"You have to be completely devoid of political sense of smell, not to sense tension"

Alexandra Kuzhel, deputy head of the Serhiy Tihipko-led 'Strong Ukraine', would not advise anyone to start up a business in Ukraine right now. She said this in a TV interview on Thursday.

Kuzhel is a prominent Ukrainian politician, a sometimes maverick spokesman for small and medium-size businesses, and former head of a government business development committee. She says she voted for Yanukovych in the last presidential elections.

"At the moment the average business is in one of two states. In the first a [criminal] case has been opened against you, and you are somehow, sorting out the issues, so you are not thinking about protest actions. In the other, your business is about to be taken away and you have to save it, and in this case you also will not be demonstrating either," said Kuzhel.

"Both states, however, can not last long, they will develop into something. Tension is growing," added Tigipko's deputy.

'Shock-jock' blogger Oles' Buzynya, who posts on the 'Segodnya' website, and is known for his anti Ukrainian nationalist, anti-'orange' views, [as well as the occasional fist fight on television] posted the following blog after last week's rowdy demonstrations by Afghan war veterans outside [and almost inside]the Verhovna Rada building.

Pre-revolutionary situation?

Last week Afghan war veterans nearly took the Verkhovna Rada by storm. The demonstration by the former took the government completely by surprise.

No political party sponsored this action. The "Afghans" arose themselves, because they wanted to take away their benefits, and you have to be blind not to see how many benefits are grabbed by those sitting under the dome of Parliament and how they are setting a budget for their own benefit.

The authorities feared Yulia, but it turns out that need to fear their own people, tired of waiting for improvements.

After the demonstations a fence has been hurredly constructed around the parliament building.

Buzyna continues: This fence is a symbol of the terrible boundary which now stands between the upper and lower classes. A pre-revolutionary situation has now arisen. But it is still not revolutionary..

Those at the top can still operate as before, separated from the electorate by a fence, and the lower classes in the main seem to have agreed to be patient for a while. But tension in the country is growing, like the mercury in a thermometer when flu takes a hold. The air smells of rebellion.

You have to be completely devoid of political sense of smell, not to sense it. No pickets can not save those who rule us if the economic situation worsens. Kiev includes 4 million new residents. These are people who who have to escape from the provinces that have been devastated over the past twenty years. They have nowhere else to run. They are young, strong and active. As soon as the economic collapse starts, they will take down not only the fence, but also the walls and government buildings.

And then talk that our labour force is too expensive will be redundant - it's our bureaucrats and oligarchs that are too expensive. And if the authorities continue to be more expensive than the people, this could be very costly for the government. And for the people too.

And 'UkrainianJournal.com' reports: Ukrainian farmers soon will hold protest rallies demanding the cancellation of the grain export duties in effect until the end of 2011, Hennadiy Novikov, head of the Agrarian Union of Ukraine said at the annual food industry forum in Kiev on Thursday. He said that the union's council made the decision at a meeting held earlier.

"Farmers have been brought to boiling-point. They decided to hold a rally: strikes and block roads with machinery," he said.

Novikov said that export duties have led to unprofitability of grain production.

p.s. Some excellent pieces of analysis entitled "Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw - fears and hopes"from easternpartnership.org here