Social movement “Ukraine without oligarchs”: the priority of the state is not GDP, but the development and growth of the well-being of people!

Restoration of justice and access to public goods is the main goal of the political movement “Ukraine without oligarchs”.

The leader of the social movement “Ukraine without oligarchs” Maxim Golosnoy, together with his colleagues, spoke in the press-center “Informator” about his goals and the way to achieve them.

Six months ago on “Informator FM” Maxim Golosnoy raised the question of the necessity of Ukraine’s transformation. He spoke about the implementation of the experience of the Arab Emirates, Norway in terms of proportional distribution of profits from natural resources. “Old-style politicians are not capable of such transformation. And if we want to achieve it, we have to do it alone, together with like-minded people who supported me in recent years and did not change their principles, with those who are tired of playing by others’ rules”, – Maxim Golosnoy stressed.

The priority of the state is not GDP, but the development and growth of people’s well-being!

Public figure Vyacheslav Gorobets presented his vision of solving social and economic problems, based on the experience of other countries.

“Ukraine needs a political force that is not connected with oligarchs and supported and financed by Ukrainians themselves. Its goal must be to build a state where people come first. Not the market, not the corporations, not the GDP, but people, the improvement of their lives, the growth of their prosperity and security, and most importantly, prosperity for future generations. There is only one way to achieve this: by restoring people’s access to public goods, by establishing the primacy of public interest over private interest. A clean environment, free education and health care, a decent standard of living, guaranteed pensions, support for the birth and education of children, investment in scientific progress. The main goal must be the creation of a society of self-sustaining, healthy, educated people. Only in this way will we be able to increase national prosperity and protect our country. It is the duty of the state to create the conditions of life and development for its citizens, not to displace them by poverty. This is exactly the crime that is happening today,” says Vyacheslav Gorobets.

The state should not be explained by the “laws of the free market”, Vyacheslav says. “We are told that the “laws of the free market” do not allow this. But the market is not a priority, nor can it be. The priority is the welfare of citizens. If reforms make the rich richer and the poor – poorer, why do we need such reforms and such a markets? – says Vyacheslav Gorobets.

To make public goods available to all, society should begin investing in itself. We need other investments: not in gambling, not in selling land, not in plundering the remaining state property. We need investments that increase people’s comfort of living and working, in cooperation, in infrastructure and innovation. We need other indicators of development. Instead of GDP and mythical economic growth, which destroys society and the environment, we should focus on the growth of living standards.”

As Vyacheslav Gorobets pointed out, Ukraine’s economic model today consists of exploiting mineral resources, turning them into private property, and taking the money abroad, in return for loans that will become a burden on future generations.

“That is not a market, that is neo-colonial robbery. All the money from the sale of natural resources must remain in Ukraine, be used for its development. And all debts, loans from the IMF and other transnational structures should be divided among those who agreed to receive them. They and their relatives should pay with their property and savings.

Energy infrastructure should be returned to state and collective ownership. Those who did not build this infrastructure have no right to use it. Strategic companies that have been devalued into private ownership should be nationalized. These crimes have no statute of limitations. And there is nothing wrong with nationalization itself. Great Britain, South Korea and Poland, as well as other European countries that value national interests over free-market doctrines, have gone this route.

They tell us that the state is an inefficient owner. This is a lie! This is proven by the experience of other developed countries. The form of ownership does not matter. Both private and state-owned enterprises are run by people, by efficient or inefficient managers. The only question is how to keep the efficient ones by putting in the inefficient ones.

Private ownership makes sense where it adds value without reducing the quantity and quality of public goods, and not at the expense of the people’s assets, state property, and budgetary resources. But through innovation, processing and improvement of logistics. In all other cases, the state can do without them – it is only a question of political will,” Vyacheslav Gorobets is sure.

Ukraine’s three evils: oligarchs, offshore companies and usurers

Journalist Olena Harahuts: We want to remove three evils from Ukraine: oligarchs, offshore companies and usurers.

“To find out who the oligarchs are, we can take the ratings of influence and wealth and compare them. People who top both rankings are oligarchs. You can do deoligarchization with all the proletarian hatred or limit their influence with the help of anti-corruption legislation,” she said.

Olena Haragutz gave an interesting statistic. According to her, in 2017, among profitable companies in Dnipropetrovsk region, 32% were offshore companies. In Odessa region it was 32%, in Vinnytsia region – 29%, in Lviv region – 11%. “These figures show how capital and money are being flushed out of Ukraine. We will fight this. Moreover, offshore companies are often Russian capital, capital from the occupied territories that wishes to be legalized in Ukraine,” the journalist pointed out.

Olena Harahuts criticized the government program 5-7-9. “In fact, it is not a support for entrepreneurs. Banks give loans at their own interest rates (e.g. 28%). Entrepreneurs pay off 5-7-9% of it, while 19-21-23% is paid by the state budget. That is, this program is a support for commercial banks. We don’t need such usury, such financial casino,” she stated.

Will we see a Ukraine without oligarchs? It depends on us.

Maxim Golosnoy is sure that the oligarchs are the main problem of modern Ukraine. “They create their own political projects, appoint members of the government, prepare key candidates for the presidency of Ukraine. They influence absolutely all vectors of Ukraine’s development. Oligarchic control of the energy sector has led to exorbitant tariffs. Oligarchs dream of selling Ukrainian land at a time of war and political crisis. We can clearly see how things are in Ukraine with the oligarchs. This is a country where old-fashioned politicians call the oligarchs and wish each other a happy birthday. They know each other well. The development of Ukraine is possible only if it is deoligarchized. What Ukraine can be without oligarchs, we have a chance to see thanks to your support!” – said the head of the social movement “Ukraine without Oligarchs“.

As Informator reported earlier, in 2015 Maxim Golosnoy was elected head of the village of Elizavetivka. In 2016, the village council conducted the first environmental audit in the history of Ukraine in rural areas and the results did not please. None of the more than 10 enterprises located on the territory of the village allowed the researchers to enter their territory. As a result of long negotiations, a well-established monitoring system using installed video cameras and patrolling the territory by drones, the village council was able to persuade the main polluters not only to comply with the environmental legislation of Ukraine, but also to invest in the repair of the village’s ambulance and infrastructure within the framework of a social partnership.

In 2017, thanks to the efforts of Maxim Golosnoy, illegal extraction of sand and water was stopped, and villagers gained unhindered free access to all the beaches of the Blue Lake. Residents of the village were exempted from paying for entry into the Blue Lake, while residents of Kamenske and Dnipro were forced to suffer from illegal extortion with the tacit consent of law enforcement bodies.

In 2019, Maxim Golosnoy voluntarily resigned as chairman of the local council. He gives the reasons here. During the incomplete cadence of Maxim Golosnoy in the village of Elizavetivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, they were the first who decided to conduct an unusual experiment – filling the village budget with cryptocurrency transactions, without obtaining budgetary funds. At the end of 2018, each villager received his share of the unconditional basic income in cryptocurrency. The project was implemented without obtaining budgetary funds. During the years when Maxim Golosnoy headed the Elizavetivka local council, street lighting was created in the village and garbage collection was established. All schoolchildren in Elizavetivka have 24/7 insurance that covers the cost of treating all domestic traumas and the 10 most common diseases among schoolchildren. And each school graduate in Elizavetivka receives a one-time financial aid in the amount of 3 to 13 thousand.