Monday, February 27, 2017
СТУДЕНТЫ-ИНОСТРАНЦЫ ПОКИДАЮТ ОДЕССУ ИЗ-ЗА БЕЗНАКАЗАННОСТИ УКРАИНСКИХ НЕОНАЦИСТОВ
Сегодня в Одессе насчитывается почти семь тысяч студентов-иностранцев. Тенденция к увеличению их численности сохранилась, несмотря на нестабильную ситуацию последних лет. Однако значительная часть студентов-иностранцев, напуганная безнаказанностью украинских неонацистов и, в частности, трагедией в одесском Доме профсоюзов, решила вернуться домой.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
In the Kurils, uninhabited islands named for Soviet leaders
By Vladimir V. Sytin
The Ukrainian Times
Recently, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed an edict that uninhabited islands in the Kurils should be named for Soviet military leaders. For instance, one of the islands bears the name of Lieutenant-General Kuzma Derevyanko who initialed the instrument of Japan’s unconditional surrender in 1945. Another island in the Southern Kurils is named for Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Strange as it may seem, Tokyo has expressed a protest against the above document. It should be mentioned that Japan is still in a de jure state of war with Russia because of the Kurils problem.
Readers of The Ukrainian Times know that the Southern Kurils are the integral part of Russia’s territory on a legal basis in accordance with the results of World War II. Japan, which was the ally of Nazi Germany during WWII, shall strictly respect relevant accords and the U.N. Charter. Like Germany, Japan must bear responsibility for war crimes not only towards Russia but all former Soviet republics, the anti-Hitlerite coalition and China in particular.
Finally, it is worth remembering that the Kurils were originally settled by the Russians in the 17th-18th centuries. Japan seized the southern islands and in 1875 obtained the entire chain. After WWII they were legally ceded to the Soviet Union, and the Japanese population was repatriated.
And so, did Japan not learn any lessons from its criminal alliance with Nazi Germany?
The Ukrainian Times
Recently, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed an edict that uninhabited islands in the Kurils should be named for Soviet military leaders. For instance, one of the islands bears the name of Lieutenant-General Kuzma Derevyanko who initialed the instrument of Japan’s unconditional surrender in 1945. Another island in the Southern Kurils is named for Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Strange as it may seem, Tokyo has expressed a protest against the above document. It should be mentioned that Japan is still in a de jure state of war with Russia because of the Kurils problem.
Readers of The Ukrainian Times know that the Southern Kurils are the integral part of Russia’s territory on a legal basis in accordance with the results of World War II. Japan, which was the ally of Nazi Germany during WWII, shall strictly respect relevant accords and the U.N. Charter. Like Germany, Japan must bear responsibility for war crimes not only towards Russia but all former Soviet republics, the anti-Hitlerite coalition and China in particular.
Finally, it is worth remembering that the Kurils were originally settled by the Russians in the 17th-18th centuries. Japan seized the southern islands and in 1875 obtained the entire chain. After WWII they were legally ceded to the Soviet Union, and the Japanese population was repatriated.
And so, did Japan not learn any lessons from its criminal alliance with Nazi Germany?
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Poroshenko regime unready for peaceful settlement of problem in Donbas, says Putin
At the recent meeting of the Board of the Federal Security Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out worsening of the situation in south-east Ukraine. “Obviously, the aim of this worsening is to torpedo the Minsk agreements,” he stated.
According to Mr. Putin, the Poroshenko regime is patently unready for the peaceful settlement of the most complicated problem in the Donbas region, gambling on the use of military force. Moreover, Ukrainian state officials speak openly about the organization of subversive and terrorist activities both in Donbas and Russia.
In the event of non-fulfillment of the Minsk agreements, the Poroshenko regime will have to bear a great expenditure on a civil war in Donbas, borrow from international financial institutions and submit to the loss of a part of territory. Politologist Paul Craig Roberts wrote that it was Washington, which enabled Ukraine’s attack on its former provinces with large Russian populations. The U.S.-sponsored conflict in Donbas serves the geopolitical purposes of deterring Russia. To avoid war, Vladimir Putin is non-provocative and low-key in his responses to Western provocations.
