Monday, January 2, 2017

Year’s milestones. Commotion in political elites, lost hope in Nadiia Savchenko, and shocking e-declarations of assets

Yevgeny Magda


Ukraine in 2016 has seen so many political events, which in normal life would be enough for several years. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that Ukraine is going through the crisis, the biggest one in its recent history, so the country’s achievements and failures are measured in strategic terms.


Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s fight to retain premiership ended in a predictable defeat, but the Popular Front leader managed to retire voluntarily with a view to save his political face. Although his ratings are not very different from a statistical error, his political party is too early to write off. And it's not just about a massive political advertising campaign in the end of 2016.


It’s also about the fact that the demand for new political faces is hardly stronger than the voters’ habit to bet on the well-known parties with polished rhetoric. Having switched from the Rada Speaker’s chair to that of Ukraine’s Premier, Volodymyr Groysman said good-bye to his image of the president's protégé and has kept pledging a better life for Ukrainians ever since. 

Doubling the minimum wage would not be enough to this end, because utility costs have also jumped significantly, while loyalty of the IMF remains an open question. The government managed to promptly adopt the budget for 2017 at the cost of compromising with the deputy groups beyond coalition, but implementing this budget will be a no easy task.

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