Where do candidates stand on key issues? - Apr. 05, 2019

Where do the candidates stand on key issues?

Editor’s Note: President Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who won the March 31 first-round presidential election and made it to the runoff on April 21, prepare to hold a presidential debate. As they do so, the Kyiv Post went through the two candidates’ programs, statements, and interviews to compare where they stand on key issues.

Policy	Petro Poroshenko	Volodymyr Zelenskiy
European Union and NATO	Supports EU and NATO membership Promises that Ukraine will apply to join EU by 2023 Promises that Ukraine will receive the NATO Membership Action Plan by 2023 Supports introducing NATO standards for the Ukrainian army	Supports EU and NATO membership in general Wants Ukrainians to decide whether they want to join EU and NATO by a referendum Supports introducing NATO standards for the Ukrainian army
Crimea	Promises to return Crimea to Ukraine. “Immediately after the election we will start working on it.”	Says he won’t give up Crimea; doesn’t give a concrete promise about returning it “Crimea will be returned after the ruling regime changes in Russia.”
Russia’s war against Ukraine	Supports a peaceful solution Supports Minsk peace agreements. Wants the U.S. to be part of negotiations Lobbies further international sanctions against Russia UN peacekeeping force in Donbas Promises to continue to rebuild Ukrainian navy and air forces Promises “to do everything” to free Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia and in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine “Peace to us is the complete restoration of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.”	Supports a peaceful solution Supports Minsk peace agreements. Wants the U.S. and the UK to join negotiations International peacekeeping force Wants to stop the fighting immediately Proposes to renew state pensions for Ukrainians living in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine Wants Russia to pay compensation to Ukraine after Crimea and Donbas are liberated “I like Kurt Volker’s (US special representative for Ukraine) plan – have a separation line, a peacekeeping mission, start with (liberating) small villages, move on to Luhansk and Donetsk.”
Economy & Infrastructure	Make Ukraine the eastern European transportation hub and the largest producer of agrarian goods in Europe by 2023 Make Ukraine one of five world leaders in the tech business Higher wages	Allow shadow businesses to legalize upon paying a 5 percent fee Continue cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (initially he spoke against it) Build new roads
Social Benefits	Increase the baby bonus and child benefits Contribution-based pensions Keep increasing state retirement pensions	Insurance-based healthcare Contribution-based pensions Introduce new benefits paid to citizens from the profits from sale and exploitation of Ukraine’s natural resources (i.e. land)
Taxes	Substitute the corporate tax for capital gains tax	Substitute the corporate tax for capital gains tax
Corruption	Promises “zero tolerance for corruption” Continue the work of existing anti-corruption agencies that have been created during his presidency such as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office “I want to remind everyone the situation in the defense industry and in the army in 2014 – everyone has been stealing everything, all the time since the independence of Ukraine.” “I will chop off the hands of those stealing from the army.”	Ban those convicted for corruption from holding government posts, forever Disallow those charged with corruption to be released on bail Government officials hired through open screening, high salaries Special anti-corruption prosecutor’s office and other anti-corruption agencies independent from government influence
Reforms	Continue all current reforms such as decentralization, e-governance, currency liberalization, education reform Stands for limiting pressure of law enforcers on business Complete the healthcare reform; supports Acting Healthcare Minister Ulana Suprun	Stop the State Security Service investigations of businesses. Create a separate agency in charge of investigating economic crimes Change election legislation, introduce open-list proportional representation system for parties Pass a law allowing expulsion of lawmakers who fail at their duties Supports the healthcare reform and Acting Healthcare Minister Ulana Suprun
Other	Religious. Strongly supports the united independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which he helped set up, Wants to make Ukraine one of the top 10 tourist destinations in Europe Wants to increase support for Ukrainian cultural projects	Supports environment initiatives: deforestation and plastic consumption restrictions A procedure for presidential impeachment Cancel parliamentary and judicial immunity from prosecution Allow to vote in elections online