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The Kyiv district court that decided last week to temporarily remove Ulana Suprun as Acting Health Minister ruled on February 14 to overturn its decision and reinstate her. The US born Suprun has been championing reforms to the sector, as bne IntelliNews detailed in an exclusive interview “ Gloves off for Ukraine's health minister as long-awaited reforms begin .” Suprun has been actively closing down corrupt scams that brought her into conflict with the establishment. Following objections from Rada deputies, a court ruled she was ineligible to serve as minister due to her dual US, Ukrainian citizenship. The court decision provoked a backlash by Ukraine’s international friends who heavily criticised the decision to suspend one of the few high officials left in the establishment that are actively fighting corruption.
Voters give President Poroshenko poor marks on the economy, according to a nationwide poll conducted in the second half of December for the International Republican Institute. With Poroshenko facing voters March 31 in a bid for a second term, he comes in third for “Best for the economy,” with about 8.5% approvals, half those of Yulia Tymoshenko, who leads in the poll preferences. Poroshenko comes in 6th place for “Improving social protections of the poor” and “Fighting corruption in state bodies.”
The main economic task of a second presidential term would be “overcoming poverty ,” President Poroshenko told the American Chamber of Commerce Tuesday evening. To get there, Ukraine needs foreign investment and decent paying jobs. “If you want to prevent people from going abroad, Ukraine should never again be the country of cheap labour,” he said. Ukraine should process more of its farm production, “become the country of the biggest number of start-ups ,” and should increase tourism seven fold, to 10% of GDP.
Young Ukrainians will be disappointed after rock start Sviatoslav Vakarchuk confirmed he won’t run in the up coming Ukrainian presidential election with a posting on his Facebook page on January 27. At the same time an official tally of the number of eligable voters seems to overestimtate the total and opens up room for vote rigging, warn analysts in Kyiv.
Overall, public level of pessimism over the economy has changed little over the last four years. Asked if the country is ‘going in the right direction,’ 70% said ‘no’ – the same as in July 2015. Asked about their household finances, 39% said they had improved or stayed the same – virtually unchanged throughout 2018. Asked about joining the EU, 53% were in favour, little changed since March 2014. On joining the Moscow-led Eurasian Customs Union, 13% were in favour, virtually the same as the 14% registered in July 2015.
No Russian citizens will participate in the OSCE ODIHR mission observing the presidential elections in Ukraine, the Russian government confirmed on February 8 after parliament approved legislation the prior day forbidding their accreditation and the OSCE said it would comply.
Ukraine’s parliament voted on February 7 to amend the Ukrainian Constitution to require the nation’s integration into the European Union and NATO as part of the nations’ “irreversible Euro-Atlantic course,” according to the legislation. “The legislation’s approval widens and deepens Ukraine’s cooperation with the EU and NATO until the achievement of full membership and enhances Ukraine’s national security, the bill said. The measure drew 334
19 UKRAINE Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com