Oleksandr Feldman, Ukrainian MP of several convocations who was born in the city, is confident in this.
Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Feldman has been recently indicated as one of the main candidates for the position of Kharkiv’s mayor. During the previous local elections, the politician did not nominate as a candidate. Has he changed his position concerning his participation in the mayoral election a year later? We address this question, as well as the request to comment in general on the situation in Kharkiv, on the key problems and the prospects of the development of the city to Oleksandr Feldman.
“Benches and sports grounds – that’s too little for people to feel themselves comfortable”
“From the very beginning let’s agree that you will not label me anyhow and not fix me up with a hypothetical jobs, especially the position of mayor,” Oleksandr Feldman offered. “It is impossible to live only with elections in the mind, neither the previous, no the future ones. Remember the words of a wonderful song “There is only a moment between the past and the future. Which is the instant that people call life!” And that’s exactly what we should talk about.”
“All right, let’s talk about life, about the urgent problems of the residents of Kharkiv in your opinion.”
“In this respect, there is no special, Kharkiv uniqueness. We have the same problems as the other large cities have: the obsolete infrastructure, the roads requiring complete replacement of surfacing instead of patchwork, the sharp need for new interchanges, the problems with waste disposal, etc. Add the country’s typical social problems: underemployment, absence of qualitative medical services for many citizens. It is a shame that the majority of the elderly are able to buy only the cheapest medicines today. It hurts and pains me that the youth moves from Ukraine, from Kharkiv in search of better fate seeing no prospects here. It is difficult to blame them: they are smart, educated and hard-working, and they want to work and earn money. Can Kharkiv offer them interesting variants for decent self-fulfilment today? Unfortunately, not everyone can expect this. As for the issues of municipal infrastructure, we have a certain imbalance between the central districts and the outskirts. City centre is always beautiful and well-kept, while some places in the non-central districts look miserable. Benches and sports grounds – that’s too little for people to feel themselves comfortable. A modern city is not only a ‘façade,’ it is also an equal degree of comfort, beauty and safety for each person regardless of the district of his or her residence.”
“Are there some non-typical problems in the city?”
“First of all they are connected with the fact that we are actually a front-line region. There are a lot of IDPs in Kharkiv. This coarse term conceals real people who have lost their homes. It is necessary to help them to solve the new problems. In addition, there is a big number of people who returned from the ATO zone with shattered and sometimes even harmed state of mind. They need psychological rehabilitation and assistance in adaptation to peaceful life. Our team takes part in this work. We arranged the psychosocial rehabilitation in Feldman Ecopark.
Moreover, the number of weapons in the city from the ATO zone causes concern. As the result, there is an outburst of various formations, which are often legalized and have some official status. At the same time, they just perform disorders, illegal takeovers and other things, which are inadmissible in the state governed by the rule of law using their ‘revolutionary’ past as a cover. But the sense of the Revolution of Dignity is in the desire to live like in Europe, and this means tolerance and respect of law.
What do we have in Kharkiv today? The sharp increase of the number of crimes. Just look at the official figures: in 2016, the crime rate in the city demonstrates a 55 percent increase in comparison with 2015! This means that the safety issue should be the priority today. That’s not just some general words. That’s the life and health of children, parents and close people. After all, it’s the question of investment attractiveness of the city and the region.
“I have never concealed anything and never hidden anything in dark basements under seven seals”
“Do you really think that it’s time for investments now?”
“I am sure. And I am talking about both foreign and domestic investments. We have gone through a very serious crisis, and the investments may become an engine for the post-crisis development today. The world is interested in us. And the economic forums in Kharkiv demonstrate this. The last one was attended by nearly two hundred representatives of thirty countries and eleven ambassadors of foreign states. This means that our region has all chances to become a notable part of the international economic system. We should learn to lead the interest of investors in particular in Kharkiv industrial enterprises to the logical end in order to preserve workplaces and to create the new ones. People must get fair wages instead of living on short rations for months. There are a lot of ‘growing points’ in Kharkiv, perhaps, like in no other city of Ukraine.”
“What, for example?”
“It is industry, agriculture, tourism, and IT. Our city is known for its scientific and technical potential since Soviet times. There is a lot of higher educational institutions here, and Kharkiv deserves its ‘smart’ title. But this intellect requires implementation. That is why IT is the priority branch. Kharkiv is one of the leaders in Ukraine for the number of IT specialists. It is necessary to develop this field using the educational and scientific potential of the region in full, establishing the relations with enterprises, and supporting various startups and projects. It is necessary to learn to commercialize scientific developments, the number of which is quite big in our city. We should support those who are able to earn money using own heads if we wish to maintain and develop things, which Kharkiv has always been proud of.”
“But tourism looks a little questionable in this list of ‘growing points.’ What people can see in Kharkiv? It’s not Kyiv, not Lviv.”
