A Way Out of the Crisis
In the village of Glebovka, on a road leading to the old hunting grounds of ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, there is a small enclave of villas. Here, in the deep forest by the shores of the Kyiv water reservoir, sits a guest house that belongs to former Rada Deputy Mykola Martynenko, where confidential meetings between Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Ukraine’s wealthiest businessman Rinat Akhmetov took place.
Akhmetov was the chief political partner of Yanukovych and is now tacitly the strongest ally of Yatsenyuk, who faces increasing calls for his resignation. For two years, the prime minister has staunchly supported the interests of Akhmetov, which has brought him into direct conflict with Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshin. One conflict concerns Energorynok, the state company for wholesale trade with electricity, over which Yatsenyuk is considered to have substantial influence. It is alleged to have been paying for electricity produced and consumed in Ukraine’s occupied territories contrary to the restrictions imposed by Ukraine’s National Security Council.
This is just one of many examples of how Yatsenyuk governs the country according to the interests of business clans. During his premiership, Ukraine has failed to dispel the oligarchs’ influence on the economy. The government’s only major accomplishment has been reforms in the gas market, which were carried out by Andriy Kobolev, the head of state energy company Naftogaz Ukraine, and his team, who managed to maneuver and balance the interests of Martynenko, Rada Deputy Ihor Kononenko, ex-Deputy Ihor Eremeev, and oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.
Yatsenyuk has lost the support of the citizens, the Rada, and foreign investors. Still he continues to exercise pressure on the country, threating to pull the People’s Front out of the governing coalition if parliament removes him from office. Early elections that would be called in such a circumstance may not spell trouble for Yatsenyuk’s closest ally, parliamentarian Andriy Ivanchuk, who has already moved his family to Monaco. However, for millions of his compatriots, early elections threaten to halt reforms for several months, break the country’s program with the International Monetary Fund, and reinforce populism and militarization in society.
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/a-way-out-of-the-crisis
= new reply since forum marked as read
But probably not. I'd expect they'd be fighting now, in fact they are a little, now until the ground melts. But the weather is kind of unpredictable too, so ...
I know there were concerns about the winter wheat crop, which has ramifications in MENA and elsewhere.
That OPEC oil deal is not what they say, it is an agreement to maintain production, which is most unlikely to raise prices, there is already a huge glut, and Iran wants to add to it. I can think of various theories about why they might want to do that, maintain the glut, but none of them are particularly convincing. Maybe it's Putin doing a favor to the Sauds to weaken Iran or something, see? Playing them against each other. But no evidence whatsoever for that. All we have is that oxymoronic statement about maintaining production to stabilize prices. Right.
The stock markets have been exciting, I'm glad I'm not involved in that. I think I'd go nuts worrying about it.
But hey, Scalia is dead, he could not have picked a better time to get out of the way, too.
