Judging by the latest statements coming from European politicians, Ukraine has fewer allies in Europe. Everyone is fed up with theft, corruption, and the absence of any successful economic reforms. Moreover, Kiev itself keeps provoking its neighbors. The impression is that Washington’s position is the only thing that prevents so many politicians from putting paid to the incompetent President Zelensky and leaving Ukraine to its own destiny. However, it looks like in their attempts to be chummy with the local ultra-right, Ukraine’spolitical elites may squabble even with their American friends. All this because of the US”volunteers” of the war in Donbass, who turned out to be criminals and racists.

The conflict between pro-Russian separatists and government forces, going on since 2014, has been smoldering over the past few years with the sidesoccasionally trading gunfire along the line of separation in Donbass. The very first year of the conflict proved very difficult for both sides. The separatists had to vacate some of the occupied territories, but the Ukrainian army suffered two crushing defeats at Debaltseve and Illovaisk. As a result, the all-out war was eventually stopped by the practically non-working Minsk agreements. One of the first Ukrainian fighters in the very unpopular war in Ukraine was the ultra-right, who formed a volunteer battalion, later the Azov regiment that neo-Nazis from all across Europe flocked to. There were Croatian Ustashis, Italian fascists and representatives of other nations, including extreme right-wingers from the United States. At first glance, one would be hard put to understand the principle according to which the proponents of the superiority theories chose the side to fight for. Russians do not differ much from Ukrainians, which is evident from the perfectlyRussian endings of the names of many Azov fighters. The answer is simple though – even before the conflict broke out, Ukrainian neo-Nazis, weaned on lionizing Hitler’s Ukrainian supporters, maintained close ties with their equally marginalized brethren from far and wide. As for the Donbass separatists, they maintained discipline and came from the local population, which made service in their ranks way less attractive to lovers of looting and violence. Unlike in the Azovregiment where everything was possible! For example, Craig Lang, a native of South Carolina,liked to drown defenseless women together with his partner, the Austrian neo-Nazi Benjamin Fischer. The latter, by the way, gave them adrenaline injections to make sure they would not black out prematurely. However, this was just one in the long list of “entertainment” the “Western volunteers” engaged in, given that in Donbass any local resident could be accused of “aiding the separatists” and tortured with impunity. Back home in the States, Mr. Lang did not feel so comfortable though. In fact, his move to Ukraine was consistent with his views and their implementation – the US neo-Nazi was accused of double murder. It soon became clear that there were others like him too, and so the FBI sounded the alarm. The right-wingers from the “Rise AboveMovement,” who hone their skills on humans are a real threat to America! However, the FBI’s main priority was, of course, the investigation of Lang’s crimes committed on US soil, so the Department of Justice demanded his extradition. Pertinent UN agencies got involved too. Numerous investigations by the OSCE, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other organizations about war crimes in Donbas have become impossible to ignore. Fortunately, Europe is becoming more humane and fearful of the ultra-right. For example, in November 2020, the Special Court for Kosovo arrested the “father” of Kosovo independence, Hashim Thaçi, and charged him with war crimes. And this despite the Kosovo rebels’ long-standing ties with the US Democrats. European human rights activists set their sights also on Ukraine and on May 20, 2021, after lengthy discussions and bending under Western pressure, the Ukrainian parliament adopted Bill No. 2689 “on war crimes in the area of hostilities and in the occupied territories of Ukraine.” At the same time, a number of politicians accused the bill’s authors of unwillingness to “protect” Ukraine’s “defenders” and of future persecutions on “orders from Moscow.” However, this law does not fully comply yet with the criminal law of Ukraine, and the ultra-right do not give up their own. So, whether Craig Lang and others like him will be handed over to the merciless US ljustice or will be allowed to enjoy impunity in the “Anti-Terrorist Operation” zone in Donbass is a big question. Apparently, President Zelensky should be asked just who he fears the most – the US Department of Justice or his own Far Right?

TCI Logistics asks for a minimum of 1-4 enterprise days for decide up. If customer cancels within the first four business days from the primary out there pick-up date, there shall be a $150 cancelation fee. Trucking injury claims are covered by the carrier from up to $250,000 cargo insurance coverage per load, and a minimum of one million dollars public legal responsibility.

