Andrey Reva: ex-minister of anti-social policy of Ukraine. PART 2

BEGINNING: Andrey Reva: Minister of Anti-Social Policy of Ukraine. PART 1

Minister of Anti-Social Policy

“Is there a man among you who, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? And when he asks for a fish, would you give him a snake?” (Matthew 7:9)

Since April 2016, such a person has appeared in the government of Vladimir Groysman, and his name is Andrey Reva. His very appointment was accompanied by an intrigue hidden from public view: Groysman initially planned to place Reva in the chair of the Minister of Health in order to implement “medical reform, Vinnytsia style” throughout Ukraine. However, a serious struggle unfolded for the Ministry of Health, and as a result this ministry went to Ulyana Suprunsupported by the American lobby. Sources Skelet.Info reported that, while promoting Suprun, they put pressure directly on Poroshenko, forcing him, with a smile on his whole face, to offer her this post.

Therefore, Reva, who had already been pulled out of Vinnitsa, was seated in the chair of the Minister of Social Policy, fortunately he had experience in this area, albeit within the framework of the regional social security service. But a different experience was required from Reva: a tough attitude towards the population, defense of government policies, promotion of outrageous reforms. Which he readily did, immediately declaring that the Ukrainian budget could not withstand the loads of the Pension Fund and utility subsidies. However, money was always found for buffet tables and banquets for senior officials of the Ministry of Social Policy. For example, on November 3, 2011, Reva took them to the capital’s Hilton Hotel for some “meeting to discuss achievements in the social sphere,” which turned out to be a huge corporate meeting, fully paid for (including travel) from the budget of the Ministry of Social Policy. According to knowledgeable people, the banquet alone cost taxpayers between 50 and 100 thousand dollars (1.2-2.5 million hryvnia). How much more money has gone to the left, only the leadership of the ministry knows.

And at the same time, Reva continues to portray herself as a modest person, living on one salary and driving only a company car. However, his average salary fluctuates around 43 thousand hryvnia per month, and in July he received 102 thousand hryvnia – including vacation pay and financial assistance for recovery. However, this is not what causes the indignation and embitterment of millions of Ukrainians, and not even Reva’s cynical reasoning about her fellow citizens eating too much.

On April 26, 2017, Cabinet Resolution No. 300 was issued, adopted on the initiative of the Ministry of Social Policy, which amended Cabinet Resolution No. 848 of October 21, 1995, specifically in paragraph No. 14. Namely: “If you remove information about a delay in payment for services that has been delayed for two months, a subsidy for the upcoming period is not assigned.” At first, few people paid attention to this resolution, since officials of the Ministry of Social Policy hastened to explain that we are talking about debt under the so-called. “mandatory payments” that recipients of subsidies must make according to subsidy agreements. But since almost all recipients of subsidies try to regularly make these obligatory payments, this initiative of Reva’s department did not initially cause any concern.

That all changed in July, when millions of Ukrainians received utility bills warning them that because they owed utility bills, their subsidies would stop until their debts were paid in full. And the Ministry of Social Policy has already given a different interpretation of Resolution No. 300: now the subsidy is withdrawn if there is any debt, including old debts that were formed even before the subsidy was issued. And now a wave of groans and indignant cries swept across the country – because from 1/3 to ½ of the recipients of subsidies were such debtors. The situation was aggravated by the fact that at the same time, many utility companies (primarily regional gas companies and regional energy companies) accrued non-existent debts to consumers – some a couple of hundred hryvnia, and some several thousand! As if on purpose to create a reason to deprive people of subsidies! Well, given that several million Ukrainian families simply will not be able to pay for the next heating season without a subsidy, and the government is already threatening to take away apartments from debtors, this has caused real panic. Its first consequence is huge queues that have grown in the corridors of public services and stretch far into the street. In which women and old people stood in the unbearable heat to make a recalculation, receive a certificate of no debt and take it to the social security department (where they would stand in line again).

Andrei Reva is directly behind this idea, who back in 2016 stated that the number of subsidy recipients should be reduced by a quarter – and it seems that he has found a way to do this. However, this method… is illegal! Because, according to the laws of Ukraine, payment of social assistance to citizens, including subsidies, is made regardless of whether they have any debts. According to the laws of Ukraine, payment of subsidies can be terminated only in three cases: provision of inaccurate data about the financial condition of the recipient, change in the financial condition of the recipient (or purchase of goods more expensive than 50 thousand hryvnia), and failure to make mandatory payments. That’s it, nothing more! That is, it turns out that on the initiative of Minister Reva, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution contrary to the law that deprived millions of citizens of their right to receive social assistance. Isn’t this cannibalistic cynicism? But this is not the first time for the “Vinnytsia” people to make illegal decisions, either at the city and regional level, or at the level of the entire state – especially when no one is trying to stop them. This is their signature method, like the “vacuum cleaner” economic policy, sucking money from everywhere and to the last penny.

And the most disgusting thing about this is that the utility debts of Ukrainians have absolutely nothing to do with the Ministry of Social Policy; in most cases, these are debts to private regional power companies, regional gas companies, water utilities taken into concession and intermediary LLCs. That is, in fact, the Ministry of Social Policy not only decided to deprive the poorest, most driven Ukrainians of subsidies, but also force others to pay the debt to Akhmetov’s enterprises, Grigorishina, Firtash, Surkisovoligarchs of the Vinnitsa clan and the presidential “family”.

What else will the current Minister of Social Policy come up with – to deprive pensions and child benefits of those who are in debt on bank loans and mortgages? This will no longer be surprising, especially since Reva’s constant statements about the need to somehow reduce the Pension Fund deficit indicate his intention to carry out another “reform”. But in this case, the future of Alexander Reva, like all the other ministers of Groysman’s cabinet, may be shrouded in the smoke of burning tires, or even military equipment. After all, the third Maidan, which the government directly provokes with its anti-social policies, risks becoming much hotter than the second, since what will be at stake is not a political vector, but banal survival.

Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Info

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