Brian Mefford: The Abromavicius aftermath

Aivaras Abromavicius may be regarded as a “technocrat” and not a politician, but his resignation this week was a master political move which sounded alarm bells in Brussels and Washington. Stating that “systemic reform is decisively blocked” the Lithuanian born Minister of Economic Development and Trade announced his resignation on Wednesday and called on Parliament to approve it the next day. The resignation statement triggered a wave of public anger against the government, a Ukrainian bond market slide, and a rare joint statement by 11 key Ambassadors stating, “We are deeply disappointed by the resignation of…Abromavicius who has attained true results of reforms in Ukraine”. This joint statement was signed by the Ambassadors from the United States, European Union, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Lithuania. In short, the primary Western financial and political players in Ukraine.