• We’ve earned a ‘Five Star Rated’ status by building a formidable status of security and reliability.
• It can additionally be because of this that auto transporters restrict extra items positioned within the automobile.
• For many individuals their car is one of their most important assets they personal.
• Using AAA’s gas value tool, the typical value of fuel right now between Massachusetts and Virginia is about $2.25.
• You may be confident that it goes to be in protected arms with us.

If you’re in need of expedite auto transport we have those providers obtainable. For many individuals “time is money” and spending a number of days on the road is one thing they can’t afford. If time is of the essence, an auto transport service can be your solely car transport services option. In the auto transport trade, the saying “you get what you pay for” still holds fact. Generally, firms with low quotes have poor quality of service. Licensing – By regulation, all skilled automobile delivery firms must be absolutely bonded and insured.

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The additional expense of expedited open or enclosed transport is offset by well timed, efficient car transport providers. All things thought-about, the typical automobile shipping value is round $1,290. According to our analysis of automotive delivery corporations across the nation, you can anticipate to pay wherever from $0.40 to $2.00 per mile for open transport or enclosed transport providers. Your average per mile expenditure will differ based on the time of the year, the complexity of your particular cargo, and total automotive transport demand.

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The auto shipper additionally lists itself as a certificate holder on your insurance policy so that it might possibly help with the claims course of if a driver’s negligence leads to injury. If the price goes up after your preliminary estimate, Sherpa will cover the distinction as much as $300. The transport firm also performs intense background checks of potential carriers so that you simply get the best drivers. Throw in a free car wash and some near-perfect transport reviews, and you may see how a company that is solely four years old landed a top spot on our rankings.

We focus on transport cars for dealerships and delivering autos from dealerships to customers. We verify that all of our car transport carriers have their very own energetic cargo insurance always. We additionally carry our personal contingent auto insurance coverage policy, so you’re doubly lined the complete time your car is in transit. I will give her 10/10 in keeping up with communication after I was concerned with the Truck driver and his lack of communication.

We don’t want our customer to wait for too lengthy, due to this fact, we now have a community of around 4000+ transport carriers that is obtainable to relocate automobiles across the states safely. At Atlantic Coast Auto Transport, we take a unique strategy to our automobile delivery service. We focus on offering a personalized automobile transport service to ship a automotive from California to New York or to ship a automobile from New York to Florida. When you want your vehicle shipped, it is important that you select a trustworthy and reliable auto shifting company. We can ship your automobile to or from Portland – anyplace all through the United States. We deal with every element of the automotive transportation process so that you don’t should.Our staff has a few years of expertise, particularly in and around the Portland area.

Unlike any other shipping-based service, We Will Transport It has versatile pricing. The price varies depending on the individual’s needs and the calls for of the shopper. At We Will Transport It, an Auto Transport and International Car Moving Company, we understand how important your automotive is to you. You could be confident that it will be in safe arms with us. We are trusted and relied upon as one of the best automobile hauling firms within the nation.

Some have suggested splitting California into six states, or a minimum of 4. A screenshot of uShip carriers bidding on your cargo lets you see things like each driver’s name, star score, complete critiques, and percent satisfaction rating. If a provider begins to slip in Sherpa’s inner scores, it gets booted from the auto provider pool. That means in case your driver is unprofessional or treats you poorly, you possibly can tell Sherpa, and it’ll take motion. But American Auto Shipping doesn’t ask for a deposit. Even if the corporate requested for a deposit, the assured pricing means you wouldn’t have any big surprises.

To put together for the movers, you should allow them to know how you want to your relocation to go. Discussing relocation day details along with your moving company is implied. When talking with them for the primary time, you should allow them to know the following information:

• The distance of your move
• Size of your inventory
• Moving companies that you simply need movers for
• The obtainable budget for the moving expenses
• Other needs like moving specialty items or a specific moving day timeframe

Before you sign a contract with your movers, you must ask them how they plan to perform your transfer. When moving long-distance moving in Canada regionally or lengthy distance, there may be some variations in planning the relocation. A full transferring service will allow you to avoid many shifting troubles and save you lots of time.

How to prepare for the movers?

