Observers of Ukrainian politics and government are watching closely in case the three recent resignations – of the economy, agriculture and infrastructure ministers –turn into a stampede. Here are some of the most closely watched:
Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko
Natalie Jaresko, one of four founding partners of Horizon Capital private equity fund and finance minister since Dec. 2, 2014, is popular among Ukrainians and in the West, with a reputation as a tough reformer.
In August, Jaresko persuaded international creditors to write off $3.8 billion of sovereign debt and to postpone payments on $15.6 billion in eurobonds for four years. The government hailed Jaresko’s achievements as “a victory on the financial front.”
After parliament approved Jaresko’s 2016 budget in December, she told Ukrainska Pravda that Ukraine had taken a huge step forward. “These are reforms in pension and social security as well as cost minimization. Some issues that had been discussed for years, but with no action, were included in this budget,” Jaresko said.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in October, Jaresko threatened to quit her post if the government backs off reforms. This year so far, Jaresko hasn’t discussed the topic of resignation.
Mikheil Saakashvili and his team
Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia who did much to reform the country, formed his team of like-minded progressives in Odesa as governor of the oblast. He has spent the last eight months building his team with former Georgian colleagues, EuroMaidan activists, and Western-educated Ukrainians.
He picked high-profile activist Yulia Maruchevska to head the customs office at Odesa’s notoriously corrupt seaport. He appointed allies as chiefs of the region’s police department and prosecutor’s office. His former chief of customs and tax collection, Giorgi Tskhakaya, became an adviser. Saakashvili also appointed Maria Gaidar, a Russian activist and critic of Vladimir Putin, who now has Ukrainian citizenship, as his deputy.
They are currently working on deregulation, transparent customs clearance, privatization, fighting corruption, drawing investment, repairing roads, and opening administrative service centers.
Davit Sakvarelidze, deputy prosecutor general and prosecutor of Odesa Oblast
Davit Sakvarelidze is another member of Mikheil Saakashvili’s team of reformers. The Georgian was appointed a deputy prosecutor under Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, and also the chief prosecutor in Odesa Oblast in February 2015. He is responsible for purging the prosecutorial staff and reforming it.
In July 2015, Sakvarelidze, together with the State Security Service, arrested high-ranking prosecutors Volodymyr Shapakin and Oleksandr Korniets on suspicion of illicit enrichment. Investigators found more than $500,000 in cash, jewelry, stocks and diamonds in their offices. The so-called diamond prosecutors’ case has become one of the most high-profile corruption cases in Ukraine.
Sakvarelidze is an open critic to Shokin and calls himself “the president’s man at the Prosecutor General’s Office.”
Khatia Dekanoidze, the chief of the National Police
Georgian Khatia Dekanoidze became the chief of Ukraine’s National Police force on Nov 4, 2015. Earlier, she and her Georgian colleague Eka Zguladze created and introduced new police patrol units in July 2015.
Western trainers were brought in to set up a new police force, which has replaced the corrupt, Soviet-era militsiya police on the streets of 10 cities so far, including Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Uzhhorod. The formation of all of these police foces should be completed by May.
Justice Ministry’s Petrenko, Getsadze
Apart from the successes of the Finance Ministry, deputies at the Justice Ministry headed by Pavlo Petrenko are also pushing to reduce bureaucratic barriers. Georgian lawyer Gia Getsadze and western-educated lawyer Sergiy Petukhov are launching an electronic service system to simplify procedures.
According to Getsadze, a new service is set in motion every two weeks. So far, the ministry has opened online registers, namely on court decisions, real estate, media, notaries, private entrepreneurs, and companies. They also allow online registration of marriages and births, as well as other services. And using Skype, citizens can consult with Justice Ministry employees over the Internet.
Additionally, Petukhov said that the old representative offices around the country will be eliminated, while the network of legal assistance centers extend, with their launch even in small towns. While carrying out these online reforms, he doesn’t feel pressure from the government, Petukhov said, because parliament has approved the initiatives.
