The Verkhovna Rada on April 14 approved the composition of a new government led by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman. Immediately, fears were expressed that the new prime minister is the president’s man, a crony that will do Petro Poroshenko’s bidding and consolidate his control over various government entities. Our biggest fear stems from the fact that reshuffling the Cabinet does not guarantee much-needed reforms in Ukraine. Without a true commitment to reform and rooting out corruption, the formation of a new government and a new parliamentary coalition is meaningless.
Indeed, that was the message conveyed in no uncertain terms by the United States and other allies in the West, even as President Poroshenko proclaimed Ukraine’s political crisis to be over.
Vice-President Joe Biden spoke with President Poroshenko on the very day the new government was announced. According to a readout of the phone call released by the White House, “The vice-president stressed that Ukraine must use the renewed political stability to move forward on the reforms required to secure Ukraine’s future – including fulfilling Ukraine’s IMF commitments. The vice-president also stressed the urgency of putting in place a new prosecutor general who would bolster the agency’s anti-corruption efforts and strongly support the work of its reformers.” Mr. Biden followed up with a call to Mr. Groysman, telling the new prime minister that his new team “should move forward quickly” on reform in order to maintain international support for Kyiv.
Similarly, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, speaking at the Odesa Security Forum, which was held on March 24-25, had underscored that Kyiv’s slow movement on reforms is weakening Ukraine in its struggle against Russia’s ongoing invasion and occupation. “Ukraine’s best response to Russian aggression is to continue firmly on its European trajectory, to continue to implement real reforms that fundamentally and irreversibly destroy the corrupt practices of the past,” said Mr. Pyatt. The Verkhovna Rada, he added, “must continue to represent the people’s interests and not the parochial interests of individual members or oligarchic clans.”
Fear for Ukraine’s future is compounded by the fact that some of the country’s most effective ministers are now gone, among them the foreigners who had been brought in because they were not part of the old system and were seen as incorruptible, for example Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, who resigned in protest against corruption and the blocking of reforms, and Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, who oversaw Kyiv’s negotiations with the IMF and succeeded in restructuring Ukraine’s debt (and for a while was seen as the next prime minister). Speaking in Washington on the day the new Cabinet was formed, Ms. Jaresko, who arrived in town as a minister and left as an ex-minister, described the IMF bailout package as a “huge asset” and a program that “fosters the reform agenda,” and said the new government “must stick to the IMF program and implement it fully.”
We fervently hope that President Poroshenko, Prime Minister Groysman and the new Cabinet will heed the words uttered by Ukraine’s staunch supporters. As The Washington Post noted in its most recent editorial on Ukraine, Messrs. Poroshenko and Groysman “talked a good game,” saying they are committed to the IMF program, to fighting corruption and rejecting economic populism. “But neither man has a record of supporting the radical steps Ukraine needs, including a sweeping reform of the judiciary, big increases in energy prices for consumers, and an uncompromising assault on corrupt oligarchs and vested interests.”
Unfortunately, the news from Kyiv this week was not good. President Poroshenko was promoting the candidacy of Yurii Lutsenko for procurator general despite the fact that he does not have the necessary credentials. Why? Observers say Mr. Lutsenko was seen as someone whom the president could trust and influence. To his credit, after it became clear that the powers of the top prosecutor would be curtailed and the procuracy would not be reformed, Mr. Lutsenko stated that he does not want to be a ”decorative prosecutor.”
It is our sincere hope that Kyiv does not think it is fooling anyone by reshuffling the Cabinet and continuing business as usual. It’s time to stop the games and move expeditiously on reforms in Ukraine. A good place to start would be with the appointment of a truly independent and reform-minded procurator general – someone who will actually fight corruption, not abet it.