Moving preparations are all in regards to the timing. While some folks determine to deal with the complete process on their very own, many people select to hire skilled shifting help. If you already e-book your shifting firm, you most likely started to plan your upcoming relocation. However, in order to organize for the movers, there are some issues you need to do.
Before you rent a moving firm, you must think about what kind of transferring service you need them for. If you are making plans about moving to Canada, a good Toronto moving firm like High Level Movers can offer you a full shifting service. Before the moving day comes, ensure to inform your movers what you need and discuss all the small print in advance. Here’s a brief guide that can assist you to put together for the movers before your relocation day comes.


Start planning your move on time

If you already determined to rent a transferring firm, you must put together for his or her arrival. Before the transferring day comes, there are particular things you are able to do to prepare for the movers. First issues first, planning your move isn’t just concerning the transportation of your belongings. On the contrary, every little thing from finding housing, a new job and sorting your paperwork is one thing you must do.

Before the shifting day comes, you need to make a packing plan. Decide which things you have to pack by yourself and which of them to depart for movers to pack. For example, important paperwork and memorabilia are things you want to do on your own. On the other hand, you presumably can depart the securing heavy electronic home equipment for movers to deal with.

Prepare your loved ones for the movers

It’s not only your stock that you have to put together for the movers. When the moving day comes, it is at all times good to know who must do what. If you have an enormous household and everybody desires to help, you must delegate the work to everybody. The final thing you want is for your family to disrupt your movers’ work and get in the way.

So, a couple of days before the move, you should guide your family members by way of the transferring day timeline. This will help everybody to cope with the transferring stress. At the identical time, you will not stand in the way of your movers’ work.

The last section of your shifting preparations will happen on a shifting day. To put together for the movers, you must ensure to depart some space for movers to walk through. Make sure to do away with all the pointless litter from hallways and rooms.
Another thing you should do to arrange for the movers is to secure bigger house home equipment for transportation. While you’re transferring firm can deal with the lifting and loading half, you must make certain to organize these home equipment earlier than they arrive. Make certain to defrost your fridge and take all the meals from it. You can unplug your washer and make sure it has no water left in it. Preparing your personal home for movers to return will assist them do their job effectively and deal with your move as quick as attainable.

Despite this, Australian internet casinos have made it simple for his or her gamers to make deposits and withdrawals. The following is a guide for Aussies who’re confused with the banking sections of their on-line casinos. In brief, Australians have solely casino rooo login a handful of funding and withdrawal strategies to choose from. For example, you can deposit with Neosurf, POLi, MasterCard bank cards, and some others, but you can’t use them to withdraw your winnings.

• In our three weeks of analysis, we’ve examined 35 websites and located the perfect Australia casinos on-line that tick all of the packing containers.
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Alongside all the above, newbies can notch a 200% bonus up to $5,000 utilizing the code PLAYCROCO – plus $50 extra following the deposit using the code PLAYCOOL. Join at present, grab your welcome offer and share the fun with the 1000’s of happy snappers already loving life at PlayCroco. PlayCroco’s Movember match is now formally open with a $777 prize pool up for grabs. Register for free and gather 3000 credit to play – then climb up the leaderboard in path of actual cash prizes. A significant spike in on-line gambling in Australia is indicated by knowledge printed by two firms monitoring client spending, AlphaBeta and illion. But this doesn’t imply that you should give up on playing online on line casino.

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The Sky City Darwin offers you a wide range of atlas video games like Incredible Phoenix, Buffalo Buchs, Giant’s Jackpot 2 and Gorilla Wins. Wolf Ridge, Ingotcha, Elephant King, Silk Moon, and Fortune Fury are a variety of the players’ favorite gambling games that Sky City Darwin provides. At Sky City Darwin, you can play a lot of games with denomination from 1 cent to $1.

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Thankfully this country allows younger adults to access every type of wagering obtainable, with some limitations which we are going to discuss in depth under. 18 years of age, You must be at least the age of 18 to be able to legally gamble in Australia. This age limit is in place at each land primarily based casino venues and also on-line casino websites. If you select to gamble on-line you will be required to show your age, and this is typically carried out by you sending in a scan of some form of identification doc similar to a Driving License of a duplicate of your Passport.