Critics agree that Ukraine’s attack on Donbas is mindless. It shows the American puppet government totally devoid of all intelligence. Even a fool understands that violence creates growing resistance, and the Ukrainian neo-Nazi regime has not even the intelligence of fools.
According to Mr. Putin, the Poroshenko regime is patently unready for the peaceful settlement of the most complicated problem in the Donbas region, gambling on the use of military force. Moreover, Ukrainian state officials speak openly about the organization of subversive and terrorist activities both in Donbas and Russia.
In the event of non-fulfillment of the Minsk agreements, the Poroshenko regime will have to bear a great expenditure on a civil war in Donbas, borrow from international financial institutions and submit to the loss of a part of territory. Politologist Paul Craig Roberts wrote that it was Washington, which enabled Ukraine’s attack on its former provinces with large Russian populations. The U.S.-sponsored conflict in Donbas serves the geopolitical purposes of deterring Russia. To avoid war, Vladimir Putin is non-provocative and low-key in his responses to Western provocations.
Critics agree that Ukraine’s attack on Donbas is mindless. It shows the American puppet government totally devoid of all intelligence. Even a fool understands that violence creates growing resistance, and the Ukrainian neo-Nazi regime has not even the intelligence of fools.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Russophobia strikes new U.S. administration
According to Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Russian parliamentary committee on defense and security, Trump’s demand to return Crimea to Ukraine cannot be satisfied. “It is like demanding to return Alaska to Russia,” he said.
Previously, White House fools said that the vote in Crimea was meaningless because all of Ukraine did not get to vote. The fools were too ignorant to know that by this laughable charge they discredited the American Revolution because the British people did not get to vote. For the precise same reason that the American fools want Crimea returned to Ukraine, the United States must be returned to Britain.
In addition, Mr. Ozerov pointed out that the wisest course pursued by U.S. president Trump would be the application of all his energies to enforcement of the Minsk agreements on the Poroshenko regime under the threat of sanctions. Konstantin Kosacheov, chairman of the Russian parliamentary committee on international affairs, supposed that either Trump was being driven into a corner or Russophobia struck the new U.S. administration from top to bottom.
It is important to note that sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama regime have no support in the U.S. and Western business communities. However, American politologist Paul Craig Roberts wrote that the sanctions were a partial protection against foreign influence on the Russian economy, and the removal of the sanctions would be like removing a shield.
President Vladimir Putin is correct that the sanctions help Russia by pushing the country to be more economically independent and by pushing Russia toward developing economic relationships with Asia. Lifting the sanctions could actually hurt Russia by integrating the country into the wily West. Western capitalists would love to get Russia deep in debt, as well as to buy up her industries and raw materials.
Under the circumstances, the Russian central bank must create rubles with which to finance public projects. So there is no point to foreign borrowing. Besides, this use of the central bank insulates the Russian economy from orchestrated destabilization. A government that cannot understand this is in deep trouble.
Previously, White House fools said that the vote in Crimea was meaningless because all of Ukraine did not get to vote. The fools were too ignorant to know that by this laughable charge they discredited the American Revolution because the British people did not get to vote. For the precise same reason that the American fools want Crimea returned to Ukraine, the United States must be returned to Britain.
In addition, Mr. Ozerov pointed out that the wisest course pursued by U.S. president Trump would be the application of all his energies to enforcement of the Minsk agreements on the Poroshenko regime under the threat of sanctions. Konstantin Kosacheov, chairman of the Russian parliamentary committee on international affairs, supposed that either Trump was being driven into a corner or Russophobia struck the new U.S. administration from top to bottom.
It is important to note that sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama regime have no support in the U.S. and Western business communities. However, American politologist Paul Craig Roberts wrote that the sanctions were a partial protection against foreign influence on the Russian economy, and the removal of the sanctions would be like removing a shield.
President Vladimir Putin is correct that the sanctions help Russia by pushing the country to be more economically independent and by pushing Russia toward developing economic relationships with Asia. Lifting the sanctions could actually hurt Russia by integrating the country into the wily West. Western capitalists would love to get Russia deep in debt, as well as to buy up her industries and raw materials.
