WASHINGTON, D.C. — During a trip to the U.S. last week, Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, was deluged with questions from businesspeople and officials eager for any clues to what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who took office on May 20, augurs for the country.
Hunder arrived in the U.S. capital on May 11 for an annual meeting of the AmCham’s 42 branches in Europe.
He ran, successfully, to be re-elected to serve as the organization’s treasurer and a member of its executive committee.
“It’s good to have Ukraine at the table because, as a favorite phrase which I picked up in Washington goes, ‘if you’re not on the table, you’re on the menu,’” Hunder told the Kyiv Post.
“So Ukraine is at that table and getting the voice of the [Ukrainian AmCham] members across. We aim to get the voice of business to government and not just in Ukraine but the voice of business in Ukraine to government in the United States.”
He said that the Ukrainian branch is AmCham’s largest team in Europe, with 45 staff: “More than half the team is concerned with [Ukrainian government] policy – checking on all the new changes in legislation and actually doing much of the advocacy for legislation.”
Hunder stayed on in Washington for a series of visits with U.S. officials at the Pentagon, State Department, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy and met members of Congress.
He also met executives from large companies like Google, FedEx, Proctor and Gamble, as well as with financial institutions such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Hunder said that everywhere he went people were curious about Zelenskiy, who as a political newcomer is a mystery to most Americans except for the fact that he is an entertainer.
Hunder said: “I’d be a rich man if I had a dollar for every time people have said to me over the last week ‘you’re from Ukraine – isn’t that the country that just elected a comedian for president?’
“Everywhere I went there were lots of questions about the implications of a Zelenskiy presidency and, particularly, what, at the end of the day, it all means for business,” he said.
He spoke at an event hosted by prestigious international law firm Baker McKenzie at its downtown offices overlooking the White House, to a group of lawyers, businesspeople and government officials who deal with Ukraine.
Hunder pointed out to his audience that a Ukrainian president has control over foreign policy, choosing ambassadors, security, defense, the Prosecutor General’s Office and appoints regional heads of administrations but has no direct control over the economy.
AmCham’s meeting with Zelenskiy
He said that AmCham, the European Business Association, and the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs had met with Zelenskiy in March and had been encouraged by his readiness to meet with them.
The fact that he was accompanied by figures respected by the business community such as former Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavičius and former Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk, also impacted positively.
According to Hunder, Zelenskiy told the assembled business representatives he wants to cut government spending and is determined to fight official corruption.
Hunder said Zelenskiy, as a successful businessman who has sold his TV shows to 20 countries, understands the notion and importance of intellectual property rights. AmCham wants to strengthen protection for IP rights and Hunder thinks Zelenskiy will support that aim.
Kolomoisky – the elephant in the room
Hunder said that at the meeting with the business community he told Zelenskiy that “the elephant in room” was oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky whose television channel not only broadcasts Zelenskiy’s shows but gave plentiful and positive coverage to his election campaign.
That, Hunder told Zelenskiy, had led to speculation that Kolomoisky would press the president to help him regain control of PrivatBank, which the oligarch formerly owned and is alleged to have defrauded.
The Ukrainian government had to inject $5.5 billion into the bank, Ukraine’s largest, to prevent it from failing and inflicting further havoc on the devastated economy the current Ukrainian government inherited from the former, corrupt pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych.
Hunder said that Zelenskiy replied his links to Kolomoisky were purely commercial and “gave us an assurance that PrivatBank would not be returned to its previous owners.”
He said AmCham will also be watching closely what will happen at Ukraine’s largest oil company, Ukrnafta, which used to fuel much of Kolomoisky’s wealth and power.
Kolomoisky’s surprise return to Ukraine on May 16 happened while Hunder was in Washington and he said that had precipitated a situation where Zelenskiy had to clearly demonstrate the oligarch did not have a hold over him.
Hunder told the Kyiv Post that while Zelenskiy’s association with the likes of Abromavičius and Danylyuk elicit approval, his sharing the same lawyer as Kolomoisky, Andriy Bohdan, is causing concern among many in Ukraine.
“The business community thinks Zelenskiy genuinely recognizes the importance of business. So far we are seeing who the talking heads are but we are keen to find out who the key decision-makers will be,” he said. “Who Zelenskiy appoints to head up his presidential administration will be a key indicator of his intentions for the country.”
Hunder said that the parliamentary elections will be of crucial importance to a Zelenskiy presidency’s ability to maneuver.
Since Zelenskiy gained 73 percent of the vote in the presidential elections, Ukrainians are expecting him to act quickly, particularly to deliver on his promises to fight corruption, Hunder said.
That will be a tremendous pressure on Zelenskiy.
“If he can keep going until parliamentary elections and get some sort of majority there, that would really boost him and give him an opportunity to do very significant things over the next five years,” Hunder said.
“Overall, the initial impressions are that Zelenskiy and his team are very open. There’s a sense that there’s lot of the unknown that awaits us but also there is some optimism about what the Zelenskiy administration may bring.”
