Good for them but not for us – How can the British continue to encourage Ukrainians to work more closely with the EU when many in the UK would vote to leave the EU if given the choice.

This week a former member of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, (1981-89) and former Chancellor of the Exchequer – Nigel Lawson, declared that Britain would be better off OUT of the EU than in it.

See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2320945/The-Euro-charade-Nigel-Lawsons-absolutely-right-The-idea-renegotiate-EU-pure-fantasy--voters-fall-it.html

 

He is the first leading conservative to share his views openly. Many suspect he is just one of thousands of members of the conservative party who share like minded views on Britain’s membership of the EU.  Moreover, many believe that the British Prime Minister David Cameron would be wasting his time in trying to renegotiate the terms of membership of the EU.

 

My opinion is that if the British government were brave enough to offer the British public a vote on EU membership, in answer to the simple question: ‘’Should the UK continue to be a member of the EU – Yes or No’’, the over whelming majority would vote NO

 

Britain’s continuing membership of the EU is going to be one of the most important topics of discussion right up to the next general election in 2015. The increased profile of UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) during the recent county council elections in the UK has further helped to challenge the British government.

 

So, how can the British continue to encourage Ukrainians to forge a deeper relationship with the EU by signing an Association Agreement and free trade agreement later this year?

 

Open for discussion.

Unicredit Bank in Ukraine - Please get things sorted out.

I recently changed banks. But I have lived in Kyiv long enough to know that before making the change I would do plenty of homework. I did the usual of checking with my friends and those who had close contact with the new bank. Questions like: Which is the best branch to open an account? How many staff can speak in English if required? Do they have good on-line and internet banking systems? and many other questions.

So, Unicredit Bank was selected and I quickly opened various accounts with them. I was impressed by how far things have changed inside and in dealing with staff in banks that operate in Ukraine. 

Unicredit group have obviously done a great job in training people in customer care. I was impressed with how they took care of me as a new customer. My new bank cards were issued within a few days and I was supplied with various passwords and codes for internet banking and other activities. Great.

A few days later I decided to activate my internet banking account and went to the Unicredit Bank web site.

Not having the bank as a bookmark on my browser I googled the word 'unicreditbank'

(Try it if you are using Google Ukraine or 'unicreditbank in ukraine' if outside).

It will come up as the first hit.  http://en.unicredit.com.ua/

So, I will now activate my internet account using the passwords etc. After several attempts I assume I must be stupid and not doing it correctly. I eventually give in and call the customer service help line. The operator tells me that I must first go to an ATM and obtain my special codes. No, I inform her that I already have them from the bank. She tells me this is impossible and I should go back to the bank.

I call my contact person at the bank and she tells me that all is OK...just try again. So I try again many times with out success. I call the on-line call centre for help. When the operator asks for my card number, she politely tells me I'm calling the WRONG bank. She claims...''this is Ukrsotsbank' you need to call Unicredit Bank.  I protest. ''But I'm in your web site now.....its says 'Unicredit Bank' on the web site, how can it be wrong?''. She explains that I need to insert the word 'bank' into the URL. This I do and now discover a new web site: http://en.unicreditbank.com.ua/

Ah....so this is MY Unicredit Bank. How can this be? Surely most people make the same mistake?

Later my contact at the bank tells me ''Sorry, most of our customers have the same problem''.

WHAT?

So WHEN will this misunderstanding be corrected.?

Because I have lived here for some time I'm already aware of the long standing intention to merge Ukrsotsbank within the rest of Unicredit group but it is obvious they are taking a VERY long time to bring this about.

So...be careful. You might think you are dealing with Unicredit Bank but really talking to Ukrsots Bank.

What is this doing to damage the brand and image of Unicredit Bank in Ukraine?

The Margaret Thatcher Era 1979-1990. How things changed

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG,OM,PC, FRS, (13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013), was a British politician, the longest-serving (1979–1990) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom    of the 20th century, and the only woman to have held the post. A Soviet journalist called her the ''Iron Lady'', a nickname which became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.  As Prime Minister she implemented Conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.

This is how I remember it.  I remember Maggie Thatcher winning the 1979 election and becoming the first woman Prime Minister in the UK. My immediate reaction was shock and anger that a woman was now about to lead the country and a conservative one at that. As a young somewhat uneducated 21 year old from a staunch labour voting former mining community (it was already a ‘former’ mining community in 1979). At the time I was serving in the British Army and understood or cared very little about politics.

