On the main message of the Davos discussions

The World Economic Forum in Davos saw another attempt of Ukraine to get the world listen to it. President Petro Poroshenko tried his best to exploit this opportunity by speaking at the “Future of Ukraine” session. His audience included over 200 business leaders, influential politicians, and highly prominent researchers. Poroshenko spoke mostly about politics and the ways to resolve the military conflict with Russia.

As the main theme of the World Economic Forum was the search for a new global context of development, Poroshenko proposed to approach resolution of the military conflict in the Donbas, instigated and kept alive by Russia, as a necessary element of this search. He assured his audience that Ukraine did not need pity or sympathy from the West, but rather solidarity and help in the fight against the aggressor, which was destroying not only Ukraine, but the entrenched European democratic principles as well.

Poroshenko paid little attention to the economy, addressing it only when answering questions from the session’s moderator. “We want to change the country. We want to build a qualitatively new state, in which there will be no room for corruption. To do this, we are creating the Anti-Corruption Bureau, an independent judiciary, and guaranteeing the rule of law in Ukraine,” he said. Poroshenko assured that country was embarking on reforms. For instance, according to him, we will be able to ensure our energy independence from Russia in two years’ time thanks to gas purchases from Norway, the EU, and the US. A revised program of cooperation with the IMF would be adopted by the end of January, Poroshenko said. Besides, the president noted that businesspeople from different countries had already promised to invest about a billion dollars in the Ukrainian economy after the talks in Davos, thus confirming the good prospects of the country. “Once Russia has closed its border and withdrawn all its troops from the Ukrainian territory, our situation will become clear and stable,” Poroshenko remarked when ending his presentation.

COMMENTARY

Oleksandr PASKHAVER, president of the Center for Economic Development:

“Politics and economics are very closely related. Therefore, one does not need to speak about the economy every time when addressing investors at international forums. In deciding whether to invest or not in the country, businesspeople always first weigh the risks that are mostly political. It was important for Poroshenko to show that despite waging war with an enemy which is dozens of times more powerful, Ukraine remained governable and able to respond to all challenges it faced. These challenges are very difficult and cause major uncertainties. Did the president succeed? I   think so. In such circumstances, well thought-out and balanced politics is the best economics. Therefore, the president had to use this international platform to send a very strong political message that we were alive and well aware of the ongoing developments. Poroshenko has shown that Ukraine is governable and strong enough to keep defending itself. This is the main thing. International investors have heard this signal. As for the economy, its condition, proposed reforms, and many other details should be revealed by the ministers responsible for it. So far, they have little to boast about. Certain processes are going on, but they have not become systemic yet.”