President Petro Poroshenko deserves the mantle of the nation’s top anti-reformer because he has consistently ignored demands by civil society, thwarted efforts to introduce the rule of law and covered up for corrupt officials.
He has refused to fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin in the face of overwhelming evidence of his incompetence and failure to take any high-profile cases to court.
Poroshenko has also chosen not to have his long-time friend and top ally Ihor Kononenko expelled from either his faction or parliament. Last week Economic Development Minister Aivaras Abromavicius quit after accusing Kononenko of corruption, which had been preceded by numerous other graft allegations against him.
Moreover, Poroshenko has ignored corruption accusations against other allies, including lawmaker Oleh Nedava, State Fiscal Service head Roman Nasirov and businessman Konstantin Grigorishin.
Reformer of the week
Andriy Pyvovarsky
Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarsky on Feb. 9 voiced reformist ministers’ demands that must be fulfilled by the Cabinet of Ministers and parliament.
If the demands are not met, the Cabinet will resign within weeks, he said.
Pyvovarsky called for increasing government officials’ pay, launching large-scale privatization of state firms, genuine tax reform and the ability of ministers to appoint their own CEOs to state-owned enterprises.
He resigned in December as the frustration of several ministers with low pay and sabotage of reform efforts was growing. Last week he reversed his resignation when Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk agreed to address the ministers’ concerns.
Pyvovarsky also deserves credit for improving corporate governance at state companies under the Infrastructure Ministry’s control.
