According to polling in December by the U.S. firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, 56 percent of Georgia’s likely voters give him favorable ratings. This proves once again that the post-revolutionary paths followed by the two countries and their respective leaders vary dramatically. As a new president will soon come into office, Ukraine should learn from the best practices of its neighbors.

Undoubtedly, Yushchenko’s election loss reflects the failure of his presidency. The Orange Revolution was a real democratic breakthrough, which boosted empowerment of the people and freed the media environment. But none of the promises of Maidan (Independence Square) have been delivered. The country made no progress whatsoever in five years and no major reform has been designed nor implemented.
The population is highly disillusioned and does not trust anymore its leaders and institutions. Parliament has the lowest rating ever, with an average approval of less than 2 percent. Ukraine shares 146th place in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index with Zimbabwe, Russia and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, the business environment is strained by red tape, stringent over-regulation and systematic administrative interference. Ukraine ranks 142 out of 183 countries in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rating.
It would be unfair to put all the blame on Yushchenko’s shoulders for this poor performance of the country. Although his responsibility cannot be denied, the destructive role of his political opponents, the divisions within the country about its future path of development, and the poor quality of the political and administrative elite should not be underestimated.

The contrast with Georgia is striking. Saakashvili’s ratings illustrate the success of the radical changes he led since 2003. His major steps focused on fighting corruption and bringing economic liberalization. The reform of the police resulted in more than 80 percent of trust among the population, which is unprecedented in Europe. Petty corruption has been fully eradicated and corrupt officials were held accountable. According to Transparency International, Georgia is the country in the world which progressed the most in the fight against corruption between 2003 and 2009.

The once famous and blooming Georgian mafia had to fly away. Thanks to drastic economic reforms, Georgia ranks 11th in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business rating, and was nominated as the number one economic reformer in the world in 2008 by the same institution. Taxes have been cut dramatically and red tape eliminated. Once dark and cold, now the country faces no electricity and heating cuts, has diversified its energy supplies and is exporting electricity to Russia, Armenia and Turkey.

The situation is, however, not fully “rosy.” Reforms have been implemented in a very challenging internal and external environment. In 2007, an attempt of a coup d’etat destabilized the government and the institutions. In 2008, more than 20 percent of the Georgian territory got fully occupied by Russian forces. In spring of 2009, opposition street protests blocked the center of Tbilisi for four months and disrupted the economy. Further structural reforms are needed to ensure sustainable development, especially in the field of public health, education and the judiciary system.

The Georgian example proves, however, that reforms are possible in the post-Soviet space. The current failure of Ukraine is not irreversible. It takes courage, talent and determination to reform a country. But most of all, it takes a collective effort. Saakashvili’s key to his success was that he brought on board a completely new political generation. Although ministers were without real experience in public administration, they were young (most of them were under 30 years of age), ambitious, educated in the West, passionate and determined to succeed. And they really made a difference. This is exactly where Yushchenko’s biggest failure lies: under his presidency, there was no renewal of the political elite, which still plays by the old rules.

The next Ukrainian president will only succeed in modernizing the country if he or she manages to rejuvenate dramatically the political elite by bringing young, Western educated, honest and passionate leaders at all levels of governance.
One cannot succeed alone.

Thomas Eymond-Laritaz is adviser to the Georgian president and to the head of the National Security Council. He lived in Ukraine for five years, where he was the president of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. Orysia Lutsevych is the Tbilisi Correspondent of the BBC Ukrainian Radio Service and Head of development of the Europe House Georgia. She previously was executive director of the Open Ukraine Foundation in Kyiv.