Zelensky cites economic achievements as main successes in first year

Volodymyr Zelensky cited the stable hryvnia exchange,
lower prices for natural gas and gasoline, and growth in the average wage as
his major successes in his first year as president during his second major
press conference on May 20, as reported by the pravda.com.ua news site. He said
he will lead the review of the second phase of healthcare reform that was
planned to be implemented now.

Zenon Zawada: Zelensky’s
achievements in his first year as president are recognized by his supporters to
be securing the release of Donbas war prisoners, combatting the coronavirus and
pursuing a political and cultural détente with Russia. But during the press
conference, he chose to stress economic achievements that were largely out of
his control, particularly lower oil and gasoline prices (the result of global events)
and the stable hryvnia, which is supposed to be the purview of an independent
central bank. He and his media advisers seem to think the average Ukrainian
doesn’t understand that if this remark was planned.

The president made a bigger misstep when he questioned
UNICEF’s estimate that 6 mln additional Ukrainians could fall into poverty as a
result of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus, insisting that a
salary of USD 250 a month does not denote poverty. It’s hard to believe that
such a comment, which will haunt him for his presidency, would have been
approved by his media advisers.

Otherwise, Zelensky’s rhetoric during the press
conference closely reflected his political approach, which is avoiding any
long-term strategic policies and commitments in favor of vague one-off
solutions to address immediate problems. Most notably, his rhetoric avoids
specific details and concrete positions as often as possible. His wide array of
populist promises included higher wages for ambulance drivers, renovating “all
state roads” and especially 25,000 priority roads, building more nursery
schools and renovating more than 200 hospitals.