If you wish to lock in as a lot taking half in value when enjoying online casino games then this will be achieved by profiting from the numerous bonuses offered from such websites. However, in-play betting is strictly prohibited as nicely as accessing home casino and poker sites. If you want to keep away from the large crowds, online gaming is an option and you may always go to the online on line casino Australia actual moneyto enjoy your favourite casino video games earlier than heading again at a extra calmer time.

All you want is a powerful web connection and you’ll be good to go. To satiate your on-line casino crave, the portal offers an array of thrilling video games which will attraction to you. Progressive jackpots, three-real, video slot, are a few of the genres you possibly can attempt your hands on. Some of the preferred machines hosted on 21Dukes are Boomanji, Greedy Goblins, and Weekend in Vegas, Dice, and Fire, Mr. Vegas amongst others. Besides that, the mix of vibrant themes, thrilling bonus rounds, and alluring graphics makes the online playing expertise even better.

Ireland have been really poor in their latest matches and received’t be expected to cause any upsets in Portugal. While Portugal are winless of their last three matches, it has been towards very robust opponents. On the other hand, Ireland’s only win within the last 14 matches was towards Andorra. A home win for Portugal is hardly a tough choice to make and we might be backing them here.

• At house, their only loss in 18 games, was towards France within the Nations League.
• Portugal are back to motion for the first time after being dethroned as European champions and they’ll be internet hosting Republic of Ireland because the World Cup qualifiers resume.
• Azerbaijan have one win in 12 matches in World Cup qualifiers, and in the same competition at residence, they’ve four losses within the final five, while conceding two or more objectives in three.
• The Spanish drew 1-1 with Germany and beat Ukraine 4-0 in the Nations League, while our predictions pack them to win this friendly encounter.

In the International Friendly, the 2 groups performed a complete of 2 video games earlier than, of which Portugal won zero, France gained 2 and the 2 teams drew zero. In the UEFA Nations League, the two teams played a complete of two video games before, of which Portugal gained 0, France received zero and the two groups drew 2. In the UEFA European Championship, the 2 groups played a complete of two video games before, of which Portugal received 1, France received zero and the two teams drew 1. However, the primary of those tournaments by no means came to be because of a protest launched by Mozambican team Sporting de Lourenço Marques.

Final 5 Portugal Matches Stats

While Ireland are nonetheless in search of their first level, Portugal are joint top of Group A with Serbia and might be looking to pull clear. Portugal didn’t achieve this well at the Euros and head to this game on three straight winless matches, however still a really strong aspect. They’ve failed to attain in just certainly one of their last five betwinner Portugalia matches but have conceded twice or more in two of their final three matches. Their matches have been high scoring, 4 of the last five producing over 2.5 targets and with a very strong group called up, we expect the same going to this recreation. In their final 12 World Cup qualification matches, Portugal haven’t lost, and have just one loss in 22.

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This was attributable to the fold of the LPB after many years of financial issues, with the league now being a semi-professional league. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal, the matches that weren’t performed behind closed doorways, have been allowed to be played with restricted attendance. Portugal appeared like they have been going to need to settle for a point against Hungary in their opening recreation of Group F but a late flurry of targets helped safe a comfortable 3-0 victory in the end. Defensively, Portugal had their points against Hungary and could have conceded a objective before they took the lead late on, and one other efficiency like that could lead to a defeat in Munich on Saturday. Germany have won every of their last four encounters with Portugal, the latest of which ending 4-0 within the 2014 World Cup.

At home, their only loss in 18 video games, was towards France in the Nations League. They have straight wins in the final eight World Cup qualification matches, with six clear sheets in them. Meanwhile, Portugal have claimed simply three wins from their final eight pleasant games, seeing off Scotland, Algeria and Egypt in that time. Given their superior record over Portugal, we’re backing them to drag that off again. Meanwhile, our right score prediction backs a 2-1 win for Spain in this clah of two teams with excellent attacking options. Four of the last five meetings between Portugal and Germany have produced over 2.5 objectives.