“I strongly disagree with you. Tourism is, first of all, the recognizability of a region, a city. There are a lot of wonderful places in Kharkiv oblast, which we should first open for ourselves, and then for the guests of our land. For example, we (International Charitable Foundation “Oleksandr Feldman Foundation” – Auth.) have recently launched a large-scale informational project “The Gems of Kharkiv Region.” Believe me, several years will be not enough to show everything that our land is rich in. Moreover, tourism is definitely a ‘growing point,’ because if we have the developed tourism and tourist infrastructure, we will have investment attractiveness. And the main thing is that it is important to love our land, because it is impossible to fulfill all these things without love. As for the false arguments that Kharkiv is not Lviv and not Kyiv, and that there is nothing to see here, they are suggested by those who don’t know the history of own land. However, this is the problem of personal crassness and indifference.”
“You are indicated as one of the most noticeable lobbyist of Kharkiv at the level of Kyiv and abroad. What is effective in the modern practice of lobbyism?”
“I can say definitely what is not effective: empty talks, assurances, humble requests and so on. Effective is the considered professional presentation of projects representing the indisputable and evident economic, social or humanitarian benefit for the region. I have an example. Only during one week in October, I met in Kyiv with the chiefs of many foreign diplomatic offices in Ukraine, including the Ambassador of Canada Roman Vashchuk, the Ambassador of Germany Ernst Reichel, the Ambassador of the Netherlands Kees Jan René Klompenhouwer, the head of a diplomatic mission of France Isabelle Dumont, the Ambassador of Hungary Ernő Keskeny, the Ambassador of Turkey Yönet Tezel and the Ambassador of Kazakhstan Samat Ordabayev.
The meetings were not official and strictly scheduled. I’ve noticed their lively professional interest in real problems of our city and region connected with the economic and humanitarian development. We have discussed the issues of environment, medicine, education, legal and social protection of children, IDPs, and ATO participants. The diplomats were especially interested in the projects directed at complex solution of social problems. In particular, I’ve represented the projects of our Ecopark, which currently has already more than 30 international partners. They include the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, World Wildlife Fund, International Species Information System, National Geographic, and famous zoos in Europe and worldwide. I am very much obliged to all of them for cooperation and consulting assistance. I think that the shortest way to Europe is to implement the European values of respect of human beings and nature in own country. All the talks that it’s not the time now, because of the difficult situation in the country, are no excuse. The investments will flow and the economic interest will significantly grow, as soon as we demonstrate the comprehensive social and humanitarian projects in effect. And my meetings with the ambassadors confirmed this thesis.
I should immediately answer those who consider that representing Feldman Ecopark I lobby my own interests. Yes, I give a lot of forces, time and, as they say, put my heart and soul into this project. But this park is not mine. It is impossible to think of it as of the personal asset. It is impossible to put it into the pocket and move. It doesn’t earn money. I’m tired to answer the question: “Why do you need it?” It is senseless to answer it, because this question is often asked by those who don’t believe and will never believe in sincerity of the wish to make something important, beautiful and necessary for own city. There is no sense to prove the opposite in this case. The ostensive proof of the demand for our project is over 5 million visitors during 5 years of its existence.”
“During the recent weeks, Ukrainians have been actively discussing the information from e-declarations submitted by the officials. You also had to “show” quite a number of values, in particular the serious expensive collections…”
“‘Had to’ that’s not my case. I’ve demonstrated all of my really serious collections during many years to everyone by arranging exhibitions of shells, Japanese miniatures, and the works of fine arts… I have never concealed anything and never hidden anything in dark basements under seven seals. Moreover, I’ve always considered and consider now that the private collections must be open for public. It is a civilized world practice. Our collections are available for experts, scientists and students. Our aim is to make the collections a part of national wealth, to turn them into the effective tool of cultural and educational work. It is the mission of the true collecting. I have given a lot of exhibits of our family museum (Feldman Family Museum – Auth.) to Ukrainian museums. Enlarging the county’s museum fund is an important part of my social mission. As for money I spent on this, I should state that I am not a poor person and before politics I was in business. I can report for each million I have, including the first one. I’ve never participated in doubtful privatizations, and I’ve never taken anything from anyone. Once, an American businessman was asked where he takes his money from, and he answered that he makes money the old-fashioned way, he earns it. I use this traditional method as well. That is why I am absolutely calm about the e-declarations.
“Mr. Feldman, a year ago, the local elections were held. Many citizens expected that you would run for mayor of Kharkiv, but that did not happen. Are you going to compete for this office in the future?”
“There you go again! Don’t try to get some sensations about mayoral elections from me. Don’t expect some definite answers today. Time will show. But I am not going to start some heavy activity just in case, as well as to spout accusations and complaints. And I should indicate at once that any attempts to get me involved into the format of the theatre of operations are doomed to failure from the very beginning.
I think that Kharkiv must remain a stable city in all respects. I strongly object to the practice when new authorities start to do revanchism, to destroy and eliminate everything created by the predecessors. I strongly disagree with any attempts to revenge, pillory and show who is the boss here. There may be no boss in a modern, not feudal city. I support a sensible, pragmatic approach, which will make Kharkiv a calm, stable, strong and prosperous city.
Source: Факты