By 1981 I was a student at university reading business studies. The same year Margaret Thatcher had become a very unpopular prime minister. Becoming a student union representative I remember marching with fellow students in London where we all shouted ‘’Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, out’’. I even got to interview the buffoon known as Neil Kinnock. But I became a student because I was hungry to succeed in life and I knew I could only do this through a university education. So I began to read and read and read.

In April 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. I admit to being one of those among the great majority who declared ‘’Where…? What are the Argentinians doing off the coast of Scotland?’’. Most people had no idea where to find the Falklands on a map. Mrs Thatcher dispatched a Task Force to the South Atlantic and it was the Falklands war that transformed her into the kind of leader the country really needed. It was good to be British.

Let’s go back to 1979. The UK had become known as the ‘Sick man of Europe’.

The trade unions controlled just about everything. In 1977 the country had to take a loan from the IMF. The Government still controlled major industries which were very badly managed.  Electricity power cuts were the norm due to industrial action by the miner’s union. Industrial disputes and strikes were common. Trades Union leaders were gaining more control and made increasing demands on the Government. The UK was almost unmanageable. Unemployment was high.

It was not easy being a ‘non-socialist’ student in the city of Sheffield. In fact the city had become known as ‘The Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire’ I had transformed my whole thinking about trade unions and the Labour party and could clearly understand why the country needed to change and the policies being offered by Margaret Thatcher through private enterprise and a free market economy seemed the best way forward for UK plc. Sheffield was a dream world for socialists and many of them were university academics.  On more than one occasion I demanded that lecturers stop talking politics and get on with the lecture, I still needed to understand much more about economics before my final year although it was being taught according to the socialist ideals of the academics. We were required to read a book ‘Public Policy and Administration in the Soviet Union’, because ‘‘you need to understand the alternatives’’.

In 1983 I wrote a ‘readers letter’ to my local newspaper to expressed my concern about the recent activities of the trade unions in the area plus the fact the local Labour controlled authority were blaming the Thatcher Government for just about everything. I explained that I was about to graduate soon, but if I didn’t find a job I would not be blaming the Government of the day in fact I was already tired of trade unions running the country or words to that effect. As a result of the letter being published I was contacted by the local Conservative Association and as the saying goes ‘’the rest is history’. It was the first time a ‘Vote Conservative’ poster appeared in our street. My parents said they were receiving threats about the possibility of bricks being thrown through our windows.

The Conservative party won the 1983 election and Maggie Thatcher was returned to power.   I’m sure the thought of Labour’s Michael Foot as Prime Minister scared most of the electorate.  The transformation of the UK economy and many industries continued. The introduction of the ‘Right to Buy’ council houses was perhaps one of the major benefits taken up by the majority of Labour supporters. The Conservatives continued to break the power of the unions.  A few weeks after graduating from university I quickly found a job. The job included the added benefit of a company car.

The miner’s strike and various protests during 1984 are probably most remembered by anti-Thatcher supporters. Perhaps Maggie Thatcher made a serious error by declaring Arthur Scargill and the miners as the ‘enemy within’. Although the previous Labour government closed more pits than the Conservatives it is Maggie who will be remembered for totally destroying the mining industry.

I remember the period 1984-1989 as an economic boom. In June 1987 Maggie Thatcher and her cabinet were re-elected and returned to power again.  In August the same year I was so confident and motivated I started my own business. My bank agreed to give me a business loan which was 75% guaranteed by the Governments DTI Small firms loan guarantee scheme.  Maggie Thatcher’s vision was for the UK to be transformed into a nation of business leaders and wealth creators. I was now a product of the Thatcher era.

I certainly remember 1989-90 as the economy was looking gloomy again. I remember the interest on my mortgage was at 15%.  Maggie Thatcher was clearly seen as a bully inside her own cabinet of ministers. She remained the only woman in the cabinet and dominated all cabinet meetings. Her ministers were later to ensure that it was time for her to go.   I clearly remember Michael Heseltine challenging Maggie Thatcher in the Conservative Party leadership contest. By this time I was a supporter of Heseltine as he was one of those politicians who had business experience and already a multi-millionaire he was not in the habit of being bullied by Mrs Thatcher. Many people blame Heseltine for her downfall but it was the lack of support from the remaining members of her cabinet that sealed her fate as leader.

