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elected to community councils. The results are based on 96.2% of votes tallied representing 1,517 local councils.
The People’s Servant candidates won nearly a third of the council head positions, or 30.74% (225 mayors), in the October 25 local elections, reported on November 18 the Central Election Commission. The For the Future party earned 12.43%, or 92 mayorships. The Fatherland party earned 7.24%, or 53 mayorships. The Opposition Platform For Life party earned 7.1%, or 52 mayorships. The Our Land party earned 6.15%, or 45 mayorships. The European Solidarity party earned 5.6%, or 41 mayorships. In all, 733 elected mayors competed as members of parties, while 661 were independent candidates. The results are based on 98% of votes tallied.
While the results of the Kyiv City Council elections are best reflective of Ukraine’s most informed and politically active citizens, these results reflect the sentiments of the public as a whole. Several key conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The success of what we call “Russia-neutral parties” (People’s Servant, For the Future, Our Land) indicates Ukrainians are more concerned about local issues (lockdowns, land issues, utilities and maintenance) than geopolitical concerns.
(2) While popular in the pro-Western cradles of Kyiv and Lviv, the European Solidarity party led by former President Poroshenko has low support in Ukraine’s regions. This reflects a loss of momentum for the pro-NATO movement since Putin launched his military aggression in Ukraine.
(3) The People’s Servant pursuit of Euro-Atlantic integration, while at the same time attempting a détente with Russia (without an end to warfare to show for it), has caused it to lose support to the distinctly pro-Russian and pro-NATO parties.
(4) The Fatherland party, no longer popular in Kyiv and Lviv, has retained strong support in Ukraine’s towns and villages for its opposition to the launch of a private farmland market.
(5) billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky has influential stakes in three leading political parties: The People’s Servant, Fatherland and For the Future. billionaire Rinat Akhmetov has reliable support from The People’s Servant, the Opposition Platform For Life and European Solidarity.
2.5​ ​Ukraine debt: muddling through for now, but 2021 will be tough
Ukraine got off to a very good start this year and by the middle of the year ​bne IntelliNews​ was arguing in an​ ​op-ed​ that it had grasped the nettle and was at least in control of most of the country’s most serious problems.
Since then everything has rapidly fallen apart and now Ukraine is facing the prospect of a debilitating currency and debt crisis in the second half of next year as it doesn't have the resources to deal with $11bn of debt that matures in the third quarter of 2021, Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist with the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and Evghenia Sleptsova, senior economist for Russia and the CIS of Oxford Economics told ​bne IntelliNews​ in a recent podcast (listen here, watch here).
11​ UKRAINE Country Report​ December 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com