Bloomberg published an article devoted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and his failures with the headline "Ukraine's leader was broken by the system he vowed to destroy." Journalists focused attention on the fact that the trust of Ukrainians in the head of state is falling, and the help of the West is decreasing.
Here is the translation Bloomberg publications.
The President of Ukraine is losing the battle against the invariably murky political system he was elected to eradicate. After a year and a half of his rule, Volodymyr Zelensky is losing, as the hard-won reforms after the 2014 overthrow of the Kremlin-backed country's leader are collapsing. These steps in the opposite direction call into question the future of the nation, which for ten years has played a huge role in geopolitics, repeatedly involving the West and Russia in a "tug of war".
Zelensky is now facing the Constitutional Court, which has overturned anti-corruption laws that are key to the flow of billions of dollars in foreign aid and the visa-free regime that allows Ukrainians to travel to the European Union. The attempt to fire all of them did not lead to anything, which indicates a decrease in the authority of the president.
Hopes of receiving a frozen loan from the International Monetary Fund in the amount of 5 billion dollars by the end of the year to alleviate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic were almost dashed this week.
"Zelensky is playing a dangerous game, which will inevitably lead to the manifestation of his inability to manage political events," says Mark McNamee, head of practice in Europe at DuckerFrontier, a research and consulting company. "Structurally, the country remains almost the same: it is ruled by oligarchs, and the parliament and judicial system are riddled with corruption and external influence."
Zelenskyi's office said that restarting the Constitutional Court is necessary to restore public trust. The parliament has adopted or will discuss more than 10 bills to put an end to the crisis provoked by the judges of the Constitutional Court.
Despite criticism of insufficient criminal prosecution under his predecessor, not a single high-ranking official was detained under Zelensky. Market-friendly reformers hired to close the book on Ukraine's post-Soviet policy were swept away as a result of the reshuffle, and some Western members of state-owned companies' councils were ousted.
The inability to completely break with the past affects Zelensky's support among the people, which just a few months ago was comparable to the support of Vladimir Putin in Russia. His party also suffered: it failed in the local elections. One November poll showed that the pro-Russian rival enjoys the greatest support among voters at the national level, indicating that the Kremlin may still be able to regain its ground.
Respondents in a separate survey published this week declared Zelensky "disappointment" No. 1 among Ukrainian politicians in 2020. To many, this decline reminds of President Viktor Yushchenko, the leader of the Orange Revolution of 2004, whose pro-European administration sought to increase the transparency of government before succumbing to a split. Viktor Yanukovych, leaning towards Russia, ultimately came to power.
"Zelensky cannot defeat corruption because it is a system of well-thought-out schemes based on legislative loopholes," said Mikhail Kosyv, an 85-year-old former deputy who fought the communist regime until its collapse in 1991. — Great experience and knowledge are needed, which Zelensky, as a political novice, does not have.
Instead, Zelensky relies on advisers, although many of them are from his past life in show business and are not familiar with state management. In addition, support from abroad decreased: US President Donald Trump showed little interest in Ukraine after his impeachment.
This may change. President-elect Joe Biden repeatedly traveled to Kyiv with Barack Obama, persuading lawmakers to vote for reforms. In 2015, he referred to the deaths of protesters when he told parliament that "their victims, frankly, are now your debt." But Zelensky needs more than just renewed attention in Washington.
Part of his own party is believed to be under the control of billionaire Igor Kolomoisky, a former business partner who broke off relations with the state over the nationalization of PrivatBank, and who is fighting an FBI investigation into fraud.
Despite the fact that Zelensky's party controls the majority of seats, the parliament failed him this month by refusing to fully restore the law on the declaration of officials' assets, which is demanded by Western donors. He also needed the opposition's help to pass the budget, while lower courts routinely ignore the law he pushed to protect the state takeover of PrivatBank.
The president could turn to the street to raise its head behind his back, as it was in the past: there have already been demonstrations accusing the judges of the Constitutional Court of acting on the orders of the tycoons. But this path is fraught with dangers. Ruslan Ryaboshapka, a former employee of Transparency International and the first general prosecutor appointed by Zelensky, believes that his former boss should renew his team in order to implement his reforms. He recalls "the desire to eradicate corruption" during their first meetings.
However, he warns that Zelensky has changed after the initial flurry of reforms that pleased voters and investors, saying that "something broke and his views began to gradually change." 44-year-old Ryaboshapka no longer asks Zelensky for optimism.
"Instead of fighting the oligarchs, he decided to peacefully coexist with them," he said. — 2020 has become another year of lost hopes and opportunities."
