Editor’s Note: This feature separates Ukraine’s friends from its enemies. The Order of Yaroslav the Wise has been given since 1995 for distinguished service to the nation. It is named after the Kyivan Rus leader from 1019-1054, when the medieval empire reached its zenith. The Order of Lenin was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union, whose demise Russian President Vladimir Putin mourns. It is named after Vladimir Lenin, whose corpse still rots on the Kremlin’s Red Square, more than 100 years after the October Revolution he led.
Ukraine’s Friend of the Week: Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund
It’s no secret: Ukraine needs money badly.
The country has been angling to receive a $5.5-billion, three-year aid package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), its main international donor.
Admittedly, the path has not been smooth. Earlier this month, Ukraine’s parliament abruptly dismissed the country’s government, potentially putting the IMF aid in jeopardy.
Then, the novel coronavirus pandemic hit and Ukraine was forced to shutter schools, businesses, restaurants and shops that were not essential to fighting the disease and allowing the country’s citizens to continue to live and function in a largely locked-down society.
Many Ukrainians now find themselves out of work, and Ukraine — like many countries — is heading for an economic downturn. Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to contract in 2020. The country’s budget deficit could climb from 2.1% to 7% of GDP.
Ukrainian industry has already lost over $178 million in the first week of the shutdown, and the government has estimated that fighting COVID-19 alone will cost $4 billion.
In other words, now more so than ever before, Ukraine needs help.
That help may be on the way. On March 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva by phone. Afterward, she said on Twitter that she had “expressed our support for Ukraine as the country confronts the tremendous challenges caused by COVID-19.”
Ukraine still has much to do to receive IMF aid. It must pass a law preventing the return of PrivatBank, which was nationalized and recapitalized at taxpayer expense in 2016, to its former owner, oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. And it must do this at a time when lawmakers appear to be afraid to attend parliamentary sessions after several of their colleagues contracted COVID-19.
But there may be positive news on the horizon. The IMF has said it is ready to offer up to $50 billion in flexible and rapid emergency funds to help developing nations fight the coronavirus. Ukraine stands to benefit greatly from this aid.
With a long battle ahead and an economic crisis on the horizon, the IMF is still Ukraine’s best bet for financial support.
For her role in furthering the IMF’s cooperation with Ukraine — even as Ukraine lags on some reforms — Kristalina Georgieva is Ukraine’s friend of the week and deserving of the Order of Yaroslav the Wise.
Ukraine’s Foe of the Week: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
The novel coronavirus knows no borders. An outbreak in one country can easily spread to another. That’s why it has become a pandemic since emerging in China late last year.
That’s also why countries around the world must take serious measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19: imposing quarantines, isolating people infected with or exposed to the virus and enforcing social distancing to slow its spread.
Not everything depends on governments. Ordinary citizens must also help fight the virus. But if a country’s leadership refuses to take the necessary steps, how can ordinary people be expected to do their part either? Most cannot afford to simply take a long break from work, and few would choose to stay cooped up indoors for a month or more.
During the coronavirus pandemic, leaders must lead.
Enter Alexander Lukashenko, the mustachioed president of Belarus, a country often described as “Europe’s last dictatorship.” He is not taking the necessary steps to prevent the coronavirus’ spread — despite potentially benefiting from an authoritarian political system that would make implementing restrictions easier.
Instead, Lukashenko is downplaying the virus. Granted, he has suggested people avoid crowded places and keep their distance from others. But he has also called the virus a “psychosis” and said the “civilized world” has “lost its mind.”
As a result, life continues as normal in Belarus, the borders are open and the Belarusian Premier League is virtually the only European soccer league whose season is continuing — with stadiums of spectators, the New York Times reported.
Most absurdly, Lukashenko has pushed a slew of folk remedies for protecting oneself from the coronavirus: vodka, Slavic bathhouses and getting out and working in the agrarian country’s fields.
“There, the tractor will heal everyone. The fields heal everyone,” Lukashenko said.
While Lukashenko may be alone in proposing tractor therapy for COVID-19, he’s only one of many politicians and world leaders failing to take action to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
China initially chose to cover up the outbreak, thereby subjecting the rest of the world to the disease.
Russia has been dangerously slow in responding, although it appears to now better understand the dangers. The dictator of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has recommended burning a local herb to destroy invisible viruses in the air — an idea so stupid, it could only fly in a country where the leader benefits from a near-religious cult of personality.
U.S. President Donald Trump is now talking about reopening much of the country by April 12, Easter Sunday, a move that would likely only fuel the huge coronavirus epidemic in the United States. And U.S. Senator Rand Paul continued working for six days after being tested for COVID-19, endangering the lives of others. Paul ultimately tested positive for the virus.
In this field of irresponsible leaders, what makes Lukashenko so worthy of our attention?
Belarus is Ukraine’s northern neighbor, and Kyiv has maintained open border crossings with the country. If Lukashenko fails to fight COVID-19 at home, the virus may spill over into Ukraine, making it harder for Kyiv prevent its spread.
People will lose their lives because the president of Belarus believes “the tractor will heal everyone.”
For this, the irresponsible Lukashenko is Ukraine’s foe of the week. We’d offer him the Order of Lenin, but the former collective farm director would probably like that.
