Yesterday I wrote this stating that it was “interesting” Ukraine was attempting to force transparency in the extraction industries - a place from where the oligarchy wealth comes, amongst others. It is interesting because it attempts to force some transparency into what and how much is extracted, and thus will give indications of what is […]
Disunited we stand - currently at least!
November 7, 2012 by 1 Comment
Uggggghhhhhhhh! In the first real test of cohesiveness after the voting on 28th October, the opposition parties are doing their very best within a week of proving my previous statements about their (in)ability to work together correct - in the fastest time possible. Sometimes I write something in the hope of being proved absolutely and […]
Renditions, Spooks and Rhetoric - Another incident in Ukraine
October 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Oh dear. The international community are claiming to be in shock that Leonid Razovozzhayev managed to get spirited away from Ukraine where he was attempting to claim asylum, and reappeared in Russia some days later telling a quite harrowing tale of abduction, torture and false confessions. There seems no point in going into too much […]
Pre-judging the Ukrainian elections - The Tymoshenko lens
October 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
It is no secret to those who read this blog that I have on several occasions during this parliamentary election period, been asked to speak with LTOs (long term observers) from several international monitoring organisations with people in Odessa. Whilst large sections of recent blog posts cover much of what has been said, lack of […]
Commission for Strengthening Democracy and the Rule of Law - Venice Commission
October 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Venice Commission, when looking at the proposed new law on the Public Prosecutors Office of Ukraine, has in summary, made it clear that whilst the new law goes a long way to improving matters and generally brings Ukraine into EU norms (with the need for some clarifications in the text - although not that […]
Pouring oil on troubled waters - EU Ambassador to Ukraine
October 19, 2012 by 1 Comment
The new head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, (Ambassador for want of a better analogy), Jan Tombinski, seems to be doing his very best to pour oil on the somewhat choppy waters between Ukraine and the EU in efforts to smooth matters between the two sides to some degree. He recently gave a press […]
6th EU Human Trafficking Conference
October 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Biometric Passports and ID Cards - Ukraine
October 14, 2012 by 2 Comments
Having finally got around to the core issue of Stage 1 relating to the road map on Visa-free travel as per the document from the EU, the RADA has passed the necessary laws for biometric passports and identified the company that will produce them. Just how technically good the new law is remains to be […]
Nobel Peace Prize - The EU and accepting awards on behalf of others
October 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Not really anything to do with Ukraine, other than the EU currently being its stated eventual destination, and being something of a headlining story in the main stream media, normally it is a subject I wouldn’t touch - simply because it is headlining in the main stream mdeia. However, Nobel Peace Prize justified? On balance, […]
Domestic violence - Council of Europe and Ukraine
October 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The world is full of good causes and those in need of assistance - regardless of whether a nation is developed, developing, or indeed not much more than a failed state. For me it has always been a bit of a dilemma what to support and what I won’t. When I ran my companies in […]