Russia will assess the losses inflicted by Ukraine to Crimea after the collapse of the USSR - ForumDaily
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Russia will assess the losses inflicted by Ukraine to the Crimea after the collapse of the USSR

On July 11, it will become known who will assess the “damage” that Ukraine allegedly caused to Crimea during the years of independence - from 1991 to 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

Фото: Depositphotos

In June, the Russian State Duma announced a tender and is now determined with the performer of the study, whose idea was announced in March, writes Air force.

The customers of the study want to see “comparisons of socio-economic and legislative regulation of key spheres of life in Crimea during the USSR period, as part of Ukraine and as part of Russia.”

Preliminary estimates of such “losses” have already been made - State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that they “significantly exceed” 1 rubles ($500 billion).

By coincidence, Russian economist Sergei Aleksashenko in the book “Russian Economic Miracle: What Went Wrong?” estimates Russian “infusions” into Crimea also at 1 rubles - 500 thousand rubles ($000) from each Russian.

Return price

Since 2015, the Federal Target Program “Socio-Economic Development of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol” has been operating in Russia.

Over the past 2018 year, Russian government customers spent 138 704 000 000 rubles (over 2 billion dollars) for this program. And all the same it is only 90% from the planned.

The comments and recommendations for the implementation of this program for 2018 year said that government customers should take all measures to keep up with the planned, and more effectively raise funds.

This year Crimea will receive almost 150 billion rubles (about 2 300 000 000 dollars) from the federal budget. This will cover more than 70% of the planned costs.

At the same time, over the years of the annexation of the Crimea, more than 700 Russian companies and individuals came under sanctions, and in June 2019 the Russian government even adopted a resolution that allowed to keep information on companies operating in Crimea in the state register of legal entities.

On the subject: How Crimea was annexed: March of 2014 in the eyes of Moscow, Kiev and Sevastopol

Permanent representatives of the EU ambassadors have already agreed on the next extension of the sanctions imposed against Russia because of the annexation of the Crimea.

On the other hand, according to the Russian analytical Levada Center, if in March 2014 19% of Russians were completely unwilling to pay for the annexation of Crimea, then in May 2019 the number of such respondents increased to 36%. At the same time, the number of those who are willing to pay “to a large extent” decreased from 19% to 9%.

Фото: Depositphotos

"Suitcase without a handle"

It is the rising costs of the Crimea and the increasing burden not only on the federal but also on other local budgets amid the losses from the sanctions that Ukrainian observers explain the initiative of the State Duma.

“Obviously, there is a continuation of the story with the famous phrase of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation that “there is no money, but you hold on,” says Pyotr Burkovsky, head of the Center for Research on Problems of the Russian Federation at the National Institute for Strategic Studies.

“The improvement that the Russian authorities promised and which most of the citizens remaining in Crimea expected did not happen. Accordingly, we need to find the reasons why this did not happen,” says the political analyst.

Crimean economist Yuri Smelyansky has the same opinion: “Crimea ceases to be a unifying factor and becomes a “suitcase without a handle.”

“If in 2014-2016 Crimea was a factor that united society around the government - “Crimea is ours”, “Return to its native harbor” - then after 5 years (after annexation - Ed.) the population of Russia begins to feel that this , as it turned out, is an expensive pleasure,” says the expert.

The problem requires an explanation, the economist adds, “and the Kremlin is not used to explaining, it is used to distracting attention. How? Inflate another balloon - Ukraine has caused damage to Crimea.”

Reality and noise

Another reason cited by observers is the appearance of the first decisions of international courts in favor of Ukraine and Ukrainian companies and banks that filed claims against Russia for damages from the annexation of Crimea.

At the same time, activity in international courts is just beginning to gain momentum,” notes Yuri Smelyansky.

“Yes, Russia will play in these courts - in some places it will not participate, in others it will refuse, in others it will drag out time. But de facto these trials will occur. And this needs to be countered with something,” says Yuri Smelyansky and suggests further developments. - Let's now count the losses and file them in international courts. It doesn't matter that it has no prospects. The important thing is that an alternative noise will be created as opposed to the real publicity that Ukraine is proving Russia’s crimes in international courts.”

On the subject: In the United States banned state institutions to recognize the annexation of the Crimea

Petr Burkovsky is also confident in the “artificiality” of the topic: “The decisions (of the International Courts - Ed.) that already exist regarding Ukrnafta and PrivatBank are real things for which you will have to answer. And for their audience, and perhaps for ours, they want to switch attention from absolutely real things to absolutely artificial, invented ones. What are we doing now? We are trying to refute this absurdity with some rational arguments.”

The launch of the artificial theme was the minimum task from the point of view of the Russian authorities, believes Yury Smelyansky. And Russia, he said, accomplished this task.

Фото: Depositphotos

How much has Ukraine invested / stolen

But could Ukraine inflict any “losses” on Crimea at all?

Among the main reasons for its administrative “transfer” from the Russian Federation to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954, observers often cite the need to restore the “national economy” after the war.

As Yury Smelyansky notes, during 10 years after the liberation of the Crimea, there was no real restoration of it, there was simply no one to do it.

“If in 1939 the population was 1 people, then in 126 it was 000 people. This is a year after the forced deportation of the Crimean Tatar people. And in 1945, after “changing the administrative internal borders of the USSR” with the transfer of Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR, the population was already 610 million people,” Yuri Smelyansky cites demographic statistics.

