Fighting Plagiarism

"
KYIV, April 29 /UKRINFORM/. Law enforcement bodies in Mykolayiv region caught a plagiarist who managed to gain on... the Constitution.

The enterprise young man issued allegedly own work "Scientific-Practical Comments to the Constitution of Ukraine" of 1,000 copies and succeeded in selling it at UAH 150,000.

The book was in demand.

However, a team of authors of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, who issued in 2003 a book "Constitution of Ukraine: Scientific-Practical Comments," saw in the work by 20-year old author something, which was very familiar to them.

The scientific-legal expert examination proved identity of the texts of two works.

A criminal case was instituted, the violator of the copyright will face a fine or, at the worst, imprisonment for the term from two to five years."

Dead but Voting

"A Regions lawmaker, Mykola Lisin, 1964, crashed his Lamborghini at 270 km/h killing himself late Apr. 17 night.

He was reported by the police to be driving under the influence of alcohol. His woman companion escaped death miraculously, being taken to hospital with multiple injuries.However, on Apr. 21, Lisin was registered as having voted in the Ukrainian parliament.

"

UEFA's Tax Exemption

"KYIV, April 21 /UKRINFORM/. The Verkhovna Rada has passed a government bill to exempt UEFA from profit tax and VAT based on its activity in Ukraine."

This is a typical requirement of UEFA/FIFA when they 'allow' a country to host a championship.

Who Benefits from this?

From BG Capital

"The Ukrainian government has introduced a new resolution that requires imports of fresh, chilled, and frozen poultry as well as other meat products and by-products to be licensed through the Agriculture Ministry.

Dmytro Ushenko: Poultry imports accounted for 14% of total domestic poultry consumption in 2010 (2009: 19%) and create top-down pressure on domestic prices as imports are some 34% cheaper than domestically produced poultry. The licensing, if maintained into the MT, should gradually deter imports through higher customs transaction costs, potentially easing MHP’s (MHPC LI) task of crowding out importers from the domestic market once the company introduces new capacities (in 2013)."

Kyiv Post and Press Freedom

The strike at Kyiv Post is interesting - can the owner of a newspaper ask the editor not to publish an article and fire him if he doesn't honor the request? And would a smart businessman, who has a diverse set of businesses, not know that at some point the newspaper would publish things that could harm other part of his business?

In fact, given that many magazines and newspapers are part of big financial groups one can only wonder why not more editors get fired.

Economic Literacy Needed

"KYIV, April 18 /UKRINFORM/. A survey conducted by Research & Branding Group on March 20-31 has shown that 57% of respondents are afraid of a new economic crisis due to an accident at the Fukushima-1 Nuclear Power Plant in Japan."

The Real Cost of Euro 2012 - Ex Ante versus Post

"Initially, the planned volumes of financing were as follows: allocations from the national budget would be UAH 12.7 bn, from local budgets – UAH 4.7 bn and extra-budgetary sources (i.e. private investments) – UAH 101.2 bn. Later, the entire Targeted Program of Preparations and cost estimates were repeatedly revised.

In the newest version of financing of the country’s preparations for Euro 2012, the government’s proposal is much more impressive – UAH 68 bn in allocations from the national budget and UAH 7.2 bn from local budgets. Moreover, the planned financing from “other sources” was reduced to UAH 72.7 bn. However, while the real expenditures of the state for the period 2008-2010 are known and amount to UAH 18.3 bn (including local budgets), it is virtually impossible to calculate how much private investors actually contributed. In total, the Ukrainian government announced its plans of spending UAH 147.8 bn from all sources over the period 2008-2012."

The Incomes of Ukrainian Ministers

"Among the members of the Cabinet of Ministers, Vice Premier and Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov received the highest income, which amounted to Hr 164.5 million."

The President's Income Declaration

From Ukrinform:

"KYIV, April 11 /UKRINFORM/. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has submitted his income declaration.

The document, which was posted on the official website of the head of state, indicates that the president's total income in 2010 amounted to UAH 920,268 (UAH 7.96 / USD 1).

Dividends, interest, and royalties totaled UAH 544,588, while his salary was UAH 375,680.

Yanukovych spent UAH 112,030 on property maintenance.

The head of state owns a 1.77-hectare land plot, a 619.6-square-meter house, a 239.4-square-meter apartment, and two 20- and 19.9-square-meter garages. According to the declaration, Yanukovych owns no cars.

The president owns shares worth UAH 2,772 and a bank deposit of UAH 1,063,892.

The president's wife, Lyudmila Yanukovych, earned UAH 18,443 last year.

