Events in eastern Ukraine should not be used as an excuse for the absence of real economic reforms in the country, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said.
Speaking at a meeting with public reform movements in Kyiv, the president noted that this topic at this time rightly attracts the attention of the state leadership, the government, the elite, the society and young people, because “there is no more important task than the protection of the state, supporting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“I would not want the word ‘reform’ and a lack of real reforms in society be justified by the war. We must find the strength to win not only at the front against the enemy and terrorism, but win on the fronts of the struggle against corruption, combating economic inefficiency, when the past is pulling us and keeping firmly in the post-Soviet models of the economy and society, giving someone a reason to justify their own inaction and failure to carry out reforms,” said the president.
Poroshenko also said “the political will of the president and his team are there to carry out necessary reforms.”
The head of state noted that currently “nobody except for my team is engaged in the defense of the state.”
“But we will find and have found models that will enable us to launch reforms. There is no doubt. And in this I need your help,” the president said, addressing the representatives of the public reform movements.
