In an interview with the New York Times, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is focused on keeping the economy afloat as the number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine is approaching one million infections.
As his Servant of the People party loses support inside the country, Zelensky noted the struggle to attack corruption and attract investment. He blamed the influence of Ukrainian oligarchs who promote pro-Russian views while using the state budget for private rather than public needs, Zelensky said.
The political turmoil hasn’t helped Zelensky fulfill his main promise — to end Russia’s war. “I want to end the war in Donbas. I think it will help other post-Soviet states to resolve similar conflicts,” Zelensky said in the interview.
The New York Times interview, which was published on Dec. 19, covered mainly U.S.-Ukraine relations after Joe Biden takes over as U.S. president on Jan. 20, but the President’s Office published the full version of the interview in Ukrainian.
The Kyiv Post has picked the main points covered by Zelensky from the full interview:
Main achievements
Zelensky says he’s done more for Ukraine than his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko. Under Zelensky’s administration, Ukraine finally adopted land reform, allowing the owners of private agricultural land to sell it. Ukraine was one of six countries in the world that banned the purchase of land. “A new law is a great achievement,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky praised himself for building roads and bridges. According to him, this year Ukraine paved 4,000 kilometers of roads – more when in the last 10 years.
“Many people complained that I paid too much attention to infrastructure during the pandemic,” Zelensky said. “But now we see that infrastructure is important” as doctors can move faster across the country.
Better infrastructure makes Ukraine more attractive to investors, according to Zelensky.
“We need investments,” he said. “Ukraine will die without them.”
In October 2019, Ukraine’s parliament passed a concession law allowing big investors to invest in local seaports and railway stations and improve them. Many foreign investors have already entered the country, Zelensky said.
For international businesses, Ukraine is an attractive market but they are afraid to invest because of the flawed judiciary.
Zelensky said the situation has improved with the launch in September of the High Anti-Corruption Court to fight corruption. Next year, Zelensky hopes to reform the whole judiciary branch, weakened by compromised judges from the Constitutional Court that has rolled back anti-corruption laws, such as punishment of public officials for false income and asset declarations.
“They want to ruin Ukraine’s anticorruption system but we won’t let them,” Zelensky said.
Fighting oligarchs
According to Zelensky, oligarchs are among those resisting changes.
There are two types of oligarchs in the country, he said, those who own big businesses that pay taxes, create jobs and powerful “financial groups” that control the media and intrude into politics. These types of oligarchs, including Poroshenko and the leader of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk, prevail in the Ukrainian parliament, Zelensky said.
He doesn’t want to work with oligarch lawmakers even though his party, the 246-member Servant of the People, is losing support in Ukraine.
In an attempt to make Ukraine’s politics more transparent, Zelensky’s government has turned to technology. In February 2020, Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation rolled out a mobile application called Diia that allows users to keep passports, driving licenses, vehicle registration certificates, and other documents in their smartphones
The ministry has also launched website Diia, where one can register as a private entrepreneur, receive economic assistance or other state services. According to Zelensky, it helps to eliminate corruption because Ukrainian citizens don’t have to interact with lawmakers face-to-face.
Friends and enemies
Former PrivatBank owner Igor Kolomoisky, who aided Zelensky in the presidential campaign in 2019 has criticized the anticorruption requirements Ukraine has to fulfill to receive a loan from International Monetary Fund. Kolomoisky, who is accused of stealing billions, said that Ukraine would be better off working with Russia instead.
“Igor Kolomoisky is not a president, so he cannot speak on behalf of the president and the government,” he said.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine’s strategic partners are the European Union, NATO, and the United States.
“These are important partners. They support us in sanctions against Russia after it started the war in Donbas” Zelensky said.
Kolomoisky’s allegations cannot change the Ukrainian geopolitics, he added.
Ukraine’s banking system is independent of oligarch’s influence too, according to Zelensky.
“The National Bank of Ukraine and its policy are independent today. They can rely on my support,” the president said.
Although Zelensky doesn’t interfere with the work of financial, anti-corruption, and law enforcement agencies, he said he encourages them to work faster.
Help from the U.S.
Zelensky said that Ukraine relies on its allies and hope they will help the country to end the ongoing war in Ukraine’s eastern territories, occupied by Russia in 2014.
While the peace talks with Russia initiated after the Normandy Four summit in Paris in December 2019 brought little progress, Zelensky suggested that powerful political leaders like Biden could join the Normandy Four that currently includes France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia.
“Before his presidency, (Biden) had close ties to Ukraine, and he understands the Russians well, he understands the difference between Ukraine and Russia, and, it seems to me, he understands the Ukrainian mentality,” Zelensky said.
While the stiffening of sanctions against Russia during ex-president’s Donald Trump administration helped Ukraine too, Zelensky said that more should be done because “ending the war with Russia” is not enough.
To support the war-torn Donbas after the de-occupation, Ukraine needs “strong businesses, technology, security and money” — that is where the U.S. can help, Zelensky said.
“We understand that today the U.S. is the world’s safeguard and the important strategic player,” he said. It can help Ukraine to end the war in Donbas, reintegrate the territory and start big construction projects there.
The U.S. can help Ukraine to achieve the de-occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, too, according to Zelensky.
There is no international platform for discussing the resolution of the Crimean question, so Ukraine hopes to host its own meeting in May 2021 where political leaders and analysts will discuss solutions to the occupation. Zelensky said that the U.S. can make a valuable contribution if it joins the meeting.
Attracting investment
Another area where Zelensky wants to work with the U.S. is the economy. Ukraine will benefit if American businesses invest in the country’s energy, agriculture, technology, and finance, he said.
The Ukrainian government is working to make the local market more attractive to foreign investments, according to Zelensky.
One day, he even wants to build local Hollywood and Disneyland in the country.
Ukraine is the right place to invest and launch big projects, Zelensky said.