Under the circumstances, the Russian central bank must create rubles with which to finance public projects. So there is no point to foreign borrowing. Besides, this use of the central bank insulates the Russian economy from orchestrated destabilization. A government that cannot understand this is in deep trouble.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Political conflicts arising from oil industry
By Vladimir V. Sytin
The Ukrainian Times
“Oil has been playing a title role in the universal, world tragedy for ages,” wrote Valentin Pikul in his novel-essay Greasy, Dirty and Corrupt. “How much fiery raptures over it! Some worship it, whereas others curse it!” In fact, the oil industry provokes a lot of political conflicts in different parts of the world.
For instance, let’s journey back in time to 2004. Romania submitted a suit against Ukraine to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in a bid to end a long-running dispute over Black Sea exploration rights. At stake was some 13,000 square kilometers of sea potentially rich in oil and natural gas. To get a bigger share of the reserves, the Romanians were proving that the Serpent Island was not habitable and could not be added to Ukraine’s continental shelf. Eventually, Bucharest won the case.
According to Willy Lam, a Hong-Kong-based expert in Chinese politics and foreign policy, China’s thirst for oil is the real story behind Beijing’s worsening territorial dispute with Japan over the group of supposedly oil-rich islands claimed by China as the Diaoyus, and by Japan as the Senkakus. That same concern also explains a flare-up in China’s dispute with some East Asian nations over their claims to the resource-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in 2004.
Doug Casey, a keen analyst, thinks before the British created “Iraq” out of thin air in 1920, everyone got along cordially, not least because they did not have to deal with each other. The Kurds are ethnically a different people, the Sunnis and the Shiites could be compared to Irish Catholics and Protestants. The problems started when they were placed into one political entity, Iraq. Power was concentrated in the capital, Sunni Baghdad. Oil production, however, came mostly from the Kurdish north and the Shiite south. The situation only simmered while production and prices were relatively low, there did not seem to be that much to fight over. If the United States grants Iraq independence today, the Kurds will secede, from Mr. Casey’s point of view, which the others will not stand for because of the oil. Nor will the Turks, Iranians, or Syrians because it would be the beginning of Kurdistan that is a whole other question. The Sunnis and Shiites will have a civil war.
As Russian writer Valentin Pikul put it, sometimes oil seems to carry people away straight to a paradise. “But we, going to the paradise, should look all round to see the horrible road running right to hell,” he wrote. So, the list of political conflicts arising from the oil industry goes on and the tragedy continues.
The Ukrainian Times
“Oil has been playing a title role in the universal, world tragedy for ages,” wrote Valentin Pikul in his novel-essay Greasy, Dirty and Corrupt. “How much fiery raptures over it! Some worship it, whereas others curse it!” In fact, the oil industry provokes a lot of political conflicts in different parts of the world.
For instance, let’s journey back in time to 2004. Romania submitted a suit against Ukraine to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in a bid to end a long-running dispute over Black Sea exploration rights. At stake was some 13,000 square kilometers of sea potentially rich in oil and natural gas. To get a bigger share of the reserves, the Romanians were proving that the Serpent Island was not habitable and could not be added to Ukraine’s continental shelf. Eventually, Bucharest won the case.
According to Willy Lam, a Hong-Kong-based expert in Chinese politics and foreign policy, China’s thirst for oil is the real story behind Beijing’s worsening territorial dispute with Japan over the group of supposedly oil-rich islands claimed by China as the Diaoyus, and by Japan as the Senkakus. That same concern also explains a flare-up in China’s dispute with some East Asian nations over their claims to the resource-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in 2004.
Doug Casey, a keen analyst, thinks before the British created “Iraq” out of thin air in 1920, everyone got along cordially, not least because they did not have to deal with each other. The Kurds are ethnically a different people, the Sunnis and the Shiites could be compared to Irish Catholics and Protestants. The problems started when they were placed into one political entity, Iraq. Power was concentrated in the capital, Sunni Baghdad. Oil production, however, came mostly from the Kurdish north and the Shiite south. The situation only simmered while production and prices were relatively low, there did not seem to be that much to fight over. If the United States grants Iraq independence today, the Kurds will secede, from Mr. Casey’s point of view, which the others will not stand for because of the oil. Nor will the Turks, Iranians, or Syrians because it would be the beginning of Kurdistan that is a whole other question. The Sunnis and Shiites will have a civil war.
