Ukraine will become a full member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on February 7 2008. Membership of the WTO, an international organisation promoting free trade and the lowering of trade barriers, has long been a key foreign policy objective of the Ukrainian government.
Thirty percent of Ukrainians pay bribes to officials according to a survey released yesterday by Transparency International, the global organisation dedicated to fight corruption. The Global Corruption Barometer placed Ukraine in the second quintile of countries most affected by bribery, along with Lithuania, Moldova, and Serbia. The most corrupt European countries were Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo and Romania.
In the Ukraine, most bribes were paid for educational qualifications, health services, to police and legislators, and to the tax authorities. The survey also revealed that 82 percent of respondents thought corruption in Ukraine would increase or stay the same.
The Ambassador of China to Ukraine was hospitalised yesterday after a Range Rover coming off the pavement smashed into his car near Shota Rustaveli. Kiev’s pavements are commonly viewed as an extra lane by many drivers, particularly those with expensive cars.
Mercer, the consulting arm of Marsh & McLennan, forecasts a 10 percent increase in Ukrainian salaries for 2008. They will however be matched by similar increase in inflation, resulting in no net gain in wealth for workers. The figures were released in the company’s Annual Worldwide Pay Survey, published yesterday.
Those planning a visit to Kiev in the near future should pack extra clothing as the temperature of their hotel room may possibly match that outside. On Tuesday Russian energy giant Gazprom said it will cut gas supplies to Ukraine if it fails to pay $1 billion it owes for supplies. Things could get a little chilly.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Economy has published a report revealing that 39 percent of the country’s economy is operating in the black market. In 2007 it is estimated that a staggering 227 billion dollars of economic activity will be declared and hence not subject to taxation. The report reveals that unrecorded payments of salaries in cash are widespread in businesses of all sizes.
The EU has relaxed visa regulations for Ukrainians, allowing students, children and senior citizens to obtain visas free of charge. The Ukraine dropped visa requirements for European Union citizens in 2005.
Kiev has been ranked the 28th most expensive city in the world for expatriate workers according to a survey released by Mercer, the consulting arm of Marsh & McLennan. Last year the Ukrainian capital was ranked 21st in its Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. Moscow retained its place as the most expensive city in the world.
Ukrainians will celebrate the end of World War II, ‘The Great Patriotic War’, on Wednesday May 9. As is traditional on this public holiday, veterans will march down Khreschatyk watched by thousands of onlookers. Ukraine saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war, with over 7 million Ukrainians losing their lives.
Kiev’s mayor Leonid Chernivitsky has banned the sale of alcohol in city centre shops for the rest of this month. The move comes as a result of drunken behaviour that is occurring in and around the current political demonstrations in the city.