Reform Watch
Editor's Note: The Kyiv Post tracks the progress made by Ukraine's post-EuroMaidan Revolution leaders in making structural changes in the public interest in five key areas: security & defense, energy, rule of law, public administration and land.
Overview
Against the backdrop of deteriorating living standards, local elections scheduled for Oct. 25 will be a major popularity test for the current leadership. It has taken the post-EuroMaidan Revolution government a year to get in gear. Many people are losing patience. A big risk is that political forces close to the disgraced President Viktor Yanukovych may attempt a comeback, according to pro-President Petro Poroshenko lawmaker Volodymyr Ariev.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk also called for urgency. “People have to feel real change – otherwise there will soon be real changes in the offices of power,” he told Cabinet members on May 27.
Analyst Anders Aslund said “the window of opportunity is closing.”
It’s not just rhetoric.
Andriy Andrushkiv of the Reanimation Package of Reforms said that progress has slowed only two weeks before Parliament goes on a 45-day summer break.
His assessment of the Parliament controlled by the ruling coalition of Poroshenko, Yatsenyuk and others?
“They are trying to reshuffle a corrupt system to serve their own needs,” Andrushkiv said. “The government wants to keep the Interior Ministry as a political instrument of leverage while the president wants to stay in control over both the prosecution and courts.”
Major changes are needed in 18 areas, Andrushkiv said, while parliament so far has adopted only 44 of the more than 150 laws for which the group is pushing. Without reducing the politicization of the police force, courts, prosecutor’s office and public administration, “we will never get the needed investment and development,” he said.
Economy & finance
It’s a gross forecast: Ukraine’s gross national product is expected to plunge 9 percent amid 45 percent inflation this year, according to the latest International Monetary Fund estimate.
Rule of law
Poroshenko promised to install a judicial system based on rule of law in his June 4 State of the Nation address. A revamped police force will start work in Kyiv. Their success while serving under old Interior Ministry rules is questionable, Andrushkiv said.
A now-abandoned proposal approved by the Venice Commission would have reduced political control over the force. Police chiefs would have to be chosen by commissions composed of legal experts, local authorities and human rights organizations. “It would have resulted in a police force that we could trust, a force that would protect us,” Andrushkiv said.
Instead, the ruling coalition’s police law increases political control over law enforcement. In this version, the Interior Ministry preserves much of its Soviet-era bureaucracy.
Parliament appointed Yuriy Terentyev head of the Antimonopoly Committee on May 19, replacing the much-criticized Mykola Barash. His mission, according to Yatsenyuk, is to reduce monopolies in the state energy sector “for gas, electricity, oil and fuel.”
Igor Bilous, former head of State Fiscal Service fired in March after suspicion of corruption, was replaced by Roman Nasirov. Yatsenyuk gave him three months to make progress.
Suspicion of corruption didn’t prove an impediment to Bilous’s career. He was appointed head of the State Property Fund.
Defense & security
On May 26, Poroshenko launched a new national security strategy to defeat Russian aggression. The goal is integration with the European Union and NATO membership.
On May 12, the Parliament also adopted conditions for martial law, which may be needed if Russia escalates its war.
Two big downsides: invasion of privacy and inability to change government while in a state of martial law.
Yegor Sobolev, a member of the Parliament, said the inability to change the president or Parliament is a big drawback since representatives could prove to be a “government of losers” in wartime.
Public Administration
Ukravtodor, the state agency responsible for 51,000 kilometers of roads, is considered ineffective. On June 2, Parliament voted to give local authorities the right to co-finance road repairs.
Oleksandr Kava, a transportation expert and advisor to the Ministry of Infrastructure, said the new law won’t lead to substantial improvements because local governments don’t have enough money. “Where should a village council find money for…roads?” he said.
On June 2, Verkhovna Rada speaker Volodymyr Groisman made parliamentary sessions available online in audio and video format. Readouts are also accessible, all by visiting rada.gov.ua.
As of June 1, all special state pensions for lawmakers, ministers, judges, customs agents and others were eliminated.
Energy
On May 27, Yatsenyuk demanded that privately-owned regional gas distribution companies offer to install meters free of charge. He threatened to revoke their licenses if they didn’t comply. Some 1.5 million households have applied for utility subsidies.
On May 20, Yatsenyuk announced an anti-monopoly campaign in the energy sector. He ordered Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn to approve and submit to Parliament legislation to have the electricity grid meet European Union standards and bust up monopolies.
To improve energy efficiency, on May 9 Parliament passed two laws on energy modernization. They introduce legal and financial prerequisites for new investment opportunities and protect the rights and interests of business through measures that reduce utility costs of state and municipal entities.
Ukraine uses two to three times more energy to heat than in Western Europe and energy efficiency is a fraction of the EU average, according to data of International Institute of Business in Kyiv.
Land
On May 12, Parliament adopted a bill expanding the list of state and municipal lands that are not subject to privatization. Pro-presidential lawmaker Andriy Gordeev and author of the bill said the measure was motivated by inefficient use of land. Last year, only 450,000 out of two million hectares were irrigated.
