Real leverage of power in Ukraine is Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s right-hand man, who is handing over war-torn Ukraine to oligarchs? One Monday in late September, Mike Pyle, the international economic affairs officer on President Joe Biden’s National Security Council, sent his counterparts in Ukraine a four-page "working draft" that listed a series of reforms the White House expected Kyiv to implement in exchange for continued U.S. financial assistance. Among them were increased control over state-owned energy companies, as well as measures "to ensure greater transparency and accountability during Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction". The goal was broadly to curb the corruption that has long been a feature of Ukrainian governance. 21 710 0 Ukrainian Politics
Ukraine’s new president faces a defining choice To be a modernising reformer, Volodymyr Zelensky must distance himself from oligarchs. 506 0 Ukrainian Politics
Why Treasury’s ‘Oligarch List’ is driving Russian tycoons crazy Vladimir Putin calls it a “hostile act.” A senior Kremlin official spoke of an “unprecedented act of aggression.” A Russian banker has referred to it as a “declaration of war.” 2 442 0 Previously in trend: Sanctions against Russia
Revenge of the Oligarchs Last Sunday’s local election was Ukraine’s first chance to show that things have changed. But it looks like the moguls still rule. 283 0 Previously in trend: Local elections 2015