Stop forcing Ukraine into a narrative of Moscow versus Washington

The Guardian, by Oliver Bullough, Tuesday 20 May 2014
Anyone who tells you Ukraine is a battle between Russia and the west is wrong. It is a lazy narrative told by ignorant people, but is helping create a genuine tragedy that we should all be concerned about.
The history of Ukraine's crisis began not in February, with Viktor Yanukovych's flight, but in 1991, with independence. Desperate to break communism, privatisers sold state assets as quickly as they could. They didn't care who got them; they just wanted private property to exist. They thought the new owners would insist on their rights, and thus build a stable society, governed by the rule of law.
It was the west that killed that dream. By moving their wealth offshore – to Austria, the Caribbean or the various UK-owned tax havens – Ukraine's property owners could enjoy western property rights, while benefiting from chaos at home. That turned the privatisers' calculations on their head.
Insiders snatched Ukraine's industries, with particularly powerful business clans in the cities of Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk. They fought for control of the government in Kiev, but all had the same basic interest: to perpetuate chaos. The longer Ukraine was a mess, the richer they got.

Where Yanukovych and his rich hunting buddies hung out

28 friendsof the ousted president
By Oleksandr Akimenko, Anna Babinets (Slidstvo.info), Natalie Sedletska (RFE/RL)

“We’ve survived, though we are outlaws.” This line from a Russian gangster song became the unofficial anthem of the presidential hunting club whose members included an elite collection of presidents, billionaires and others during the rule of overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych.

Ukraine asset recovery meeting must examine banks' role in state looting

Global Witness, 28th April 2014
Efforts to recover stolen assets from the Ukraine need to paired with proactive steps to stop banks enabling state looting, said Global Witness as the international community gathers in London for  the Ukraine Forum on Asset Recovery (UFAR).

Led by the UK, US and Ukraine, representatives from national governments and international financial centres will meet in London for two days to discuss tracing and seizing the proceeds of corruption in the Ukraine following the deposition of former president Viktor Yanukovych. While this initiative is welcome, Global Witness is calling on the international community to do much more to tackle corruption at the source by ensuring that banks refuse money thought to have been acquired through corruption.

“The recovery of stolen assets is difficult, time consuming and expensive. It would be much better if we could stop the money going missing in the first place,” said Robert Palmer, leader of the Money Laundering Campaign at Global Witness.“If the money is so obviously corrupt, banks in London, New York and other big financial centres shouldn’t be handling it and governments shouldn’t be letting them do so. "

A 2011 report from the UK financial regulator found that three quarters of banks in the UK were not doing enough to turn away potentially corrupt funds. Global Witness is calling on governments to take a much tougher line on banks that handle stolen loot, including holding  senior executives to account for these failings.

How Yanukovych Pillaged Ukraine

The Interpreter, the article by Andrew Bowen, March 3, 2014
In Ukraine, the images of Berkut riot police fighting protestors on Kiev’s Maidan have been replaced by ones of the officers on their knees asking for forgiveness. And while Ukraine seeks to compose itself, questions have emerged in the wake of the fall of the government. The unifying objective of ousting Yanukovych has been replaced by confusion surrounding the current situation, whether the East of the country (primarily Crimea) will acquiesce to the new state of affairs (or become the latest suzerainty of Russia), and where Ukraine will find the aid to repair its hemorrhaging economy (currently at an estimated $35 billion over the next two years).