'Vital Litmus Test'

Politics of plunder redux

Legislation to regulate the banking sector is a litmus test in many ways.

Ukrainian taxpayers have footed the $20 billion bill for bailing out the country’s biggest banks since as long as I can remember, much of it loaned to crooked governments by the International Monetary Fund.

So, passing the law is important.

Sordid chains of events involving previous IMF bailouts of Ukraine raise two unanswered questions: Does it make sense to lend money to a nation whose leadership cannot properly manage it? Why haven’t law enforcers issued an arrest warrant for Ihor Kolomoisky?

Either the president saves the country, or the president saves the mono-majority, which has already crumbled. If the president decides that it is necessary to save the country, then it is necessary to immediately introduce the banking sector bill and vote on it. Otherwise, Ukraine will have to declare itself bankrupt and default. - former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said on Friday in Kyiv.

In lending Ukraine more money, the IMF says it is playing the doctor in treating a sick economy – not the police in ensuring that the money is spent properly.

The country desperately needs a financial cop walking the beat. The problem is, there is no such officer around.

(to be continued)