Ukraine: Four Crises, One Country by Nicu Popescu
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16 2014 Vadim Ghirda/AP/SIPA Ghirda/AP/SIPA Vadim Ukraine: four crises, one country by Nicu Popescu For most of the last two decades, virtually eve- One Ukraine, not two ry Ukrainian election or opinion poll has hinted at the existence of two Ukraines – one Western- Both Sunday’s election results and the localised na- leaning and another looking to Moscow; one vot- ture of the armed insurgency in the east suggest ing Timoshenko or Yushchenko and another pro there is neither two Ukraines nor a distinct en- Yanukovich; one against Putin and another in favour tity waiting to emerge in ‘southeastern’ Ukraine. of him. Unsurprisingly, many feared that the ousting Although electoral preferences in Ukraine may of Yanukovich, the Russian annexation of Crimea, have differed in the past, there is overwhelming and the infiltration of eastern Ukraine by Russian popular and elite support for maintaining Ukraine military intelligence would cause Ukraine to split in as one state in the majority of its regions. two or collapse altogether like a house of cards. For all the worrying images of what looks like a Ukraine still faces four interconnected existential cri- descent into civil war, the armed insurgency is af- ses: economic, political, territorial, and diplomatic fecting just parts of two Ukrainian regions, or ob- (with Russia). It is also clear that even if the country lasts – Donetsk and Luhansk. The other regions manages to overcome these challenges, it will not be of the ‘southeast’ – Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, left unscathed. The past three months, however, have Mykolaiv, Odessa, Kharkiv and Kherson – have re- shown that Ukraine was not a powder keg waiting to mained more or less stable. None of these regions explode, despite the many attempts to ignite it. witnessed the overnight implosion of the state ap- paratus that occurred in Crimea or parts of Donetsk The country’s resilience has proven stronger than and Luhansk – although it is not inconceivable that many assumed (both in Russia and the rest of Russian inroads could destabilise the situation fur- Europe), and while its blend of problems might ther. be poisonous, they are not insurmountable. Petro Poroshenko’s unexpectedly smooth popular elec- This relative stability is partly due to attempts by tion – with support drawn evenly across Ukraine – Ukrainian elites – in Kiev and in the east – to find represents a potential turning point in the spiral of a new post-Yanukovich modus vivendi. But the overlapping crises that have characterised its recent wider public also seems to be on a similar path: past. an opinion poll conducted last month by the Kiev European Union Institute for Security Studies May 2014 1 International Institute of Sociology revealed that of other parts of Ukrainian territory look reason- over 70% of people in the south and east of the able. country no longer consider Yanukovich their le- gitimate president; 79% do not support seces- A key player in containing and even rolling back sion from Kiev (only 25% support federalisation); the insurgency is one of Ukraine’s most prominent and 45% would be happy with decentralisation. oligarchs: Igor Kolomoisky. Upon being appointed Although in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region in March, there are greater levels of support for Yanukovich, he quickly stabilised the situation by (re)asserting for the armed insurgency, and for joining Russia, control over the law enforcement agencies. Parts of even there it is confined to 20%-30% of the popu- the Donetsk region, unhappy with the descent into lation (in the other regions it is under 10%). In separatist chaos, are now seeking protection from short, there is no popular backing for either the the Kolomoisky-led Dnipropetrovsk administra- armed separatists or a Russian intervention. tion. And when clashes in Odessa between pro- Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists left around 40 Finally, the recent election results are indicative of people dead, a Kolomoisky protégé was quickly a country that has significant regional variations appointed local governor. but is, nonetheless, one country. Poroshenko, who was born in south Ukraine not far from Odessa, came first in the presidential elections in every Avoiding an economic crash single region of Ukraine (see map). Thanks to Western assistance, a total economic collapse seems to have been averted, and the self- Localising the armed insurgency styled ‘Kamikaze government’ led by Yatseniuk has already begun to undertake certain reforms. An In response to the takeover of public buildings all-out assault on vested interests is unlikely, but a in parts of eastern Ukraine, the government de- lower-key war of attrition against some of the more ployed military and police units in an attempt to corrupt elements of the state is underway. quash the armed challenge to state authority. The start of the operation was, however, a disaster. Partly thanks to strong IMF