Wednesday 27 March 2013

Cypriot crisis and Ukraine

Big economical crisis dominates in Cyprus in the last weeks and Cypriot financial-banking system is the reason of its crisis. It's not a secret that Cyprus was and is one of the offshore zones in the world for many years. Many prosperous persons and oligarchs mainly from non-EU member countries like to open banking accounts and to register branch enterprise or to buy created offshore firms in Cyprus to conceal real size of their riches and to avoid tax payments in their own countries. And Ukrainian prosperous people and oligarchs also liked to have banking account or offshore firm in that EU country, but not only in Cyprus, of course. In general Ukrainian oligarchs like to have little known firms in the different offshores and to open the accounts and to put many cash there. And such love of Ukraine's rich persons to offshores became real tragedy for Ukrainian state and economics. Why? Many Ukraine's state enterprises were artificially done bankrupts or very tortious and then were sold to the oligarchs-friends of Ukraine's state power at  low costs. And then the oligarchs re-registered that bought ex-state enterprises in the offshores, so the enterprises' profit doesn't come into Ukrainian state treasury and doesn't develop Ukraine. Even more, Ukrainian oligarchs and prosperous people cashout from Ukraine and put their money of dubious origin on their accounts in offshore banks and very often in Cyprus banks. Bank of Cyprus opened its branches in Ukraine in 2010. Cyprus was named the main investor of Ukrainian economics in 2011 and 2012, but Ukrainians understand that it doesn't mean Cypriots, who invested in Ukraine, but it means Cyprus offshore firms, which real proprietors are Ukrainian citizens, of course, rich and very rich Ukraine's citizens. That's why Ukrainian journalists name these investors so-called "foreign" investors from Cyprus.Thus, Ukraine paid 29,1 billions hryvnyas to that Cypriot investors in 2012 according to the information in February's interview of 2013 year of Ukraine's minister Oleksandr Klymenko in Ukrainian newspaper "Dzerkalo tyzhnya" (The Mirror of the Week"). Because of Ukrainian bad system of double taxes all profit of so-called Cyprus investors come back in Cyprus and Ukrainian treasury has no profit from the activity of "Cypriot" firms in Ukraine. And earlier, in 2011, so-called Cyprus investors "invested" $14,5 billions in Ukrainian economics and Ukrainian investors also "invested" 90,8% of all Ukraine's foreign investions in Cyprus in 2011 according to the information of i.Press.ua agency, taken from Ukrainian State Service of Statistics. What a great investors' friendship between Cyprus and Ukraine, You know! Unfortunately, simple Ukrainians didn't feel any advantage of this Cypriot-Ukrainian economic friendship of the last years. Probably the pockets of Ukrainian oligarchs took advantage of that friendship, yes?  
So Ukrainian cash just escapes from Ukraine to offshore banks instead of be invested in Ukraine's economics, and often there are state money, which were stolen and taken abroad illegally. At the same time many Ukrainians can't find the job and have no money to buy needful goods, medicines...How many money were stolen from Ukrainian state by oligarchs and were put into foreigh banks...
So I would like to ask Cypriots the next questions. Why are you going to the meetings now? Why didn't you go to the meetings against your shameful financial-banking system on the beginning of its creation? Was it very comfortable to be rich country thanks to banking accounts with money of dubious origin and to offshore firms of the foreign oligarchs in your state? Did you think sometimes about other nations and their countries, from where stolen money were put on Cypriot banking accounts?
I would like to ask the management of European Union some questions too. Cyprus is EU member country since May, 2004 and Ukraine is constantly criticized by different EU politicians and EU management that Ukraine isn't democratic or isn't more developed state, or Ukrainian citizens don't change the situation in the country and why they don't, or Ukraine isn't so wonderful as European Union is and how far Ukrainian state is from EU in economic sense of the development, and etc. But hey, hey, hey! Why didn't EU management say anything about present Cypriot financial-banking system during many years? Why did EU agree that the cash of very dubious origin were put in Cypriot banks from non-EU member countries and the offshore fictitious firms were created by foreign oligarchs in Cyprus? And is any right in European Union to say then "we are nice organization, and Ukraine is bad"?
And in the end. Offshore zones are evil in the modern world and if there are really honest world politicians, who want social justice in the world and want to surmount huge growing poverty and big difference between economic developments of world states, so these politicians must destroy offshore zones as the places of location of the cash, stolen from this or that world country.       

Sunday 24 March 2013

Pope Francis - newly elected Pope

On March 13th, 2013 world learnt the name of new Pope - Papal Conclave chose and announced Archbishop and Cardinal of Argentina Jorge Mario Bergoglio as 266th Pope. New Pope chose papal name Francis in the honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.When present Pope was Argentinian bishop and then Argentinian archbishop and cardinal, he cared about poor, sick and needy people like St.Francis of Assisi during his life, and that's why Jorge Mario Bergoglio decided to choose such papal name, besides it he is the first Pope Francis in the history of Catholic Church. Living in Buenos Aires, cardinal Bergoglio visited squalid people in poor quarters, sick persons in the hospitals, orphans in the orphanages, elderly persons in care homes, jailed people in the prisons, and becoming the Pope he appealed the Church and the world to care more about poor and needy humans. Pope Francis showed his modesty in all his papal decisions from the first days on the Pope's throne, because Pope Francis even refused from papal throne and ordered to put him simple chair instead of throne! Pope Francis has already said that he would like to serve people and to be closer to them, being the Pope. And when Pope Francis was Argentinian Archbishop, he was also named the ordinary of Eastern Catholics, lived in Argentina, and he also had good relations with the minorities of another Christian confessions and other religions in Buenos Aires.
So I can only say how much I'm happy that such kind, sage, modest and careful cardinal as cardinal Bergoglio was elected the Pope. And as Ukrainian Greek Catholic I'm very happy that Pope Francis was the ordinary of Argentina Eastern Catholics earlier.
And yesterday's meeting in Italian Castel Gandolfo between two Popes - Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was the great and really historic event in the history of the humanity! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufwyfr1otHk Let God bless these two Popes and give them strong health and many years of the life! And let God give Pope Francis force to lead Catholic Church in the best way!