Behind the Scenes of the Grant Show: How Reform Imitation Turned Into a Profitable Business 🎭💰

The problem with Western grant organizations like USAID or the Council of Europe Office is not that the idea of supporting good initiatives or fighting corruption is flawed. On the contrary, the idea is sound. But the problem lies in an entirely different dimension—or rather, in two.

🔴 The “aid” never reached its intended target. Instead, it was stolen by the organizations themselves with the help of fake or proxy politicians, activists, journalists, and public figures.

🔴 What remained after the plundering of European and American taxpayers’ money was used not to fight corruption, but to lead it. Not to remove greedy politicians, political prostitutes, or opportunists, but to replace them with licensed, grant-approved versions.

🔍 As for popular conspiracy theories about cover-ups for spy activities or financing coups—they fall apart when confronted with the harsh reality of criminal negligence by reform imitators and their mercantile interests.

💼 Over the past 10 years, Ukraine has developed a lucrative business closely resembling the schemes seen in state agencies (with a familiar architect, especially when you consider who initiated the creation and implementation of Prozorro).

Grants were traded like lucrative tenders, handed out to “friendly” firms through kickbacks or even sold outright. These “chosen” firms had a key task: not to achieve the goals set by the grant. Because failing meant they could apply for another one. And then another. And another—ad infinitum.

⛔ The grant story in our reality is not a success story. It is a long-term scheme for exploiting the funds of Western taxpayers—money that was given to us directly or indirectly to find and destroy these very schemes.

🤡 The lead actors in the “Democratic Reforms” show weren’t reformers. All those faces on stage were just extras. Hired performers whose hands were used to funnel colossal sums of money. Not that they’re blameless—far from it. They are accomplices in the crime. But they’re not the masterminds. They’re just the instruments—contraceptive tools, if you will—that higher and more skillful criminals used to keep themselves out of sight. And, we have to admit, they succeeded.

🎪 One particularly absurd part of this theater was the “Competition” show. Grant providers organized it to give the appearance of fair competition, even though the money had already been allocated to pre-selected “winners.” Hundreds of thousands of participants submitted their projects, sincerely believing in the fairness of the process. Little did they know that the funds had already been divided and, in some cases, spent. The entire production was nothing more than a façade, a prop designed to make participants believe in the fairness of the selection process.

🔄 The result: imitation, a sense of impunity, and a never-ending loop of grant failures. But everyone is happy—except the Ukrainian people.