Abstract

The New Policy Adopted by Ukraine’s President
Summary
This article discusses the changes in Ukrainian policy since the beginning of Petro Poroshenko’s presidency. Poroshenko, the winner of
Ukraine’s presidential election of 25th May 2014, launched his campaign with the slogan “A New Lifestyle” – patently inspired by Franklin
D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The way the new President and government of
Ukraine have been exercising power shows that they intend to pursue
a long-term policy for the enhancement of the Ukrainian economy by
means of neoliberal instruments, such as, for example, the privatisation of inefficiently managed state entities, the liberalisation of prices
and tariffs, a war on corruption, the implementation of decentralising
measures, the removal of administrative barriers, and support for medium and small businesses. The author observes a similarity between
Roosevelt’s New Deal and Poroshenko’s New Lifestyle, particularly in
the latter’s endeavour to cope with a deep political and economic crisis.
His efforts are being backed by the nation’s support, despite the inauspicious conditions. The author also notes that the armed conflict in
Eastern Ukraine is an additional factor aggravating efficient government
and the implementation of reforms. There is a potential for a change in
the traditional rationale splitting Ukraine along an east—west divide,
due to the fact that Poroshenko, who has the reputation of a moderate,
won more votes in the traditionally nationalist Western Ukraine, than
in Eastern Ukraine, where his lead in the election over radical and
nationalist candidates was substantially narrower. The author is of the
opinion that this development offers a prospect for a reorientation in
the hitherto bipolar division in Ukrainian society. The biggest challenge facing Ukraine’s new President and government is political and
financial decentralisation. The author draws a comparison between
Ukraine’s current situation and the French Republic, which is a unitary,
centralised, and monocentric state. To stabilise the situation in Ukraine, Poroshenko will need to normalise the country’s relations with the
Russian Federation, which in view of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and
the Russian military intervention in Eastern Ukraine, will call for a far
greater effort than what was expected of his predecessors.