By Serhiy Vovk, "Parlimentary lobbying. Sometimes corridors end in a wall"
Invest-Gazeta, Kiev, Ukriane, in Russian 30 Mar 04; p 8, 9
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Apr 02, 2004

The following is the text of the article by Serhiy Vovk, published in the Ukrainian business weekly Invest-Gazeta on 30 March under the title "Parliamentary lobbying. Sometimes corridors end in a wall":

In Ukraine "corridor" activities (the English word "lobby" originally meant "corridor") to push the necessary decisions through the organs of power have always been a thankless, if highly profitable, undertaking. Last week, the president once again tore a strip off parliament for having the wrong priorities in lobbying. "Tycoons are not needed in parliament either. If you want to be an MP, that is to say, a politician, go and involve yourself in politics," [Ukrainian President] Leonid Kuchma said. In Russia, "tycoons are engaged in business", while "other people lobby" for their interests, he also noted.

The Ukrainian parliament has yet to achieve such a "distribution of labour" in the relationship between big business and the authorities. Big businessmen who are MPs are often crucial in organizing the "right vote" on controversial bills. This applies primarily to fiscal and budgetary decisions, as well as special laws to stimulate the development of individual industries and free economic zones. Laws on the privatization of major companies, strategically important to the national economy, such as Ukrrudprom [Ukrainian ore industry], Kryvorizhstal [Kryvyy Rih steel], Ukrtelekom [Ukrainian telecom] and the coal companies, have recently featured prominently. One major company has told Invest-Gazeta that lobbying for an "ordinary" law costs between 1m and 15m dollars, while the adoption of an individual "privatization" law will knock you back by a considerably larger sum.

[Inset, accompanied by a photo of Kuchma:] Quotation: "I shall never believe that a person has moved (into parliament - Author) from big business and that he will be primarily concerned with state affairs. Everyone lobbies primarily for his own interests and then for whatever is left - those of the state." Leonid Kuchma, president of Ukraine, 26 March 2004. [End of inset]

However, "the question of money" is certainly not the prime consideration in lobbying. Passing a necessary amendment is generally the result of complicated agreements between factions and, in exchange for votes in support of a law, the MPs' group may receive a necessary post in the regional organs of power or support when tackling political issues.

Most of the influential factions have "coordinators" and "treasurers" in their midst, who determine the price of an MP's vote in monetary or other terms. It is often very hard to draw the line between pure lobbying and corruption in such deals. For this reason, many Ukrainian politicians regard the word "lobbyist" as being virtually an insult, despite the fact that lobbying is, essentially, inseparable from the activities of any legislative body, and the Ukrainian Supreme Council [parliament] is no exception. But lobbying can only be effective where there is appropriate backing in the executive bodies. Otherwise any law may be "axed" in the Cabinet of Ministers (it will get a negative expert appraisal) or in the presidential administration.

Only Ukrainian MPs themselves can help to shed their "double standards" - by passing a law regulating lobbying in parliament. A bill to that effect was registered in the Supreme Council back in April 1999, but the matter then seems to have progressed no further than the first reading. Against the background of the declared policy of parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers drawing closer together, now would be the ideal time to return to considering it.

[Block graph entitled "Structure of bills registered in the Supreme Council" lists the area covered by the bills and how many of them there have been:]
Humanitarian policy - 71
International agreements - 192
Miscellaneous - 211
Organizational matters - 265
Structure of power - 271
Social policy - 629
Legal policy - 820
Sectoral development - 1,081
Economic policy - 1,435
[Pie chart entitled "Structure of bills in terms of those who initiated them" shows the initiators and the number of bills they tabled:]
National Bank - 19
Ukrainian president - 145
Cabinet of Ministers - 687
MPs - 4,395

