Abromavichus’ resignation triggers chain reaction

UKRAINE - In Brief 04 Feb 2016 by Dmytro Boyarchuk

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Resignation of the Minister of Economy Ayvaras Abromavichus triggered a real political avalanche. Ambassadors of ten countries (G-7, Switzerland, Sweden and Lithuania) expressed deep disappointment with the resignation. Public opinion leaders stood strongly in support of Abromavichus. Ex-officials gave public statements about other corrupt actions of the eminence grise Igor Kononenko. Kononenko resigns from his formal position of Deputy Head of Block of Perto Poroshenko party. President Poroshenko meets G-7 ambassadors discussing the scandal. The IMF expresses concerns on resignation of one of the key ministers. Rumors are circulating about Abromavichus demands to appoint Natalie Jaresko on the post of Prime-Minister. Late in the evening the ministers that previously silently resigned for the same reasons (political pressure) reported that they stay at the Cabinet. In particular, at the Cabinet stays Andriy Pivovarskiy a brilliant Minister of infrastructure who resigned back in December 2015 (but his resignation was not accepted so far). Abromavichus so far sticks to his initial decision. In our opinion we are far from resolving of this scandal. Ukrainians are really furious with return of corrupt practices they hoped to get rid of when ousting Viktor Yanukovitch. Now it was publicly recognized that Poroshenko’s friends in power (i.e. President Poroshenko himself) are pretty much the same. Against this backdrop Poroshenko is facing little choice: either he steps back allowing further reforms including narrowing of corrupt opportunities, or he might finish as his predecessor. In our opinion Poroshenko is wiser than Yanukovitch. However, we do not anticipate him sacrific...