Mrs Thatcher certainly aroused opinions. She was liked and disliked in equal proportion. She became a hate figure for those on the Left and many members of the Labour Party.  Perhaps her hatred of socialism and her following of the free market economist Friedrich Haydek were her driving forces towards changing the UK.  I agreed with her on many things but also disagreed on many things but overall I certainly agreed more. Particularly on business matters for example it was her understanding and quite rightly that only businesses created wealth, not governments and the privatisation of state owned industries was one of her best decisions.

During her period in office many public sector controlled services were privatised including British Airways, British Gas, British Steel and British Telecom plus the electricity companies and water and sewerage providers.  The British tax payer was no longer responsible for the large subsidies each one of these services required from the country each year. Today the government no longer has the burden of providing these services to the public. I have yet to find a service delivered by public/civil servants that is better than any provided by the private sector. However I think everyone agrees that the National Health Service would be a step too far towards any further privatisation.

Mrs Thatcher resigned on 22^nd November 1990. Her husband Denis died on 26^th June 2003 he was 88.She leaves a daughter Carol and a son Mark and grandchildren Amanda and Michael Thatcher.Many people report that she started to deteriorate both mentality and physically after the loss of Denis.She will be remembered all around the world. I’m sure a great many people will be paying tribute at her funeral in London tomorrow.

Cyprus Banking Situation

Trouble has been brewing for some time in Cyprus. But trouble is not new in EU countries using the EURO these days. It was anticipated that the ECB and IMF would work out some bail out agreement with Cyprus.

BUT.......who would have thought that part of the bail out would include a levy on all private bank account holders in Cyprus. The shock is being spread around the world. Stock markets across Europe are already down.

Private bank account holders with less than EUR 100,000 will pay a levy of 6.75% of the balance on their account.  Those holding more than EUR 100,000 will pay a higher 9.9%. On which day this will be calculated it is not known. But the levy amount has already been 'protected' to stop people taking all money from their accounts. During the weekend it was reported that many ATM's ran out of cash across Cyprus.

Much has been said about 'all that Russian money' in Cyprus. I'm sure that ECB, EU, IMF teams are fully aware of how much is held in Cyprus by Russians and other foreigners. Over 40% of money deposited in Cyprus is held by 'foreigners'. However I think this figure is too low. This situation could have been solved by an easier solution. If the levy proposal had included 'corporate accounts' it would not have been met with so many if any protests.

Almost ALL money finding its way to Cyprus from Russia and Ukraine is via company transfers. People do not transfer money in a private capacity. In Ukraine it is still illegal for a citizen to hold a bank account in another country without first obtaining permission from the government.

Cyprus has always attracted 'corporate investors' due to its low 10% corporation tax and ease of doing business.

So lets assume that most of the 'Russian money' has found its way to Cyprus via a company transaction.

Some of this money will still be sat in a Cyprus company bank account. (Cyprus company owned by Russians but held in trust by local Cypriot lawyers or accountants or other nominee shareholders and directors). I'm sure some of this money has been paid into 'private accounts' as dividends or via lawyers and accountants fees but not all.  A one off tax levy of 10 or 15% on the corporate sector 'overseas receipts' would have hurt for a short time but would not have been noticed. Who would be listening to the complaints of super rich Russians anyhow?

I cannot imagine that other EU member states will simply ignore what is proposed in Cyprus.

This will be a very interesting week in the EU and beyond.

Ukraine and the EU

Much has been said and much has been written about the signing of the Association Agreement with Ukraine and the EU in 2013.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has assured everyone that ''Kyiv is working to remove the obstacles to the signing of the EU-Ukraine Agreement.'' Plus ''The signing of the Association Agreement and Free Trade Area agreement remains our priority and objective until November 2013.''

(It is expected that the agreement will be signed at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius this November)

The question must be asked, ''who is conning who here?''

Various EU representatives have made it perfectly clear that no agreements will be signed while Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuri Lutsenko remain in prison on what are seen as politically motivated prison sentences.

