Maidan

I think this needs clarifying. Would the highest price likely to be offered by any prospective buyer compensate the Ukrainian Government for the loss of all the benefits of a lucrative steel plant remaining under public ownership, as identified by Terry in his article? Would it hell. And for these basic reasons:-

1. Even if the last highest offer that was tendered, during the original, crooked, privatisation process, was revised upwards to allow for the regime change since then, it would still fall way short of being a sufficient amount, against the criteria which I defined in my article, above.

But don't just take my word for it. If the President and Prime Minister of Ukraine thought they would get an adequate or halfway decent offer, they would have invited tenders by now. We are talking about two individuals with world-class qualifications, experience, achievements and even international awards in economics, business and finance.

We are also talking about two right-of-centre politicians who are committed to liberal market reforms, in order to achieve future congruence with the current norms of the European Union; not a pair of left-wing ideologues. And I don't buy the theory (if anybody has postulated it) that their Socialist coalition partners have forced this policy on them, for two reasons. First, the Socialists' quota of Government posts did not need to include the privatisation portfolio. That particular appointment therefore reflected what was already a pragmatic consensus within the Government on where the national interest lies in this policy area. Second, anybody who attempts to force a policy on Yulia Tymoshenko that she does not already fundamentally support, is a braver man than me.

2. Moreover, in the context of international blackmail, the Ukrainian Government, and the rest of us, have every right to assume that the blackmailers are trying to steal the steel, by acquiring the plant for somewhat less than its true value. Everybody has their price, and if prospective buyers of the plant, and the interests that lie behind them, were prepared to pay an amount that would be acceptable to the Ukrainian Government, the tactics they are currently deploying would simply not be necessary. There would be no point.

Therefore, this is not an ideological war; this is just plain economic gangsterism. That's the point.