As Russian writer Valentin Pikul put it, sometimes oil seems to carry people away straight to a paradise. “But we, going to the paradise, should look all round to see the horrible road running right to hell,” he wrote. So, the list of political conflicts arising from the oil industry goes on and the tragedy continues.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Economic indicators: output
The latest numbers from the State Committee for Statistics of Ukraine show that the mining industries decreased output by 0.3% last year, compared with 2015.
The enterprises that produce food, tobacco and drinks increased output by 3.9%.
Woodworking enterprises, pulp and paper, printing industries and publishing houses increased output by 0.8%.
Metallurgical plants and metalworking industry enterprises increased output by 5.9%.
The manufacture of pharmaceuticals rose by 3.9%.
Last year production of coke and petroleum products rose by 8.1%, compared with 2015.
At the same time, critics agree that owing to the Poroshenko regime heavy industry has been choked by obstructions on cooperation with its natural Russian partners. For instance, Antonov, the iconic airplane manufacturer, found itself almost bankrupt earlier this year. This was especially sad, given that Ukraine had been an aviation superpower in its own right, punching way above its size.
Funnily enough, niches like a ski manufacturing industry have done well in the western edge (around fanatically pro-Brussels Lvov). That said, no country has ever been built on making skiing gear. And to even attempt such a thing would be the start of a slippery slope.
The enterprises that produce food, tobacco and drinks increased output by 3.9%.
Woodworking enterprises, pulp and paper, printing industries and publishing houses increased output by 0.8%.
Metallurgical plants and metalworking industry enterprises increased output by 5.9%.
The manufacture of pharmaceuticals rose by 3.9%.
Last year production of coke and petroleum products rose by 8.1%, compared with 2015.
At the same time, critics agree that owing to the Poroshenko regime heavy industry has been choked by obstructions on cooperation with its natural Russian partners. For instance, Antonov, the iconic airplane manufacturer, found itself almost bankrupt earlier this year. This was especially sad, given that Ukraine had been an aviation superpower in its own right, punching way above its size.
Funnily enough, niches like a ski manufacturing industry have done well in the western edge (around fanatically pro-Brussels Lvov). That said, no country has ever been built on making skiing gear. And to even attempt such a thing would be the start of a slippery slope.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Economic indicators: trade
The export turnover of Ukrainian goods amounted to $32,734.4 million and the volume of import to $35,058.7 million in January-November 2016, a 5.9% decrease and 1.8% increase respectively from the same period of 2015. The unfavorable foreign trade balance worked out to $2,324.3 million, compared with a favorable foreign trade balance of $315.5 million in January-November 2015.
Export to the European Union rose by only 3.1%, compared with January-November 2015. According to many observers, former president Viktor Yanukovich was correct not to sign a tightfisted trade deal with the faulty EU. Consider the collapse of Ukraine’s once lucrative agriculture industry. The sector makes up 40% of Ukraine’s exports. However, tariff-free quotas for most agricultural products, under the EU association agreement, are tiny.
Within the period under review export to Russia, Egypt, Turkey, China and India recorded its biggest volume.
A retail trade turnover increased by 4% to 1,159.3 billion grivnas in Ukraine last year, compared with 2015. The share of organized and unofficial markets in the pattern of retail trade turnover accounted for 30.8%.
The turnover of enterprises of wholesale trade rose by 4.9% to 1,486.3 billion grn in 2016, compared with 2015.
Export to the European Union rose by only 3.1%, compared with January-November 2015. According to many observers, former president Viktor Yanukovich was correct not to sign a tightfisted trade deal with the faulty EU. Consider the collapse of Ukraine’s once lucrative agriculture industry. The sector makes up 40% of Ukraine’s exports. However, tariff-free quotas for most agricultural products, under the EU association agreement, are tiny.
Within the period under review export to Russia, Egypt, Turkey, China and India recorded its biggest volume.
A retail trade turnover increased by 4% to 1,159.3 billion grivnas in Ukraine last year, compared with 2015. The share of organized and unofficial markets in the pattern of retail trade turnover accounted for 30.8%.
The turnover of enterprises of wholesale trade rose by 4.9% to 1,486.3 billion grn in 2016, compared with 2015.
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