Ukraine elites could lose macro loans, visa-free regime, E.U. MPs warn

Ukrainian elites face the real prospect of losing E.U.
macro-financial assistance, as well as their visa-free regime, owing to
swelling corruption and attacks on Western-backed institutions, according to
three European MPs, who published on Oct. 5 an open letter to David Arakhamia,
the head of The People’s Servant parliamentary faction. They directly
criticized certain MPs of The People’s Servant party for “spreading
Kremlin-backed disinformation while orchestrating well-organized attacks on
independent institutions like the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the National
Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption
Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). These same members do not shy away from rubbing
shoulders with oligarchs and ‘untouchables,’ or publicly advocating for cutting
ties with the E.U.” These comments refer to MP Oleksandr Dubinsky (among
others), who leads an informal group of MPs loyal to billionaire Ihor
Kolomoisky, who has opposed IMF cooperation and is accused of money laundering
by the U.S. government.

The specialized prosecutor “is poised to be elected by
a commission that lacks significant anti-corruption experience, reputation,
high moral qualities and public authority,” the statement said. Meanwhile, the
Prosecutor General’s Office is downplaying the allegation of corrupt judges,
the health minister is allegedly taking kickbacks in exchange for a position
critical to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, and other state posts have been
sold for “exuberant amounts of money collecting dust on the prosecutor’s
table.” All this endangers particularly the EUR 1.2 bln macro-financial
assistance “not because we want it so, but because the mutual agreements that
you and we concluded foresee it,” the statement said.

The E.U. doesn’t intend to abolish its visa-free
regime with Ukraine, said the statement signed by Viola von Cramon, Michael
Gahler and Rasa Jukneviciene. “Still, we will reserve the right to impose the
specific denial of such freedoms to individual oligarchs and policy-makers who
abuse this right for their private illegal activities,” it said. “We are fully
aware that besides the dozens of bad apples, your party is also a platform for
energetic, intelligent and honest lawmakers who are committed to putting the
country’s national interests above everything else and fighting for its
European future. Unfortunately, they are the minority and thus not always
heard.”

The same day, a group of 11 European MPs published a
letter they signed calling upon the E.U. leadership to offer Ukraine a positive
signal at the Ukraine-E.U. summit to take place on Oct. 6, the
eurointegration.com.ua news site reported. In particular, the MPs proposed
stressing the importance of Ukraine’s gradual integration with the E.U.
domestic market, as well as learning the possibilities of sectoral integration,
including an energy union, a transportation association and a single digital
market. They also called for including Ukraine in E.U. efforts to combat
climate change through membership in the European Green Deal. It signers
included Jukneviciene, Radoslaw Sikorski and Anna Fotyga.

Zenon Zawada: It’s clear
the two letters, one critical and the other encouraging, were timed to be
released simultaneously. They are the latest chapter in an old story of Western
frustration with Ukraine. This current stagnation in Ukraine will continue for
as long as Zelensky is president, since it’s clear he has decided he doesn’t
want to be, or can’t handle the role of a major reformer. Instead he will lead
the country in its current turtle-like pace, embracing those reforms that are
convenient and which will bring more loans. As usual, the West has to play
along as best it can, lest Ukraine slip completely back into Russia’s orbit, as
almost happened in 2013.