http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/celebrity-homes/finally-revealed-photos-inside-ukrainian-presidents-top-secret-100-million-palatial-estate/

"More than 25% of the citizens of Ukraine live well below the poverty line. The average annual income in Ukraine is a meager $4800. To make matters worse, over the last four years Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has used his time in office to loot the country's precious resources and in the process has enriched both himself and his family. One of the most egregious examples of his wholesale corruption involves a 350 acre lakefront property called Mezhyhirya. Prior to his election, Mezhyhirya was a public park enjoyed for centuries by all Ukrainian citizens. One of his first acts as President was to swoop in and steal the property. Through some murky back-channel transactions, Viktor traded two dilapidated apartment buildings on the outskirts of Kiev for the lush lakefront estate that is easily worth more than $100 million."

Honestly, I don't know how people like this can sleep at night.

The pro-russian voting block in the Ukraine has been really weakened by this annexation of Crimea

Yep, money he stole, fair and square!

Did the account he took the money from have his name on it? Well alrighty then!

I'm sure he wants everyone to think:



But it's probably:

He may feel regret about Crimea but it's up to the people of Crimea and they wanted to be part of Russia. It's not going back to Ukraine. I suspect they're going to be very glad that they made that decision when the IMF austerity starts grinding Ukrainians into the ground.

welcome to DU.

a mea culpa saying that having the troops was all his idea, which is true, and any fallout is his fault? Wasn't this billed as a big victory for the people of Crimea?

Just when I thought this thing couldn't get any weirder, now there is backtracking on calling his ally Putin, by the past (or current) Ukrainian president, depending on who's talking.

Life in exile isn't going well for Yanukovych. He may not survive his place as a footnote in history. Literally.

Dipsydoodle, thanks for giving us another angle to the history being made. Lot of drama over there.

I can't help but wonder if modern global communication in past centuries would have recorded such words. And if so many of the world's people watching things play out day by day, would have resulted in more peace.

The naval base is too important to Russia and this locks out interference from Kiev.

It also removes the c. $1 billion a year lease payment due to Kiev and in addition ends the $100 / 1000 cu.meters gas discount to Ukraine which wasn't from Gazprom : was in the form of reduced duty payments from Gazprom to the Russian government.

I would imagine that with a total price now of c. $480 / 1000 cu.meters Ukraine will stop buying and use reserves until the next winter. They do have substantial gas reserve tanks which is part of the raeson for the EU's interest - the EU wnats to use them in the summer months.

I really do fear for the well being of Ukraine's population. I appreciate its only April now but by the end of November they may need to chose between warmth and food. Even with gas back fed from Europe the consumer prices for gas will have increased to approaching cost to Ukraine's government as a requirement of IMF funding - at least twice what consumers pay at present.

Do you think all this, no matter how it was presented in political or othe terms, was inevitable due to decreasing resources and increasing social responsibilities?

IMO, that's how the oligarchs see these things and it determines how they will act on it. They have the hard data to make projections that average people don't have.

With privatization of resources and media, the less information the public receives for informed decisions. They are fed stories, often more fantastic everyday to keep them out of the way of the oligarchs who create 'the news.'

Or to put it another I can remember sitting on canal towpaths fishing invariably wishing I could fish from the other bank which was private land.

Anyway - Whilst I understand Ukraine's wish to access EU goods duty free and access Schengen visas at the same time I'm not too sure they've got the griff on the bi-products.

A condition of bailing them out is that the Hryvna be devalued by letting it float. That will more than offset the duty reduction on EU goods which wasn't /isn't high anyway. So - they'll join the EU trade agreement and pay more for goods than they would've done.

Schengen visas are like holiday visas - 90 days and then go home. That's not 90 days in one country and then hop to another country............its anywhere in the Schengen area and then go home. There is also no permission to work whatsoever.

There is also the issue of employment. Much of Ukraine's industrial output cannot be exported to the EU for reasons of quality and maybe safety too - for whatever reason that doesn't affect current exports to Russia. There will be companies which simply go out of business.

I doubt their public had any idea of the degree to which they've been protected on the subject of gas pricing and the shock may have some side effects like ongoing protests when they feel the pinch.

Given that the total funding requirement to see them safely out the other side , after 10 years or so ? , is foreseen to be $220 billion the servicing and repayment of such debt may have led along the way to the entire country being owned by outsiders.

The oligarchs will become a dying breed there if and when Ukraine gets a government with half a brain. I doubt that will be next time round - more likely whatever follows the time after that.

off topic - Russia said way back that if Ukraine signed the EU agreement they would fence the entire +1400 mile border to prevent EU goods being smuggled into Russia. That would be a significant public works program so at at least it would create employment for some whether they be Ukrainian or Russian. Russia's got the funds to do that - its called the rainy day fund from which the $15 billion they originally offered Ukraine would've come.