Maybe Yanukovych really thinks that EU countries will agree to turn a blind eye and ignore what has happened since 2010. Maybe he truly believes this. Maybe he thinks that the EU are so desperate to bring Ukraine under their wing they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.

The year 2013 will prove to be another interesting year in Ukraine.

Treating Ukrainians like Second Class citizens

It's a well known fact that Ukrainian people go through a hard time when they make an application for a visa to visit another country. More so when they want to visit an EU country. Worse still is when they want to visit the United Kingdom.  Much has been written over the years about the conduct of staff employed within Embassy/Visa offices around the world. It is fair to say that many of the people causing the problems are in fact Ukrainian people employed by these 'Visa Offices' in Kyiv. However EU nationals working in these places also must take a share of the blame for the bad reputations these places have developed.
Some of these Embassies/Visa Offices are actually informing Ukrainian citizens that they MUST report back to them when they return to Ukraine to prove they have returned.

The whole system is unfair and treats Ukrainians like second class citizens. Its as though the famous Iron Curtain was still in place. I have great empathy with all Ukrainians who have to go through the system.

A recent article in the Kyiv Post highlights yet again the problems. Quote:

Even those who can prove solid financial backing and who are married to EU citizens can run into problems. 

Kamaliya, the singer-actress married to multimillionaire investor and Kyiv Post publisher Mohammad Zahoor, recently got turned down for a 10-year long-term visa to the United Kingdom. Zahoor, a UK citizen, owns a house in London and his wife, born Nataliia Shmarenkova, has traveled to Great Britain 11 times on eight short-term visas for a total of 72 days since 2005.

Yet she got a two-page rejection letter on Jan. 16 from a UK consular officer in Warsaw, Poland, who concluded that she was attempting to circumvent UK immigration laws and hadn’t provided sufficient financial and other proof that her stays in the UK would be limited to two weeks at a time, as she stated on her visa application.

Zahoor says that his wife will reapply. The UK Border Agency said it does not comment on individual cases. 

See full article: http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukrainians-say-eu-nations-still-too-stingy-with-visas-319317.html

In another case, a British citizen who had been living in Ukraine for many years recently decided to return to live and work in the UK. His wife is Russian citizen (non EU citizen) therefore the UKBA applied the new rules regarding British citizens who return home with a spouse and family. These new rules mean that he had to prove that he was going to have a minimum income of £18,600 plus additional income to show he can support his wife and child. After some considerable delay the family are reunited again in the UK. But it was a worrying time.

Many people are unaware of some of the very crazy EU laws and how they conflict with UK laws.
A citizen of an EU country can go and live with his/her family in the UK without any special requirements.
This is EU law. The right to live anywhere in the EU. However immigration is a bad word these days in the UK and the British public are cautious about the new rights to be given to Bulgarian and Hungarian citizens later in 2013. The fear is that many of these citizens will be opting to live in the UK to 'enjoy' the generous state benefits to which they will be entitled. Try reading the Daily Mail each day and you will become aware.

However, in contrast to all this I was recently remind of the power of the 'Investment Visa', which many rich Ukrainian and Russian citizens are obtaining via the £1 million route to enter and live in the UK.
On a flight from Kyiv to London I met a Ukrainian man who tells me that he flies from Kyiv to London each Friday and back to Kyiv on Mondays. His wife, her mother and their young child all live in London thanks to the £1 million Investor visa system. They had no problems with getting a visa and have no problems with the UKBA.

Unfair system? - You bet.

Happy New Year & Happy Christmas in Ukraine

The long silence as been due to my winter exit from Ukraine to the warmer shores of Sri Lanka.
Today is Christmas Day (Orthodox) 7th January and many of us celebrate this day also.
I'm beginning to think that so many of my friends and Ukrainians decided to so the same this year and come to Sri Lanka to escape the winter. My Sri Lanka 'escape town' of Hikkaduwa has been invaded this year with Russians and Ukrainians on holiday.
Slavonic people are demanding customers these days and its obvious that the Sri Lankans are not used to dealing with people who complain about the food and service.
About time too I think as Sri Lankans have had an easy time of looking after the quieter Western Europeans (British, Germans, etc) who do not complain so much.

My message to Ukrainian tourists is.....keep up the good work. Things only change when people complain and/or take action.

Just a pity Ukrainians could not bring about some more important changes back in Ukraine.