[Table entitled "Key lobbyists in the Supreme Council" shows photos of MPs who are also big businessmen with details of their main business interests, the areas for which they lobby and (where applicable) who they cooperate with in the taking of decisions. Similar information is given about MPs who lobby, but are not actually big businessmen. For them there is no photo:] [Opposition faction Our Ukraine MP] Yevhen Chervonenko (interests: automobile transport, recycling of waste). He cooperates with: [Our Ukraine MP] Petro Poroshenko (interests: motor vehicle industry, food industry, agriculture and budget). He cooperates in matters relating to the mining and metallurgical industry with [no photos]:

[Our Ukraine MP] Yuriy Yekhanurov, [propresidential faction People's Power MP] Volodymyr Hurov, [Our Ukraine MP] Pavlo Movchan and [progovernment faction Regions of Ukraine MP] Volodymyr Boyko, who specialize in the law privatizing Ukrrudprom, the law privatizing Kryvorizhstal, the mining and metallurgical industry's development programme and tax benefits for companies in that industry.

[Propresidential faction Working Ukraine MP] Stanislav Dovhyy [no photo] deals with communications, specializing in the law privatizing Ukrtelekom and the law on telecommunications and mobile communications.

[Propresidential United Social Democratic Party MP] Ihor Pluzhnykov (interests: banks and taxes) and [People's Power MP] Bohdan Hubskyy (interests: taxes, budget, agriculture, advertising and TV) both cooperate with:

[United Social Democratic Party MP] Hryhoriy Surkis (interests: electricity generation and economic operations abroad), who cooperates (1) over legal procedures with [no photos] [Working Ukraine MP] Mykola Onishchuk, [propresidential group Democratic Initiatives MP] Pavlo Ryabikin, [Regions of Ukraine MP] Volodymyr Sivkovych, [United Social Democratic Party MP] Nestor Shufrych and [propresidential faction People's Choice MP] Mykola Hapochka, who specialize in the appointment of judges and consultations and help with resolving legal disputes; and (2) over taxes and budget matters with [no photos] [Our Ukraine MP] Serhiy Teryokhin, [Regions of Ukraine MP] Rayisa Bohatyryova, [People's Choice MP] Yuliya Chebotaryova, [United Social Democratic Party MP] Volodymyr Zaplatynskyy and [Regions of Ukraine MP] Valeriy Konovalyuk, who specialize in determining the rates and the administrative procedures for taxes and other payments, budgetary transfers, VAT refunds, customs payments and property evaluation.

[Kuchma's son-in-law and Working Ukraine MP] Viktor Pinchuk (interests: mining and metallurgical industry, pipe and tubing industry, electricity generation and mechanical engineering) cooperates with group (2) above over taxes and budget matters, but also, over agriculture, with [no photos] [People's Power MP] Serhiy Osyka, [Regions of Ukraine MP] Mykola Kruhlov, [propresidential faction of People's democratic Party MP] Volodymyr Pavlyuk, [propresidential faction of Agrarian Party of Ukraine MP] Vasyl Shpak and [Agrarian Party of Ukraine MP] Kateryna Vashchuk.

[United Social Democratic Party MP] Mykola Lisin (interests: use of subsurface resources and exporting petroleum products) cooperates with Hryhoriy Surkis and with:

[United Social Democratic Party] Mykola Zlochevskyy (interests: use of subsurface resources and exporting petroleum products), who also cooperates over the use of subsurface resources with [no photos] [People's Choice MP] Volodymyr Hoshovskyy and [United Social Democratic Party MP] Henadiy Rudenko, who specialize in the procedure for licensing subsurface operators.

[People's Democratic Party MP] Valeriy Pustovoytenko, [Working Ukraine MP] Oleksandr Yedin, [People's Democratic Party MP] Mykola Pavlyuk and [People's Democratic Party MP] Yuriy Kruk [no photos] deal with transport, specializing in the law on ports, the law privatizing transport companies and the creation of a national commission to regulate transport.

[Working Ukraine MP] Fedir Shpyh (interests: banks and taxes) [Democratic Initiatives MP] Oleksandr Yaroslavskyy (interests: banks, the mining and metallurgical industry and the chemical industry).