Santa Clara announced on February 20 that spectators will be allowed in Estádio de São Miguel, for the third time this season, within the match in opposition to Paços de Ferreira on matchday 21, played one week afterward 27 February. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal, since March 2020, in distinction with various European leagues, the Primeira Liga started enjoying matches behind closed doorways. On 13 September, Sporting confirmed that three gamers had examined constructive for coronavirus, leading their pre-season match in opposition to Napoli to be cancelled because of the orders of the Portuguese Ministry of Health. The following day, Sporting confirmed that 4 gamers and a member of their staff had examined optimistic for coronavirus.

Portugal weren’t in motion this weekend and took the time off to play Qatar in a pleasant match they gained 3-1. They shall be back in action away to Azerbaijan in Baku wanting to go back on prime of Group A having been shifted by Serbia who beat Luxembourg 4-1. The hosts picked their first point in the recreation against Ireland of their final outing. They’ll feel dissatisfied by the 1-1 end result, having conceded in the 87th minute away to Ireland. With three losses in 5 matches, they aren’t going to this sport as favorites regardless of taking half in at home. A run of six matches without a win in World Cup qualifiers doesn’t help, especially having misplaced five of them.

Show all easements, envelopes, and special necessities of the subdivision as shown on the ultimate map and enchancment plans. If Planning Division approvals are needed, you have to get hold of them earlier than making use of for your building permit. We are continuing to supply 100% digital software submittal and no longer settle for paper applications or plans. Authorization of Agent to Act on Property Owner’s Behalf Form This kind is only required when the Owner-Builder applicant is hiring a contractor or different to perform the work described in the allow scope. Only the required contractor could also be current inside during an inspection.

• In addition, the City is liable for sustaining streets, sidewalks, bridges, and different infrastructure within the City.
• If you’ve any questions in the course of the evaluation course of, don’t hesitate to ask.
• Inspections at different times requires a $58.00 charge for every inspection.
• Registered contractors with an accredited license can submit functions using our online permitting system.
• Shade cloth buildings constructed for nursery or agricultural purpose, but not together with service systems.

After you submit your permit request throughDevelopment Hub PDX, your software package deal might be reviewed by a permit technician. The technician checks that the knowledge in your application package meets the minimum standards. Once a last inspection has handed and all different circumstances have been met, the permit will be thought of final and no different motion is required.

Occasion Permits

A general enhance in constructing permits might point out a necessity for more houses. A rise in constructing permits particularly for single-family homes can point out that more citizens have accrued enough finances to afford their residences. Our Online Permit Center (Accela Citizen Access – ACA) lets you apply for chosen permits, check on the status of your allow, and conduct a basic seek for permit records. Fee determinations in such cases shall be made obtainable to the basic public and disseminated to the relevant segments of the development business to be used in future such circumstances. The plumbing allow fee shall be the calculated fee per the payment table or the minimum fee, whichever is greater. Multiple low-voltage techniques installed by a single contractor at a single tackle and ready for a single inspection, could also be charge valued at one payment.

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The mechanical permit payment shall be the calculated fee per the fee desk or the minimal fee, whichever is bigger. $178.56 per section, with a minimum payment of $357.12 per allow сро строительство цена (this payment is in addition to the valuation-based fee for the location enhancements required in addition to the set-up fee). Some City permits usually are not issued by the Department of Code Administration.

After you pay your fees, we’ll email you to let you understand your plans can be found for download. Login to ProjectDox and download your plans from the Approved folder. You must print them to scale and submit on your job site to start construction. Depending on your project and the type of permit you need, extra steps could also be essential. You can check the standing of your permit reviewon PortlandMaps.com.

The City of Santa Fe Land Use Department is the Authority Having Jurisdiction over constructing allowing throughout the City limits of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Most simple maintenance and restore work in an Historic District is not going to require a building permit. You do not want to use for a separate preservation allow or certificate. Historic Preservation Office clearance of the constructing permit application is your preservation approval. Please notice that you cannot use postcard permits on a historic property.

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Gas piping system certification is extended to June 30, 2021 for buildings in Community Districts 1, 3, and 10 throughout the City . Beginning Tuesday, September 7, 2021, applications for model spanking new Department of Buildings-issued licenses/registrations should be submitted on-line. Industry Meetings are for Registered Design Professionals ONLY. The Santa Fe Residential Green Building Code applies to all new single family units, guesthouses, additions and remodels.