She owns a land plot of 0.7 hectares and a 303.8-square-meter apartment. In addition, she also has a bank deposit of UAH 184,160."

Agriculture in Chernobyl Affected Areas

Ukrinform reports:"KYIV, April 7 /UKRINFORM/. Renaissance Capital and a group of investors announced plans to invest money in agriculture of Ivankiv district, Kyiv region.

The local lands have not been cultivated for 20 years because of their proximity to the Chornobyl zone. The project also involves one of the major agro-industrial holdings - Sintal Agriculture."

Love and Marriage

"KYIV, March 26 /UKRINFORM/. According to a study conducted by Research & Branding Group, the majority of Ukrainians (66.9%) referred to love as the primary motivation for marriage.

39.2% of respondents believe the reason for marriage is the desire to have children, 32.5% the commonality of views and interests, 16.9% tradition, 89% the partner's charm, 8.4% pregnancy, 6.7% loneliness, 5.6% legalization of sexual relations, 4.9% improvement of financial situation, 4.7% self-assertion, and 2.3% ambition.

At the same time, 48.1% of the respondents in general have a positive attitude to the practice of a marriage contract when entering into a formal marriage, 28.4% negative attitude, and 9.6% do not know what it is.

The most optimal number of children today, according to 59.7% of Ukrainians, is two, 19% believe that one child is best, and 10.7% three children.

The public opinion research on issues of marriage and family was held from 1 to 9 March."

Another View on Belgium

This time in the Kyiv Post (taken from Reuters)

Belgium as Explained in Ukraine

The newspaper Day (Dehn) has an interesting attempt by a Belgian to explain Belgium's approach to linguistic diversity. While the article is fairly neutral, the title seems to suggests somebody is unhappy with the conclusion of the article:

"The achilles’ heel of Belgium is therefore the absence of a national constituency for the federal elections and it can be expected that the federal state will be replaced tomorrow by a confederal state and The Day after tomorrow by two states."

The Wage of Ukrainian Models

"Prepared to be impressed, if not entertained, thousands of socialites and politicians lined up the catwalk to witness new collections. Hundreds of Ukrainian models put these colorful shows to life for… $50 a show."

Harvard Boys and Girls To Be

An interesting initiative

"The Administration of the President of Ukraine has signed an agreement to conduct a pilot training program for the leaders of public service with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University."

but the last sentence is rather mysterious

"The training of Ukrainian officials in the U.S. will be funded by sponsors."

MPs salaries and benefits

Data on Ukrainian MPs salary and benefits can be found here.

" Lawmakers’ monthly salary stands at UAH 6,000." That is about 800 dollars a month - no wonder that for such salaries one does not get stellar MPs and that MPs try to find alternative sources to complement their income...

World’s top economists are to convene in Chernivtsi

reads the title of this article.

Unprofitable for Whom?

"KYIV, March 16 /UKRINFORM/. European airlines will not get free access to the Ukrainian market until the EU does not cancel visas for Ukrainians, Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov has said, UKRINFORM reported, with reference to the Kyiv Post newspaper.

In his opinion, it is unprofitable to let foreign air carriers in Ukraine, because Ukrainian airlines will be left without work.

The signing of the Treaty on Open Skies improves competition and thus lowers prices on flights, as it allows airlines not to wait for permits, but negotiate directly with airports, he said."

Recovering from Catastrophes

The Economist has an interesting article on the economic effect of catastrophes - no long lasting effects on economic growth are found.

Paskhaver's Compromise

An interesting discussion by Oleksandr Paskhaver

"I am trying to create a new initiative. I want to appeal to the new authority and explain that I understand their interests, and, therefore, I would like to propose a compromise. We will not see any new foreign investors of any signifi cance unless we eliminate the rampant and total corruption in our country. On the other hand, I understand that you won’t lift a fi nger against your own interests. The compromise I suggest is to leave corruption at the very top level as is, but to eliminate corruption on the middle and lower levels of government. With all of the energy in your new authority, let’s work together to eliminate corruption on the lower levels."I am trying to create a new initiative. I want to appeal to the new authority and explain that I understand their interests, and, therefore, I would like to propose a compromise. We will not see any new foreign investors of any signifi cance unless we eliminate the rampant and total corruption in our country. On the other hand, I understand that you won’t lift a fi nger against your own interests. The compromise I suggest is to leave corruption at the very top level as is, but to eliminate corruption on the middle and lower levels of government. With all of the energy in your new authority, let’s work together to eliminate corruption on the lower levels."