U.S. ready to provide USD 1 bln guarantee to Ukraine, Poroshenko says

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden “agreed to sign an agreement on a third tranche of USD 1 billion in credit guarantees,” the president’s press service reported late on April 14. In their phone conversation, the sides discussed Ukraine’s new Cabinet and noted “the importance of activating the struggle against corruption in Ukraine and the soonest appointment of a new Prosecutor General.”

Zenon Zawada: The U.S. government satisfied that a new Cabinet has emerged, overlooking the various questionable tactics that were employed to accomplish it. That’s because early parliamentary elections threatened to destabilize the country as the results would have swelled the opposition to the president, who has more than three years left in his term.

At the same time, it’s apparent that the new prosecutor general is a matter of prime importance to the U.S. government and the credit guarantees will depend on the president’s nomination of someone genuinely interested in reform. We reported this week on Yuriy Lutsenko’s candidacy but he mentioned yesterday that others were being considered. We think Poroshenko will try to find someone who will protect his interests, and those of the oligarchy, while at the same time pursuing some minimal reforms to satisfy the West. Lutsenko is a candidate that is capable of striking that balance.