Ukraine’s supposed new clean era coming up short

JEAN-NOEL REYNAUD

KYIV — It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Nearly two years after Ukrainian protesters drove out their pro-Russian leader, investors, voters and some officials are disappointed with progress toward building a European-style state and eradicating the post-Soviet scourge of corruption. Allies of the deposed Viktor Yanukovych are bidding to make a comeback.

For French businessman Jean-Noel Reynaud, the situation has led to what he calls an illegal takeover at one of his vodka plants.

“Ukraine isn’t fulfilling its commitments to clean up the country,” Reynaud, chief executive officer of Paris-listed Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits, said in a phone interview. “This isn’t acceptable in a nation that’s aspiring to adopt European Union values. This is a black spot on its reputation.”

The lack of momentum in revamping Ukraine has shattered support for the ruling coalition, led by President Petro Poroshenko’s party, a September poll by the International Republican Institute shows.

Luckily for Poroshenko, the opposition is divided between populists, nationalists and backers of the former regime, and while there are local elections Oct. 25, presidential and parliamentary elections aren’t due until 2019. That helps insulate him from a growing chorus of discontent, including businesses that complain officials are resisting change to protect vested interests of corporate allies and oligarchs.

Ukraine is relying on an $ 18- billion restructuring of its foreign debt and $17.5-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to revive an economy that hasn’t grown since 2013 and help restore confidence in the past year’s secondworst-performing currency, the hryvnya, which has plunged 43 per cent against the U.S. dollar. Lenders have made the flow of bailout cash contingent on continued reform and inroads into corruption.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking at an economic forum Friday in Berlin, said there’s a “long road” ahead for Ukrainian reforms. The U.S. has also been critical of some elements within the country they say are undermining reform.

Reynaud, the French CEO, vows to continue fighting for the factory his company has lost. He’s banking on a positive outcome in local courts, but he has a warning for the nation’s leaders.

“I hope Ukraine will be able to join the EU one day,” he said. “But with these kinds of manoeuvres, it can’t.”

Ukraine isn’t ful filling its commitments to clean up thec ountry.

CEO OF MARIE BRIZARD WINE & SPIRITS