BY
Minister of Defence Stepan Poltorak has ordered an
audit of the MoD accounts and land, requiring that within 2 months the results
are to be available in both electronic and paper form – though it is not
entirely clear whether such information will be available to the public.
Undoubtedly
there will be a few surprises that await. Only recently MoD land in
Odessa on the coast mysteriously began to witness “landscaping”. It seems
somewhat unlikely that the Odessa Garrison requires manicured lawns or large
sunny terraces creating upon the coastal land belonging to the MoD. Ergo,
as coastal land is naturally at a premium for development, a reader may ponder
whether that land has been quietly and nefariously sold off or otherwise
criminally leased.
Indeed the
Odessa Garrison has recently completed a land and accounts audit – with
“discrepancies” being discovered an dutifully reported by Head of legal
and methodological support and ownership of the monitoring and use of the
property and land defense minister, Ivan Bazarko.
The result of
which being the Defence Minister requires that the violations discovered be
investigated by those in law enforcement.
It may therefore
be that the earthworks recently started on the MoD coastal land in Odessa will
come to a halt – leaving those in Odessa to battle the shortsighted and
dubious/nefarious tendencies of Mayor Trukhanov when it comes to destroying the
coastal slopes and erecting all manner of architectural peculiarities and
eyesores thereon.
(Quite where the
Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Culture are, and why they are
systemically failing in their roles to manage the urges of City Hall is a valid
question.)
Nevertheless it is something of a positive step by the
Defence Minister. Although many may state that it is a step somewhat late
in coming, he has had other priorities within the MoD and MIC since taking
office. There is after all, the matter of a small war still raging in
eastern Ukraine (and all the issues that come with it), and a large
increasingly militarised illegally occupied Crimea to consider.
A reader may
ponder whether other ministries have already carried out similar audits.
Indeed have the regional oblasts and metropolitan authorities carried out
similar recent land audits – and if so just how accessible are the results?
If not, then why not? When will they be done, and will the results
be easily accessible?
Questions then
follow – How best can State/ministry held land be employed to the benefit of
the Ukrainian constituency? With a little creative thinking and
imagination are there any potential mutually beneficial PPP options? Or
R&D? Or educational/vocational opportunities? Or societal?
Equally as
interesting would be the (long) list of violations discovered. Are they
systemic? Do they involve the same individuals and/or entities anywhere
within many of the processes or incidents? What has been done that cannot
be undone, and what can be undone? Why were these incidents not
discovered before? How can they be prevented from occurring again?
The first
question is will the Defence Minister get his requirements met within 2 months,
and if not what will he do? What is the “or else”?
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