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• Financial markets refer broadly to any market where the trading of securities occurs, including the stock market and bond markets, among others.
• As a kind of federal aid to native governments or non-public corporations, Congress would grant land in lieu of money.

Installments are paid via your purchasing cart on the web site, because the hire of the product. Be certain to contact us after the first cost to document the beginning date of the installment plan. Technical assist contains answers to the questions on working with the product.

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Your customers simply have to pick out the currency to or from they need to convert and remainder of the work carried out in seconds. The general success of the exchange depends completely on the right technique and reliable software and enterprise partners. The Merkeleon white label change standard version is ready to launch inside 2 weeks or a little longer if Operator wish to make modifications in the скрипт обменника front-end, add some new modules, types of orders, fee methods. Financial markets refer broadly to any marketplace the place the trading of securities occurs, together with the inventory market and bond markets, among others. Bitcoin is a digital or digital currency created in 2009 that makes use of peer-to-peer expertise to facilitate instant funds. Digital foreign money exchangers are in a time of transition with the rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and others.

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In conjunction with technical decisions about tips on how to retailer transaction and balance data for programmable money, a system designer should additionally consider tips on how to enable the programming functionality for that cash. There are a number of potential methodologies to choose from, some of which are usually used at the facet of DLT and others which are more usually used for conventional financial technology systems. In some circumstances, these selections contain mutually exclusive designs for enabling programmability, however there could be normally broad flexibility in how programmability can be enabled. PPS is the perfect software program resolution for these who wish to run their own online business. PPS comes with a ready out of the field website with all of the features you have to run your individual payment gateway system or cash exchange web site at a low worth of solely $349!.

Bitcoin is also known as the very first virtual currency or digital foreign money. It can be used to buy services and products online or at offline stores as well. However, not many retailers accept Bitcoin as a mode of fee.

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Contemporary suppliers of money have a transparent financial incentive for simply continuing to supply certain products, similar to seignorage from banknote issuance. By contrast, the digital machine method embeds programming capability within the system itself in the type of virtual machine instructions that may acknowledge and manipulate the worth saved within the system. This is the method taken by Ethereum, which permits transactions to include programmatic directions and additional permits programs written for its personal digital machine to be deployed to and saved in the blockchain. Programs deployed in this manner may persist indefinitely, and their performance can be repeatedly utilized by future transactions. Setup a cronjob to question the API each hour and retailer current trade rates in a database desk and when you have to do trade calculations pull the data from the desk as typically as you like.

As a sort of federal aid to native governments or private companies, Congress would grant land in lieu of cash. Most of the time the grantee did not seek to accumulate any actual land however quite would promote the proper to assert the land to non-public traders within the form of scrip. Often the land title was finalized only after the scrip was resold several instances utilizing land agents also referred to as warrant brokers. These grants got here within the form of railroad land grants, university land grants, and grants to veterans for warfare service. Building a bitcoin exchange website just isn’t an easy task and requires long improvement times and a high price range.

You will have the ability to supplement your small business growth concept with confirmed approaches, concepts, and in addition discover strong partners for joint successful cooperation. Crypto Payments through API for Business Customers Provide a brand new service to your business companions for accepting cryptocurrency payments with or without automatic conversion to fiat. Merkeleon supplies a turnkey answer for beginning personal Crypto Exchange for skilled traders or novices. Most digital foreign money exchangers are privately held companies, which makes access to financial data and firm management troublesome. James Chen, CMT is an expert dealer, investment adviser, and international market strategist.

A reward of a gift card, perhaps in a beautiful wrapper, could also be seen as more socially acceptable than a gift of cash. It also prevents the reward being spent on something the giver views as undesirable . This scrip had packing containers during which a stamp equal to 2% of the worth needed to be affixed each week. It is alleged there have been literal showers of dried out stamps cascading to the ground when these certificates were pulled out of pockets in payment for something. In 19th-century Western Canada, the federal government devised a system of land grants known as scrip.

Amid numerous discussions about the future of Ukraine – a country that has been unable to form a single nation in 30 years of independence, and is torn apart by interethnic, linguistic and economic contradictions, Europe should ask itself just what Ukraine really means to it. And the answer will be the same – a buffer zone, because this clearly reflects Ukraine’s geopolitical role in relations with NATO and the EU. The Alliance needs Ukraine as a buffer zone, and even not all of it at that.

