There are many reasons to vote for him. First of all, he is an experienced, brilliant economist and financier – he knows his job not only on the micro level, but on macro level, too. He has chaired the National Bank of Ukraine, managed the country as a vice premier, and worked to establish a market economy in Ukraine when working as economy minister.
But, at the same time, he showed himself as a professional in many separate business projects. He created and developed a bank that became one of the top financial institutions in post-Soviet Ukraine; he created and led a powerful business group that for a long time has been in Ukraine’s top five.
Secondly, Tigipko is a talented manager – his style of leadership and decision-taking has surpassed what we refer to as “professional level”: he takes effective steps almost intuitively. He always gives a lot of attention to consultations with professionals and he believes that the team is the most powerful potential of every manager.
Today his experience is so indispensable for Ukraine, that he took a decision to return to politics he had left five years ago.
I am convinced that people should pay attention to his main goal – to make Ukraine strong. These are not just empty words many politicians employ in their campaigns: His aim is to strengthen the presidential institution in Ukraine, ensure unity in the leadership of the state, and strengthen the statehood through strong presidential rule.
The chaos to which our country has been doomed in the last five years has given us a chance to see the new and only right way out – a strong presidency. I think that, at the moment, Tigipko is the only candidate in the current campaign who can become a strong Ukrainian president.
I don’t want to discuss other candidates, but can’t help noting that every single one of them has got into politics and is running for president for personal pragmatic reasons. Someone is ruled by revenge and an irrepressible desire to prove something to their opponents, others are fulfilling the program of their oligarchic clans, while others have decided to go into politics on the wave of chaos that rules the country (it’s no secret that in the times of changes and disturbances those who come to power are not worthy individuals.)
Everyone has their reasons. But getting back to Tigipko’s personality, I can confidently vow that he is not interested in populism and ensuring his own interests – he has decided, once and for all, that his interest is that of the state that has lost a leader and hope and that this country is Ukraine.
When he announced his decision, many skeptics said he would gain less than one percent of the vote. But having a strong faith in his purpose and – primarily – Ukraine’s desperate need for a professional president, Tigipko was right in thinking people need him.
Things have changed now that several months have passed, and the media are more actively discussing the possibility of his future presidency or premiership. Nobody really knows how the vote will turn out, but it’s already a victory that people have started believing in Tigipko, and today he is recognized as a competitive and authoritative leader on the state level, as well as his own business.
To me personally, as a representative of the new generation who wants to live in a developed, strong and truly European country, it seems that the main message that people need to hear is Tigipko’s pragmatic attitude to Ukraine’s interests in the world.
He often justly notes that Ukraine has no right to take highly politicized decisions about cooperation with other countries (especially Russia). Every decision has to be pragmatic and economically weighted. If Ukraine is not interested in the conditions another country is offering, we must not accept them.
The era of populist decisions has passed, and everything will have to advance to the level of economic expediency and pragmatic interests of Ukraine. Just look around – nobody is talking about it except Tigipko. But it makes no sense to rule the country and fail to stand for its position and interests.
But times are changing, and Tigipko will become Ukraine’s president, sooner or later. The main thing is not to stop and continue believing.
Oleksandra Pavlenko is Sergiy Tigipko’s trustee and authorized representative at the Central Election Commission. She is also a partner with Pavlenko and Poberezhnyuk Law Group.
