high. Some time ago it was university tuition, now it's the prices of garlic, onions and lemons.

Where's the monopoly here?

"The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has filed a suit concerning unreasonable rises in the prices of some foodstuffs, in particular, garlic, onion, and lemons.

"Using the situation that occurred as a result of the outbreak of flu and the fact the Ukrainian families have started to consume garlic, onion, and lemons, they [trade enterprises] have sharply raised prices of these goods…I have taken a decision to file a suit concerning the unreasonable, illegal rise in the prices of garlic, onion, and lemons on the territory of Ukraine," acting head of the Antimonopoly Committee said.

According to him, an investigation group was formed and a relevant meeting with the participation of the AMCU leadership was held.

"The whole system of agencies of the Antimonopoly committee was charged with conducting the corresponding investigations," Melnychenko said.

Melnychenko also said that he spoke with the head of the State Customs Service, who had supported these actions. In particular, this concerns lemon imports to Ukraine.

That's why, as Melnychenko said, "we will know which subjects of the economy are abusing their market position."

http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/eco/23780/

Cemetery Bribes

an interesting article on the costs of dying in Kyiv

"But for a bribe anybody can be buried in a historic cemetery. According to different sources, a bribe can be anywhere from US $5,000 to $50,000."

http://eng.weekly.ua/pulse/metropolis/2009/10/16/134609.html

Ukrainians are less positive about democracy than18 years ago

A recent Pew Survey compares the opinion of people in the former Soviet Union in 1991 and now. Ukrainians are especially disappointed in democracy.

Approval of Change to Democracy

% Approve of change to Multiparty

1991 2009 Change

East Germany 91 85 -6

Czech Rep. 80 80 0

Slovakia 70 71 +1

Poland 66 70 +4

Hungary 74 56 -18

Lithuania 75 55 -20

Russia 61 53 -8

Bulgaria 76 52 -24

Ukraine 72 30 -42

http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/267.pdf

It's not hard to guess why that could be... and explains why several of the current presidential candidates try to position themselves as strong leaders

More No Comments

"Ukraine is in a panic about swine flu, with officials closing schools, imposing travel restrictions and limiting public gatherings. Yet many suspect that politics, not health issues, are behind the uproar.

The World Health Organization said Monday there is no evidence that Ukraine's outbreak is particularly severe, leading some political analysts to say Ukraine's politicians are using the swine flu scare to earn political points ahead of the country's presidential election in January."

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/51717/

"The World Health Organisation says there is no evidence to suggest that Ukraine had a bad outbreak of swine flu, but it has agreed to send a team there to help the country cope.

...

"The main players are using the flu in their propaganda war," he adds"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8338835.stm

Panic and Prices

"Lemons, a traditional anti-flu remedy, sold out at markets in Lviv while supermarkets were selling them at double price."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/10/30/09/ukraine-closes-all-schools-cinemas-over-swine-flu

"Tymoshenko said the government won't tolerate higher prices of medicines at drug stores during the A(H1N1) flu epidemic.

'We won't allow pillage on those troubles Ukraine faces now. The owners of drug stores, and drug stores engaged in the pillage will be immediately deprived licenses for good," the prime minister said."

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/51609/

Update:

"The State Tax Administration (STA) of Ukraine has registered 1,872 violations by drugstores following two days of checks on the availability of medicines at drugstores and the formation of prices for them, STA Chairman Serhiy Buriak has said."

http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/order/?id=173329

"Black market prices of some flu remedies, particularly Tamiflu, had rocketed to as much as 10 times normal retail value, Tymoshenko said."

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1510910.php/Ukraine-flu-death-toll-rises-foreign-medical-aid-arrives-Roundup