Saturday, January 2, 2016





Yulia Marushevskaya, Odessa Customs Chief













In the absence of real news, there are soap operas, Anna News publishing gossip on Maria Gaidar. While in Odessa, they "facebook"  Yulia Marushevskaya, a young attractive new head of Odessa Customs. She is there to deal with the prosecutor office in Crimea, presumably? That and Saakashvilli zipper stories is what's coming on the top of google searches. This is the "newsporn" where all the advertisement moneys go,

Well, better that than news that so many were killed overnight in Donbas, and so many houses were damaged or destroyed. It still happens (the latter almost daily; fewer die than before but it still happens). Economic pain further away from the border. It does not make it to the mainstream news, and so is essentially invisible.

Marushevskaya is also show-casing (is it "skirt-fronting" or "psaking"?) the anti-corruption reform, for the economically and strategically important port of Odessa and the customs.  This reform is partly funded by the US government, according to BBC.

Presenting high-tech customs system for the port of Odessa. 
It is believed that oligarchs, including  Kolomoiskii,  are interested in controlling the port as well. Here on display is their challenge. (Saakashvilli is the imported regional governor, but the city of Odessa is under Trukhanov, formerly from the pro-Eastern "Party of Regions"--Ahmetov would be a suitable oligarch for that).

Update (January 3): As for Masha ("Nenasha") Gaidar....after hitting the news, she reappeared in a video with Saakashvilli, discussing fighting corruption as it relates to her job....



Затримання в.о. голови департаменту Одеської обладміністрації Марченко за корупцію це далеко не кінець таких заходів. Сьогодні я ще раз поговорив на цю тему з головою СБУ Василем Грицаком, поспілкувався з представниками прокуратури та провів зустріч з главою УВС. Найближчим часом цілий ряд посадовців в Одеській області відчують на собі те, що надалі ми будемо тільки продовжувати закручувати гайки відносно безчесних чиновників. Так ми робили в Грузії і будемо проявляти ще більше нетерпимості до корупції у ввіреній нам області.—Задержание и.о. главы департамента Одесской обладминистрации Марченко за коррупцию это далеко не конец таких мер. Сегодня я еще раз поговорил на эту тему с главой СБУ Василием Грицаком, пообщался с представителями прокуратуры и провел встречу с главой УВД. В ближайшее время целый ряд должностных лиц в Одесской области ощутят на себе то, что в дальнейшем мы будем только продолжать закручивать гайки в отношении бесчестных чиновников. Так мы делали в Грузии и будем проявлять еще больше нетерпимости к коррупции в вверенной нам области.
Posted by Mikheil Saakashvili on Saturday, January 2, 2016


In the video, Saakashvilli mentions his meetings with the heads of SBU, prosecutor office, and police,  and promises that in the near future a number of public servants will feel themselves the effects of the new anti-corruption policies.

Note added: Russia is developing its own high-tech system which allows to trace commercial transactions up the chain quickly. It is not deployed, but planned as a pilot project. That was discussed at the meeting of the Russian President with the so called 'People Front' , November 27, 2015 (video) .


5 comments:

  1. The little hooker has timoshenkoesque style ambitions of getting her tussi to the top of the Ukrop dung heap.

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    1. There must be serious moneys in Odessa customs, Odessa is a major sea port, I would guess various clans would compete for the actual control. I would guess she is a figure-head preventing Ukrop-Kolomoiskii control at this moment. Don't know about her ambitions for the future.

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    2. They plan a showcase, customs and the port

      http://www.port.odessa.ua/index.php/ru/press-tsentr/novosti/port/15368-yu-marushevskaya-prezentovala-proekt-sozdaniya-v-odesskom-portu-otkrytogo-tamozhennogo-prostranstva

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  2. We need to cry for the Ukrainians .

    http://russia-insider.com/en/essay/hey-ukrainian-brothers-you-are-suffering-didnt-we-tell-you-so-russian-blogger/ri10694

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Ukraine is in shambles, and little (if anything) is actually fixed. On pure economic side, it may be a bit better in Odessa than elsewhere, just because it's Odessa. How people feel is hard to know, as there are only censored news.

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