The 5T municipal investment “strategy” – Odessa

BY NIKOLAI HOLMOV

For several months the 5T “strategy” arrived at by the Odessa City Council to attract investment has been occasionally mentioned.

The 5T “strategy”, or perhaps more accurately described as little more than a “slogan” will be officially unveiled on 1st July at an event sponsored and/or organised by the Odessa Development Fund, the Odessa Tourism Association, the Department of Economic Development of Odessa City Council, and the of Tourism and Resort Department of Ministry of Economic Development of Ukraine.

Naturally the municipal investment “strategy” is an attempt to convince investors foreign and domestic that Odessa is a good place to invest with tremendous potential – and indeed it certainly has tremendous potential.

Of course a reader will want to know what the 5 “Ts” actually are when mentioning the 5T “strategy”.

Those 5Ts are – Transport.  Trade.  Tourism.  Technology.  Trust.

Trust?

Trust per the dictionary definition “belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc.”?  Odessa City Hall?  A City Hall that currently is seeing all of its long term organised criminality associates consolidate and indeed grow under its patronage?

Trust per the dictionary definition “an arrangement in which someone’s property or money is legally held or managed by someone else or by an organization (such as a bank) for usually a set period of time” – or perhaps better defined as “an arrangement in which someone’s property or money is illegally held or subjected to hostile/very hostile take over by someone else or by an organization (such as organised criminality closely associated with City Hall) usually after a set period of time”

Trust per the dictionary definition “an organisation that results from the creation of a trust“.  Something that those in political power in City Hall do not bother with, for why bother to separate their business interests from their political interests?  Odessa City Hall does not run on the concept of the business of politics – it runs on the concept of the politics of (vested) business (interests).

Trust perhaps per “Trust in Deeds” – the Mayor Trukhanov’s personal pocket political party?  Is it a sinister subliminal message to the would-be investor?

An investor should perhaps clarify, and perhaps even codify contractually, just which definition of “trust” the Odessa municipal  5T investment “strategy” actually refers to.   He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon – and a very clear eyed view of who and what Devil be Odessa City Hall.

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