Approximately half a year ago, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected based on his campaign promises of peace, a responsive government, anti-corruption reforms, and increasing the average household income. How has the new president and his team met these expectations? Do Ukrainians still trust their new government? Kennan Institute Senior Advisor on Ukraine Mykhailo Minakov discussed these questions and areas in which the new administration has made progress and where more progress is needed.

Selected Quotes

Mykhailo Minakov 

“Zelenskiy did not promise much.  It was rather the expectations of his voters that were voiced […] Three major issues were here: Corruption, War, and Price growth.  Expectations were peace, good governance, and the betterment of the economic situation for households.”

“The current administration only thinks in terms of criminalizing corruption, and not in terms of creating incentives for good governance, or the reform of public service.  This misbalance may create problems very soon.”

“The economic situation is a little bit better than before.  But if asked a year ago, Ukrainians would say the economic situation is very bad, we are definitely moving in the wrong direction.  Now, one year later, Ukrainians assess approximately the same economic situation with much more optimism.  The product of Zelenskiy is optimism amongst the citizenry.”

“Trust in government is another Zelenskiy miracle […] Parliament itself, an institution that has long been distrusted, today has 44% of trust while only 37% of Ukrainians distrust parliament. This is very unusual. This is probably the first time in twenty years that the parliament has had a positive balance of trust.”