Our economy is the concentrated expression of politics. Political affiliation enables oligarchs to raid and mercilessly use economic sectors to the detriment of the nation and the state, directing cash flows to their pockets, bypassing the state treasury. Unfortunately, despite the Revolution, war, debts, and loans, it is still so, perhaps, even in more cynical and brazen way.
I am, as it´s said in the West, a self-made man. I made myself and established NIBULON which for 25 years has gone through all the stages of the struggle against the oligarchs who considered Ukraine their hunting areas where one either kills or grabs. Yes, they hunted us too. But we survived, and then we believed that the cynical lawlessness will never happen again in our country; there was one unwritten law: if one cannot grab, one must destroy business, industry, economy.
The most unquenchable thirst is greed for gain. I have to admit that corruption has not disappeared, it has “changed clothes”. Corruption in the Parliament is a separate problem. This is when the oligarchs or the financial and industrial groups “bring their own” deputies to the legislative branch or buy votes, if necessary, and make agreements to exchange of or “rent for a while” deputies so they vote for the right. What is the purpose? It happens in order to “push” a necessary decision that will enable one to grab the country officially and remain unpunished, as everything is “in accordance with the law”.
Today, political corruption became even bolder and more cynical; you cannot understand at once who is who. Corruptionists pretend to be patriots, and pose their business interests as the state ones. This is what happened with the package of draft laws on inland water transport of Ukraine.
These laws are initially corruptive; they were trying to “sell a pup” to the Parliament quickly with the help of PR and to adopt them, given that the majority of members of the Parliament are far from this issue. Perhaps, only our position has not allowed doing so.
In view of the incompetence of the People’s Deputies, a group of co-authors of the package of draft laws, including the deputy from Mykolaiv Borys Kozyr, as well as people´s deputy from Odessa Ihor Urbanskyi, is trying to present their legislative work as a breakthrough in organization of inland river transportation in Ukraine as a future paradise for shipowners and cargo owners. Nothing of the sort! It’s a trap and one isn’t trying to put cheese in it but a wrap.
The basic idea of four draft laws is to introduce an additional tax, to create “River Authority”, an analogue of the Sea Ports Authority, and to open the gates of the Ukrainian rivers for foreign second-hand – worn out ships which are not wanted there but can work for their masters here. Most of this floating junk used to be vessels of the Ukrainian fleet but they were moved to offshore zone beforehand. Their true masters are still here and are trying to rob the country completely. A former bulk carrier ¨Yurii Makarov¨, named after the legendary director of Chornomorskiy shipbuilding yard in Mykolaiv – the largest one in the USSR. It was built for the state money, and now Ukraine has not such a bulk carrier, and there is no such name. It was quietly sold and renamed, so there will remain no memory of the Ukrainian shipbuilding. The former cargo ship “Yurii Makarov” is “Sea Leader” now (home port is Valletta) and it operates in Russia. But the idea of the authors of the draft laws is “deeper” – such vessels under “beneficial” flags, unlike the vessels under Ukrainian flag, will not pay taxes. Is it beneficial to Ukraine? Who does need the floating offshore? Kozyr and the company need, but the state doesn’t. 
The second “know-how” of river legislators is introduction of river authority.  It will concentrate a new tax, the river due, on its accounts, bypassing the budget. Thus, one robbed the Ukrainian ports with the help of Sea Ports Authority (USPA) and decided to get to rivers. Creating the USPA, one said the same fine and right words, as they are doing today in order to convince us of the need to create its river clone. At present, Sea Ports Authority is a dirty definition. Each port, each port city knows that billions pumped out of the ports, most of which are still state-owned, will not be returned to the ports, even for berth repair and depths maintenance.
At present, Borys Kozyr has to admit that USPA is a monster, mired in corruption scandals and has made the Ukrainian ports the most expensive ones for ship calls, thereby uncompetitive. Who is saying this?! This is the former deputy head of the Sea Ports Authority on economic issues. This position was held by Borys Kozyr in 2014. I would like to ask, what happened? Did he see the light. I am sure that the reason is different. Port workers and local authority set themselves against the USPA, which has discredited itself completely as a tool in hands of a group of people. The owners have realized: it is necessary to “wash away” exhausted and run away – with the money that pumped of the Ukrainian economy for many years. They decided to create the same financial funnel, but the river one. Do you understand the essence? The names are different, but the pockets are the same.
Borys Kozyr says that the reason for the failure of the USPA is the poor personnel policy. I want to ask: who shaped and who is shaping the human resources policy, which appointed him to that post? It is definitely not the Ministry of Infrastructure. Even the acting Minister Volodymyr Omelian finds out about the appointment of top managers in the USPA from the Internet. It happens because financial and industrial group of Akhmetov takes decisions in the Authority, bypassing the Ministry.
Recently, Minister of Infrastructure Omelian has stated that the SE “Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trading Port” can stop its operation because of problems with the depth; it is caused by mistakes in the management of the company and the negative natural factors. The USPA almost simultaneously with the Minister promised to turn this port “into the raid hub” with an annual cargo handling capacity of 1 million tons.
We have talked for many years about the fact that the USPA is a ministry in a ministry. Officially, it’s a state enterprise, but, in fact, it’s a private shop for the use of public funds for their own purposes. By the way, monthly wage of the head of the department comprises UAH 200 thousand.  The total number of employees at the USPA is 8 thousand people. Can you imagine the crowd which has stuck to our natural resources?  
