Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko is not happy with the achievements of his year-long presidency. He says the country will stick to the Minsk II peace agreement and stay on the path of European Union integration, despite a possible "full-scale" invasion by Russia in the eastern Donbas. In his state of the nation address in Parliament on June 4, Poroshenko did not mention Russian-annexed Crimea.
He said the country has only started doing its “tough homework” on costly and painful reforms.
“Whether I’m satisfied with the work of the government? I’m not. Neither with my work nor the work of Parliament. But most importantly – the people are not happy with all of us,” he said
What troubles Poroshenko the most is corruption.
Fighting corruption
The Anti-Corruption Bureau has been established. Poroshenko on April 16 appointed ex-prosecutorial investigator Artem Sytnyk as its head. Now the agency has to hire personnel, and Poroshenko expects it to be fully operational by October.
Poroshenko asked Parliament to pass a witness protection law and another to allow plea-bargaining with the aim of getting bribe-takers to testify against those perpetuating bigger illegal schemes.
Another anti-corruption step is deregulation by cancelling required certificates and licenses
“One of the main sources of corruption is now the state-owned enterprises,” Poroshenko added.
Privatization
Most state-owned firms should be sold. “These factories and plants bring nothing to the budget, except for losses, with very few exceptions,” Poroshenko said. He noted that lawmakers have to define the rules for the sales as well as the list of enterprises to be sold.
“There are still 1,800 enterprises left. Not more than 200 of them are vital for the state,” Poroshenko said.
De-oligarchizaton
Using the word “oligarch” 11 times in his speech, Poroshenko again emphasized the importance of reducing their influence on Ukraine as another step in fighting corruption.
“Private business should manage its own companies, but not graze in the state companies, nor feed on the budget flow,” he said. “Yes, authorities need to be engaged in dialogue with the large-scale businesses, because they provide jobs. But business can’t talk to the state in the language of ultimatums.”
This process can be successful only with busting up monopolies, Poroshenko said, adding that Ukraine’s current losses from “cartel agreements” range from 10 to 22 percent of gross domestic product. “About 40 percent of goods and services are being sold on monopolized markets,” he said.
Another way to decrease the clout of business moguls is to have the state finance political parties.
State procurement
Poroshenko marked real progress in fighting corruption in state procurement.
“Kickbacks have decreased, many schemes were closed, transparency has increased, and social control has become more solid,” he said.
He said the Defense Ministry and Ukroboronprom, the state arms exporter, provide the most effective electronic procurements, which helped save more than Hr 130 million.
Rates
Poroshenko said the poor need to receive subsidies before the winter season to help them cope with the rising price of utilities. “We must increase subsidies for villagers first of all,” he said.
Interior Ministry
Poroshenko said he’s happy with Eka Zguladze, who was appointed deputy interior minister in December. Zguladze is working on a pilot project to create a new traffic police force. Poroshenko said the new road patrols in Kyiv will hit the streets later this month.
“We have started passing bills regulating reforms of the Interior Ministry. They separate forcible functions from political ones and set up a municipal guard and new traffic police,” Poroshenko said.
Judicial reform
Judicial reform, according to the president, is the most difficult of all.
However, new rules on judicial appointments is in place, Poroshenko noted. He championed transparent appointments to the High Council of Justice, the body that hires, fires and disciplines judges.
He raised alarm bells, however, when he said this he hopes the justic council “fires more than 300 of judges.”
Military reform
The country should increase its defense capabilities, which includes the purchase of the latest weapons.
With the help of volunteers and the Ministry of Defense, Ukraine has at least 50,000 soldiers involved in the war. In total, Ukraine’s army has at least 250,000 soldiers and the country has spent Hr 19.2 billion upgrades.
“Ukrainian soldiers are often fighting today with the 20th century weapons against the Russians equipped with 21st-century arms,” Poroshenko said. “Our most important task is to re-equip our army, because they already have demonstrated their fighting spirit.”
Ukraine’s defense will also align with NATO standards.
NATO membership
Poroshenko wants the country to join the NATO military alliance, a move favored by most Ukrainians, he said. Ukraine has approved its National Security Strategy through 2020 with the aim of joining NATO, Poroshenko said.
At the end of his speech, Poroshenko asked Parliament to strip all lawmakers of immunity from prosecution, as well as to limit the immunity of judges.
He will review everyone’s work performance by autumn.
“We’ll put the work of each minister under a microscope,” Poroshenko says.
Kyiv Post staff writers Alyona Zhuk and Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected]
