Media blog: Delivery of Western magazines to Ukraine halted over corruption

The first
reaction was to blame suppliers and check subscriptions. But it turns out that it
was frustration with the local business culture that led the leading economic weekly
to stop sending copies to Ukraine.

“They (The
Economist) said that only criminals can do business in our country,” said Anna
Andreyeva, a department head at the All-Ukrainian Subscription Agency, which is
in charge of handling the deliveries. “That is why they wanted to terminate the
contracts,” she added.

Andreyeva
explained that when trying to open their business in Ukraine the Brits were
shocked when the state officials “demanded such sums of bribes that they (the
Economist) grabbed their heads.”

A spokesperson at The Economist said she had no knowledge as to why the magazines had not been delivered and directed the Kyiv Post to its distribution department, which was unable to be contacted by phone.

Nor is The
Economist alone in this predicament. The U.S.-based Harvard Business Review has
run into the same problem, while several French publications stopped delivering
their copies to Ukraine in end-2012 following problems with registration.

While
officials have repeatedly promised to ease procedures and address problems,
analysts and business leaders complain about corporate raiding, pressure from
tax authorities and rampant corruption.

Ukraine was
ranked 137th in the World Bank’s Doing Business rating in 2012. In February the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – Ukraine’s leading financial
investor – warned that the country’s deteriorating business climate could lead
it to limit the scope of its operations, and called on authorities to step up
the fight against corruption.

Andreyeva
said that after long negotiations and correspondence exchange with the managers
of foreign magazines the problem has been practically solved. The Harvard
Business Review has already renewed its deliveries to Ukraine, while The
Economist’s representatives are currently signing agreements.

“Hopefully deliveries
should be renewed in August,” Andreyeva said.

Kyiv
Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can reached at [email protected].