After this there was a period of restoration, massive investments in infrastructure, development of agriculture - the fruit and vegetable industry, poultry farming, which provided food not only for Crimeans, but also for vacationers, the flow of which was constantly growing.

At the same time, the economist notes, the argument that “Crimea restored the entire Soviet Union” does not work very well.

“Only people who don’t know what budgetary relations were like in the USSR can say this,” says Yuri Smelyansky. “At first, all the money was collected in Moscow, and then distributed throughout the republics.” At the same time, Ukraine was far from first on the list when distributing resources.

Perhaps this is why the initiators of the assessment of “losses” are limited only to the period since 1991, when Ukraine became an independent state.

Pyotr Burkovsky admits another reason: “Why are the years when Crimea was part of Soviet Ukraine not accepted? Because “the collapse of the Soviet Union is the greatest tragedy of the twentieth century.” According to their logic, everything is correct; it was in 1991 that all the problems began.”

At the same time, as Yury Smelyansky notes, the acquisition of independence by Ukraine, as well as by other republics of the Soviet Union, took place against the background of a deep and serious crisis.

“Ukraine entered into state independence at the peak of the crisis. And one of the main tasks for the country was to eliminate the consequences of this crisis. And given the dissolution of all economic ties after the collapse of the USSR, this was a huge problem, in particular, for Crimea,” says the economist.

“For example, the tobacco industry of Crimea. It was not Ukraine that destroyed it, but Russia. Why? The main consumers of Crimean tobacco were two Moscow tobacco factories - Dukat and Java. As soon as they began to switch to cheaper tobacco substitutes to reduce costs, no one needed Crimean tobacco, and the industry died. But of course, from the Kremlin’s point of view, Ukraine is to blame. And there will be many such examples,” says Yuri Smelyansky. Will this be taken into account?

In the years of independence, Crimea, which has always been a subsidized region, was financed in about the same way as other regions. However, as Yury Smelyansky notes, if it were not for the extremely centralized tax collection system that operated in Ukraine, the Crimea could well have covered its needs.

“If local budgets were filled first, then the coefficient of financial independence of Crimea would be up to 1,15,” says the economist.

On the subject: "Landings will be": the Zelensky team promised to punish those responsible for the surrender of the Crimea

Фото: Depositphotos

“In fact, no matter how difficult it was, in the conditions of the permanent economic crisis that Ukraine was in for 23 years, roads were built in Crimea, small and medium-sized businesses were actively developing, which are now dying, the economy was recovering, although not in the same way as I wanted to,” says Yuri Smelyansky. “But processes were also taking place in the agricultural business, and Crimean chemistry was working, which was a good export component, and Crimea was at least 50% self-sufficient in food - this is taking into account the 5-6 million tourists who came to Crimea annually.”

According to him, another factor that held back the development of the Crimea was local “elites”, many of whose representatives remained in leadership positions after the Russian annexation.

According to the budget of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea for 2013 a year, subsidies and subventions from the state budget of Ukraine amounted to more than 2 730 000 000 UAH (103,4 million dollars). This was about 300 million UAH (11,6 million dollars) more taxes and other mandatory payments that were collected in the ARC.

At the same time, “equalization subsidies” from the state budget of Ukraine to Crimea amounted to UAH 116 ($727 million). A separate line was financed for Sevastopol, which received more subsidies than the entire Autonomous Republic of Crimea - UAH 000 ($4,4 million).

To this should be added targeted subsidies and subventions allocated from the state budget in certain areas - for social expenses, medicine, education. For example, the subsidy for social assistance alone amounted to UAH 1 ($853 million).

There are also expenses from the central budget for the development of regional infrastructure. According to the Law on the Budget of Ukraine for 2013, they amounted to: for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea - 31 UAH (065 million dollars), for Sevastopol - 000 UAH (1,1 thousand dollars).

For comparison, in 2013, similar expenses from the budget for roads in Donetsk were 40 300 000 UAH (1,5 million dollars), and in Vinnitsa, the current Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman, mayor, they did not reach 19 million UAH (719 thousand dollars) .

In addition, funding was provided through various targeted programs, grants and loans from international financial organizations.

In 2013, per capita income in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea amounted to 22 UAH (793 dollars at today’s exchange rate), in Sevastopol - 863 (just over 26 dollars). Thus, the average income of Crimean residents was somewhere at the level of Khmelnitsky, where income was 584 UAH, and in Sevastopol - at the level of Kharkov with income of 1000 UAH.

Capital investments in the Crimea were 14 400 000 000 UAH (545 million). Even more 2 billion UAH (75 million dollars) received in 2013 year Sevastopol. For comparison: the entire Chernivtsi region received about the same amount in 2013. But the all-Crimean investment in 3 billion (113 million dollars) exceeded capital expenditures in the Luhansk region.

According to the State Statistics Service, in 2013, more than 16 thousands of enterprises were registered in Crimea, 95% of which (15,5 thousand) were small enterprises.

In December 2018, according to Krymstat, the statistical agency of the annexed Crimea, there were an order of magnitude fewer such enterprises left - 1347.

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"Landings will be": the Zelensky team promised to punish those responsible for the surrender of the Crimea

How Crimea was annexed: March of 2014 in the eyes of Moscow, Kiev and Sevastopol

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