During the early 1990s, when Ukraine was not yet torn apart by civil war, NATO was seriously eyeing this former Soviet republic. As for Russian president Boris Yeltsin, he was not ruling out joining the Alliance himself. In 1994, NATO signed a framework agreement with Kiev as part of the Partnership for Peace initiative.

Five years later, Ukraine demonstrated its “pro-Atlantic” slant by supporting NATO’s operation in the Balkans. On June 12, 1999, Kiev even closed the country’s airspace for Russian planes flying to Pristina for several hours. That move caused an angry backlash from many Ukrainians, who consider themselves a part of the Orthodox Slavic world. And still, the first small step towards Euro-Atlantic integration seemed to have been made.

There is no place for failed states in the Alliance

Twenty-seven years on, Ukraine is a fragmented country, with a crumbling economy, a corrupt government and a vague foreign policy. Its biggest foreign policy breakthrough was gaining a “visa-free” status, which gives Ukrainian citizens a chance to look for illegal jobs in prosperous European countries without the need to apply for entry visas. That said, all the assistance Ukraine got from the United States and Europe did not help it to bring back Crimea or gain victory over its own citizens in Donbass. Moreover, Brussels and Washington have strong doubts about the country’s defense capability. The fact is that of all the post-Soviet countries NATO was smart enough to accep only the former Soviet Baltic republics, which spent 2 percent of their GDP on defense – a great deal of money considering their small budgets (for comparison, Belgium spends 0.9 percent and Hungary – 1.27 percent).

With Ukraine’s official defense outlays of at least 5.93 percent of GDP (2021) the country should be a mighty military power not afraid of anyone and a welcome new member for NATO. However, military supplies have long become a source of easy money for the country’s political elites, and the change of presidential teams did not change this a tiny bit. Ukraine keeps getting all imaginable foreign assistance, which is written off, disappears on the front line of a smoldering war and is resold to third countries. Meanwhile, despite its wealth of unresolved problems, Kiev keeps knocking on NATO’s door, apparently hoping that Brussels will help sort them out.

Ukraine’s main role is that of a buffer zone

In fact, the only role Ukraine can hope for is that of a buffer zone. In the European geopolitical model, the conflict with Ukraine is forcing Russia to put on hold its aggressive intensions in Europe, and having snatched yet another chunk of Ukrainian territory, the Russians will take some time to digest it. Kiev is certainly not happy about such a scenario and in June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to NATO with a demand to immediately accept the country into the alliance. He emphasized that NATO membership will be the only way to end the conflict in Donbass. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg promised that someday Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, but this will not happen overnight. Naturally enough, Ukraine’s pro-presidential media ignored that latter part of Stoltenberg’s message and started describing in glowing terms the joys of an early entry into the Alliance. And this despite Russia’s firm opposition to NATO’s expansion, which means that Ukraine’s entry into the Alliance will automatically entail active measures by Russia to ensure its own security.

Realizing full well that neither NATO nor the EU are eager to take in Ukraine any time soon, President Zelensky and his administration started portraying Ukraine as a “Shield of Europe”. Well, this propaganda ploy, intended for foreign and domestic consumption, might work for some time for some EU countries, which remain jittery about the imaginary picture of Putin’s tanks racing down Europe’s highways. And again, the Ukrainian right-wingers will have a new reason to pride themselves on their role as “defenders of Europeans” against the “Russian hordes”. But why on earth should Putin want to seize Europe? Who would he be selling gas to? What kind of a threat is Moscow posing to Brussels then?

Gas blackmail? But this is “just business,” and there are other gas suppliers out there. Meanwhile, the “Shield” is costing Europe a great deal and the price tag keeps going up. Kiev demands to preserve gas transit for itself, wants gas supplies at preferential prices and new sanctions against Moscow. At the same time, Ukrainian politicians insult their neighbors, make no attempts whatsoever to rein in the domestic ultra-right, who pose a threat to the whole of Europe, and are mired in corruption. So whether NATO and the Russian Federation really need a buffer zone is a big question. What we certainly do not need, however, is a “Shield” that we pay for from our own pockets…