and Western condi- Local police and intelligence units in the Donetsk tionality, some progress is being made. A new, and Luhansk area either refused to obey orders World Bank-approved public procurement law or simply disbanded: in was adopted in parlia- one instance, a group ment (albeit on the sec- of soldiers surrendered ‘Reform therefore means conflict – ond attempt and with a several armed person- with vested interests, a bloated public one vote majority) and nel carriers to a protest- an anti-discrimination ing crowd. In Mariupol, sector, and the subsidised sectors of the law, paving the way to the army, not trained in economy which are driving the whole EU visa liberalisation, the ways of managing has also been passed. large, mostly unarmed country to bankruptcy.’ The government has crowds in urban set- increased the cost of tings, opened fire on civilians. Now several weeks hitherto subsidised energy prices, which should into the operation, several towns in the two re- help redress some of Ukraine’s gas debt. Pavlo gions remain outside governmental control. Sheremeta, the economy and trade minister (a graduate from Harvard Business School and former Yet in another sense, the operation has been a advisor to the Malaysian government), boldly aims qualified success. Although its maximalist goal of to bring Ukraine closer to the top 10 countries quickly defeating the separatists was not achieved, with the best business environment (according to its minimalist goal – containing the insurgency, the Cost of Doing Business report, where Ukraine preventing its geographical spread, and holding was ranked 145th in 2013). Admittedly, this is no the 25 May presidential elections in most parts small task, but setting ambitious goals has the pos- of Ukraine – has been achieved. Elections were itive knock-on effect of focusing minds in Kiev. properly organised and carried out in 22 out of 25 regions (people were denied the opportunity For a government that is only three months old, to vote only in Donbas and Luhansk, as well as in and has spent most of its time managing an armed annexed Crimea). Despite the intensified fighting challenge to its statehood, localising separatist and additional bloodshed since the elections, the movements, organising presidential elections and chances that Kiev can prevent the contamination taking steps to deal with the country’s economic European Union Institute for Security Studies May 2014 2 Votes for Poroschenko in 2014 Ukrainian presidential election Source: www.pravda.com.ua woes, this is a decent start. Yet success is far from defence following the armed intervention on assured, since the remedy for one type of crisis its eastern borders. Confronted with a military often aggravates another. In this respect, the cen- conflict, Kiev took steps to co-opt (rather than tral question for Ukraine in the following months squeeze) the oligarchs – not least because most of will be how to maintain internal unity while re- them have their power bases in eastern Ukraine – forming the oligarchic economy that triggered and to offer them a stake in the new political sys- the revolution in the first place. tem as a way of maintaining the country’s unity. Igor Kolomoisky was appointed as governor of Dnipropetrovsk, and Serhiy Taruta as governor Disempowering the oligarchs? of Donetsk, while other oligarchs such as Dmitri Firtash, or regional ‘barons’ like Genady Kernes Ukrainian oligarchs made their fortunes by loot- in Kharkiv, positioned themselves as relatively ing the state through corrupt public procure- constructive players in order to retain as much ment procedures and the exploitation of various (and as many) of their fiefdoms as possible. Petro subsidies (including gas). Furthermore, the pri- Poroshenko, the newly elected president, is one vatisation of law enforcement agencies allowed of the country’s richest individuals and has served the most powerful business sharks to take over in various governments under both presidents assets of their competitors through administra- Yushchenko and Yanukovich. tive pressure, in what is called ‘reiderstvo’. Reform therefore means conflict – with vested interests, Co-opting the oligarchs has yielded success in a bloated public sector, and the subsidised sec- the short term, helping to confine the armed tors of the economy which are driving the whole insurgency in the east to just two regions. Yet country to bankruptcy. The system has survived this short-term success could turn into a mid- for so long precisely because it has so many term failure if the oligarchic system remains the stakeholders, with a handful of oligarchs being same. Since the government is not in a position only the most visible beneficiaries. to launch an all-out Saakashvili-style assault on corruption and vested interests, the best- Though tackling corruption was supposed to be a case scenario would be to embark on a series of key priority for the post-Yanukovich government, ‘salami’ reforms conducted by technocrats in the the focus on internal reform shifted to territorial government.