Such is Life in Ukraine

By Walter Kish

A number of things in the past several weeks brought home to me some of the harsh realities of living in Ukraine today. For the common person, the most difficult blow was the sudden increase in the cost of communal services (komunalni posluhy). This monthly fee covers the cost of maintenance, infrastructure, garbage removal and other miscellaneous services provided to people who live in the large communal apartment blocks that are the norm for the majority of Ukraine’s urban population. Although Ukrainians have become used to prices going up on almost everything over the past few years, these latest increases were shocking to say the least – 100%, 200%, even more than 300% in some cities. In most cases, little justification for the increase was provided. 

Needless to say, the moves produced a visceral outcry from the masses already struggling on low wages or fixed pensions. These increases are particularly galling in that the tenants of the vast majority of these buildings see little in terms of services for the money they shell out each month. The condition of most of these tenement buildings is abysmal and one can only categorize them as slums. Driveways, yards, entranceways, hallways and exteriors look as if they haven’t had maintenance in decades, never mind years. Windows and doors remain perpetually broken, hallways are unlit and dingy, and potholes just keep sinking deeper. Water main ruptures are common and power outages are a fact of life, as most of the plumbing and wiring is either ancient or of poor quality or inadequate standards. 

Most tenants believe that their monthly payments simply disappear into the pockets of the bureaucrats responsible for tenant services. As a result, there is now a widespread informal movement or “strike” to withhold these monthly payments, and municipal authorities are getting desperate with cash flows drying up. They have gone so far as to take out “ads” on radio and television urging citizens to do their civic duty and pay up. The national government and the Prime Minister have taken notice of the uproar and are making a show of cracking down on local authorities responsible for unjustified increases. Opposition politicians in Parliament are understandably making political hay over the issue, hammering the government for falling asleep at the wheel. Whatever short-term resolution is struck, the problem of obsolete and crumbling housing infrastructure will continue to remain a major headache for the government for the foreseeable future.

Another political faux-pas occurred a couple of weeks ago when a prominent Donetsk municipal politician and member of Yanukovich’s Regions party made some intemperate public remarks denigrating the Ukrainian language as being simply a degenerate form of Russian. This kind of Russian chauvinism is common in eastern Ukraine, however Yanukovich has been making a concerted PR effort since coming to power to project himself and his party as being all-inclusive, politically correct and professional, and this kind of boorish outburst certainly does not help. Yanukovich’s own skill in the Ukrainian language has improved considerably over the past year, and he has made a concerted effort to speak mostly Ukrainian in public and in the media. It is therefore curious that the Regions party has been slow in condemning the culprit and distancing itself from his offensive remarks.

Lastly, I must make note of the fact that Ukraine celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8. Huge quantities of flowers and chocolate were sold, concerts and festivities held, endless praise was publicly lavished on the fairer sex and everyone had the day off from their regular toils. Overlooked, as usual, was the fact that women in Ukraine continue to suffer systemic discrimination and are sorely lacking in terms of economic, social and political clout. As one Ukrainian paper pointed out, of the 450 members of Parliament, only a miniscule 5% are women. Compare that to the 47% in Sweden, 40% in Cuba, 30% in China or even the 25% in mostly Muslim Turkmenistan, and Ukraine’s record is shameful.

Men in Ukraine earn more than one and a half times as much income on average as women, even though more women complete higher education than men. Women have it tougher in one other major way – there are over 1.8 million single parent families in Ukraine where the head of the household and sole breadwinner is a woman.

I think it fair to say that Ukrainian women deserve more than just flowers and a day off.