The last week saw a mix of successes and failures for the Ukrainian parliament.
According to political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, Ukraine’s lawmakers had “a week of silent reforms and careful steps.” Parliament failed to fulfill several requirements of the International Monetary Fund, voting not to include a special
confiscation bill on the agenda, and prolonging the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land.
However, the Rada did manage to vote to increase wages for teachers and free charity organizations from a tax on donations made by cell phone.
No land market
The Ukrainian parliament approved a bill prolonging the ban on the sale of agricultural land until January 2018 on Oct. 6. With that decision, supported by 297 votes, the country’s lawmakers failed to satisfy one of the International Monetary Fund’s requirements for further cooperation, according to the information published by Concorde Capital investment company review of the IMF memorandum, published on Oct 4.
As the IMF noted in its second review, published on Oct. 3, of the memorandum signed with Ukraine in September, in order to pass the next review in February 2016, Ukraine still needs to make several steps including the free agricultural market launch.
But with the extension of the moratorium by over a year, farmland will still be banned from sale and may only be rented. Fesenko told the Kyiv Post that Rada was forced to postpone the decision on a free market for lands due to high public and political pressure.
“This doesn’t mean Ukraine won’t get the new loans,” said Fesenko. “A free land market was not a strict demand. They just couldn’t vote in any other way, because of a farmers’ protest and fears that some political forces in Rada could use the issue to start yet another political crisis.”
The analyst said Ukrainian farmers just don’t have enough money to buy the land plots they currently rent, and are afraid to lose their land to agricultural corporations.
“They think they would be simply forced to sell their plots. And some politicians use this fear to raise their own popularity ratings,” said Fesenko.
Indeed, Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko threatened to call for a referendum and launch public protests by farmers across the country if parliament failed to prolong the moratorium, which first started in 2001.
“The government is afraid of public protests. I would call this bill a joint victory for Batkivschyna and Ukrainian villagers,” Tymoshenko wrote in a message on the party’s official website posted on Oct.6.
Higher wages for teachers
Parliament also gave initial approval to big hikes in teachers’ salaries, with 277 Ukrainian lawmakers voting for a new bill on education at first reading on Oct. 6. According to the bill, teachers’ salaries will be increased to three minimum wages. As of May 1, the minimum wage in Ukraine was Hr 1,450 ($56). The bill also suggests that Ukrainian schools will have to shift to a 12-year education cycle (instead of the current 11-year one) starting from Sept. 1 2018.
More funds for roads
Parliament on Oct. 6 approved at first reading a bill to launch a special fund that will address the needs of the nation’s vast road network. Some 288 lawmakers voted to support the bill, which will help create a fund to pay for repairs to Ukraine’s crumbling roads. The money for the fund will be collected from special taxes paid by the owners of trucks that weigh more than 40 tonnes, a special tax on oil and gas product imports, and other sources.
Ukraine’s poor-quality roads trouble not only citizens and tourists, but also experts from the World Economic Forum. According to the Global Competitiveness Report published by the organizers of the Davos Economic Forum, Ukraine’s roads are some of the worst in the world, with Ukraine ranked 132nd out of 138 countries this year for the state of its road network. At least 35 percent of the funds will be allocated at the local government level, while 60 percent will be used to fix national highways.
No taxes on charity SMSs
The bill that cancels taxes on the sending of telecommunication messages for charity was also approved by the Rada on Oct. 6. A common way for Ukrainians to give to charity is via SMS – sending a text message that donates a certain portion of the funds on their cell phone account charity. However, according to Olga Kudinenko, the head of Ukraine’s Tabletochki charity fund, these messages were subject to a 45 percent tax.
