Spravka! Show me the Spravka!
For about 3 years, Sergiy at the UEC has been trying to get a document to completely legalize the renovation of the UEC building that actually started about 6 years. It's a very long story, we didn't do anything wrong (other people messed up), but this bureaucratic nightmare has languished on and on and today was episode 483.
I have been involved in the process some, mostly cheering Sergiy on from the sidelines. We finally got to the next to the last office for this process, submitted a huge stack of documents, and were told to come back in 2 months. We went back today and we actually got what seems some good news. The documents have been approved and now all we need to do is pay a small fee, wait a few more days, and then probably they will be ready. Of course, the place where you pay closes at 12.30. Since we had to come during the pick up hours, which is after 12.30, we couldn't pay today. So Sergiy will go back tomorrow to pay this nominal fee and hopefully be able to give the lady the receipt. He may have to go on another day to do that. Then, we have to go back to pick up the documents and I am sure there will be some complications then.
All along, we have struggled with what to do about bribery. Actually, it's not really bribery--it's more like a way of life. Rarely in Ukraine do things in the government get done unless someone "expedites"--meaning that the person is supposed to do their job but won't until they get something out of the deal. Sometimes it's a box of candy, a bottle of champagne, a box of Xerox paper, an electric tea kettle, possibly some new wallpaper for their office, or often--cold, hard cash. In these many years of bureaucrats, we have never really offered a bribe. We just kept saying we wanted it to do it the legal way. It has taken many years but maybe, just maybe we are about to get there documents.
What are these documents all about it? You will never believe it, NEVER.
When the UEC blueprints were drawn, they were approved by a government committee. But there was basically a mistake in the written description of the documents. In the drawing, our balconies were joined to the living space of the apartments. But in the written description, this fact was omitted. Thus, when all was said and done, our living space was supposed to go up because we now had more space. But it didn't and thus the monthly tax we pay on the living space didn't go up. So we haven't been paying enough taxes. When we found out about this mistake, the nightmare began. Levels and levels of bureaucracy lurched from out of the shadows and gnawed away at us for years. But finally, our blueprints are almost approved to say that the balcony space is now a part of the living space. And our monthly tax will finally go up.
About $2 a month.
I have been involved in the process some, mostly cheering Sergiy on from the sidelines. We finally got to the next to the last office for this process, submitted a huge stack of documents, and were told to come back in 2 months. We went back today and we actually got what seems some good news. The documents have been approved and now all we need to do is pay a small fee, wait a few more days, and then probably they will be ready. Of course, the place where you pay closes at 12.30. Since we had to come during the pick up hours, which is after 12.30, we couldn't pay today. So Sergiy will go back tomorrow to pay this nominal fee and hopefully be able to give the lady the receipt. He may have to go on another day to do that. Then, we have to go back to pick up the documents and I am sure there will be some complications then.
All along, we have struggled with what to do about bribery. Actually, it's not really bribery--it's more like a way of life. Rarely in Ukraine do things in the government get done unless someone "expedites"--meaning that the person is supposed to do their job but won't until they get something out of the deal. Sometimes it's a box of candy, a bottle of champagne, a box of Xerox paper, an electric tea kettle, possibly some new wallpaper for their office, or often--cold, hard cash. In these many years of bureaucrats, we have never really offered a bribe. We just kept saying we wanted it to do it the legal way. It has taken many years but maybe, just maybe we are about to get there documents.
What are these documents all about it? You will never believe it, NEVER.
When the UEC blueprints were drawn, they were approved by a government committee. But there was basically a mistake in the written description of the documents. In the drawing, our balconies were joined to the living space of the apartments. But in the written description, this fact was omitted. Thus, when all was said and done, our living space was supposed to go up because we now had more space. But it didn't and thus the monthly tax we pay on the living space didn't go up. So we haven't been paying enough taxes. When we found out about this mistake, the nightmare began. Levels and levels of bureaucracy lurched from out of the shadows and gnawed away at us for years. But finally, our blueprints are almost approved to say that the balcony space is now a part of the living space. And our monthly tax will finally go up.
About $2 a month.
posted by Kyivmission at 2:51 AM
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