Zelenskiy faces low poll ratings if he follows Western advice, Kolomoisky says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy faces low poll
ratings, like former President Poroshenko, if he listens to Western
authorities, said his main campaign sponsor, billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, in an
interview with the ft.com news site published on May 26. “If Zelenskiy listens
to [the west], and doesn’t make his own appointments, he’ll end up like
Poroshenko,” Kolomoisky said, as reported by ft.com. “He’ll have the same poll
numbers – 5, 10 or 15, instead of 73%.” The comment was made in the context of
Kolomoisky’s proposal that the Ukrainian government should abandon the IMF’s
austerity program, which he said Ukrainians want a break from.

Zenon Zawada:
Kolomoisky’s comment about Zelenskiy’s poll ratings reveal that those close to
the president – including administration head Andriy Bohdan, in all likelihood
– are keenly aware that engaging in painful, pro-Western reforms recommended by
the IMF will likely cost Zelenskiy his popularity. This raises the question of
what will be the Zelenskiy administration’s priority – painful, long-term
reforms, or small-scale programs and populist stunts aimed at maintaining
popularity. We expect a conflict to come to boil, sooner or later, between
three competing interests in the Zelenskiy entourage: (1) Kolomoisky’s
interests, as represented by his lawyer (and administration head) Bohdan, (2)
the young idealists of his team, and (3) pragmatic advisers, who will try to
maintain his popularity, at any cost. Somehow, Zelenskiy will have to balance
between these competing interests.

It’s also worth considering that Zelenskiy is a
professional entertainer, above all else. By his very nature, he craves
popularity and fears losing it. That character trait, combined with Kolomoisky
making such disturbing comments about abandoning the IMF, leaves Zelenskiy very
vulnerable to capitulating to Russian demands in the mid-term (next year and
beyond). Doing so would secure his popularity in his electoral base, the
southeastern regions, giving them some of their key priorities: peace with
Russia, renewed trade and travel with Russia, lower prices for natural gas and
oil and Russian language and cultural rights.