Yushchenko pushes reforms

By Aussiegirl

At the recent economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, Yushchenko decried the "deeply currupt" regime in Ukraine and vowed to tackle this "complex...but not incurable problem" and make it his number one target.

At a dinner in with fellow delegates, Yushchenko remarked about the lamentable ubiquity of bribery in present-day Ukraine by cracking a joke, "In 2005 business people will have to make another entry on their balance sheets: 'saved expenses by not giving bribes to Ukrainians'".


He said it was a disgrace that 50% of the country's economy was "in the shadow" - failing to "pay a penny" in taxes that could be spent on social programs and infrastructure.

He acknowledged that although European membership was his goal it was still a long way off.

He urged businesses "to visit, to invest, to help us become a strong country". Mr Yushchenko promised businesses lower taxes and "no prosecution", a not too subtle reference to the recent jailing of the head of Yukos and the seizing of its assets by Putin.

He further pledged reforms of the health and pension systems as well as an independent judiciary and press freedom, although he noted that currently Ukraine's media were controlled by just "two or three
powerful families. (Welcome to the club -- Ukraine obviously has its own version of CBS, ABC and NBC).

Yushchenko made light of his recent brush with death through poisoning when he insisted on clinking his glass with everybody at the table, saying with a big grin, "Clinking glasses was invented in Kyiv hundreds of years ago...by clinking glasses heavily, drops would be exchanged, ensuring that no one would not be poisoned."