At present, Borys Kozyr, criticizing the USPA, allegedly empathizes with local communities of the port cities which receive only damaged roads from the ports. Let’s see how the people’s deputy “takes care” of local communities in riverine towns and villages in his “river” draft laws. So, the local authorities, which have been told about decentralization for already 2 years, will be deprived of the right to approve the construction of berths, allotment of land to construct infrastructure facilities in case of the adoption of this law. All these will be approved only by the Ministry.
That is, the local communities will be confronted with an accomplished fact of intensive centralization instead of the promised decentralization.  That is, they promise the universal prosperity, but, in fact, there are completely different principles and mechanisms put in laws.
Therefore, the mayors of Kaniv, Cherkasy, Kremenchuk, Kherson and Mykolaiv sent a joint letter to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, where they have expressed their disagreement with this draft law.
Let’s talk about the river due. It allegedly should replace the fees for locking, raise of drawbridges, reduce the canal dues.  But we pay a lot of other charges: administration and sanitary dues, unified social tax, rental fee for water use, oil products excise tax, services of the Vessel Traffic Management System… The result is the lie: transportation by rivers will become more expensive for domestic Ukrainian cargo carriers, instead of promised cheapening. The foreigners will not pay the taxes. This is about patriotism. One more thing: we love and honour our state flag during celebrations and holidays. Let’s defend it in the economic field, and not “to rent” it in favor of foreign flags.
I understand that the authors of the draft laws figure on the fact that no one will “split hairs” before its adoption. Then it will be too late. Not only did we “split hairs”. The authoritative Association of Shipbuilders Ukrsudprom has sharply opposed the adoption of “river” draft laws in this version. “The given draft laws are presented as very progressive ones, which must support and bring both construction and use of river transport to completely new level, but it isn’t consistent with the reality”,   said in a statement of the Association, which asked the Speaker of the Parliament to return these draft laws to the relevant committee for the serious revision.  
Why do shipbuilders also against the package of “river laws”? They understand that they will completely damage Ukrainian shipbuilding. In accordance with these draft laws, Ukrainian shipbuilders will pay taxes for components, for any other parts, income tax, include personal income tax, unified social tax, etc. in wage.  Foreign vessels registered in the offshore zones will pay nothing of that sort. If the changes are adopted, there will be any economic expediency to construct and repair vessels in Ukraine. It will be easier to re-register vessels under a flag of the state with the lowest taxes, in offshore zones, and to use them in Ukraine without paying the lion’s share of taxes and charges. Therefore, the Association of Shipbuilders spoke so sharply but fair enough: “Such innovations will lead to destruction of shipbuilding in Ukraine”.
I will be told: where is the shipbuilding industry? What is left of it?  The authors of the draft law are trying to inspire this idea to people who are far from this sector of economy. NIBULON has built its cargo fleet at its own shipbuilding yard (54 units). In terms of cooperation with the European Investment Bank and the EBRD, it is planned to build 15 vessels of the fleet per year with the assistance of the dying Shipyard named after 61 Communards in Mykolaiv and Kherson State Plant Pallada, etc. It would enable one to create 8 thousand workplaces.  There is an opportunity to revive the domestic shipbuilding industry, and shipbuilders are await,   but lobbyists of foreign interests in the Parliament are not interested in this.
Let’s see who these lobbyists are. They are Kononenko, Urbanskyi,  Burbak and so on. Kozyr and Urbanskyi are the key players in the promotion of these draft laws; thus, they, unlike many other people involved in the process, clearly understand what we are going to have as the result. But both of them have offshore companies in maritime transport. They will get personal benefits if they create conditions for shadow business in river transport. Because of such laws, the fact that it will be shadow is obvious.
Ukrrichflot is another interested party. Its owners are Kostiantyn Hryhoryshyn and Yuliia Levochkina.  It isn’t difficult to guess who will be at the head of “River Authority” in case of its creation and how will it affect the work of the Ukrainian companies. In essence, one wants to transform the state monopoly on water transport of Ukraine into the monopoly of oligarchs.
I would like to emphasize that NIBULON has worked in the period of different regimes and laws. We not only survived, but we have been developing all the time and have been developing the economy of Ukraine, as the interests of NIBULON have never contradicted the state ones. Therefore, I call on the people’s deputies of Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, and Kyiv region, the honest people’s deputies for whom motherland and the state interests are not just empty words.  Take a deliberate decision and return them for revision.  We have already lost, gave away, and bargained away a lot. The real patriotism is preservation and enhancement of the national economy.
I trusted the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, who had been talking about revival and development of Ukrainian shipbuilding and Ukrainian rivers during his working visits to NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard in Mykolaiv. I still believe. Therefore, our company has performed dredging operations on the Southern Buh River by itself.
When I had to talk to Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman, he asked me how one can help us. I replied that I and our company don’t need any help; one needs to help Ukraine and its economy.
I want to be heard. For me, for NIBULON, the state interests are our interests because we don’t separate ourselves and our business from the public interests. Today, we defend the interests of Ukraine rather than the interests of a separate group of people used to live at its expense.
If these laws are adopted, I will lose hope that one can change something in Ukraine.
 
Oleksiy Vadaturskyy