Neither a miracle nor a disaster – President Zelensky’s first year in office
Neither a miracle nor a disaster – President Zelensky’s first year in office

Author(s): Tadeusz Iwański, Sławomir Matuszak, Krzysztof Nieczypor, Piotr Żochowski
Subject(s): National Economy, Economic policy, Government/Political systems, Security and defense, Political behavior
Published by: OSW Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia
Keywords: Volodymyr Zelensky; Ukraine; Government; economic issues; Donbas;
Summary/Abstract: 20th May marked the end of Volodymyr Zelensky first year as President of Ukraine. Thanks to the clear victory of his Servant of the People party in the snap parliamentary election held in July 2019 and the establishment of the government of Oleksiy Honcharuk the following month, Zelensky swiftly gained full power. The plan for the declared repair of the country and an end to the war in the Donbas involved the appointment of apolitical specialists for key positions in the government to immediately process legislation in the parliament and to conduct informal diplomacy. This strategy brought about certain successes. Partial organisational changes were introduced in the prosecutor’s office and courts; the constitution was amended in the area of the rights of the members of the Verkhovna Rada and the president, and a meeting – the first in three years – in the Normandy Format was held in Paris. Already before the end of 2019 a new election law was passed, a key reform in the gas sector (the unbundling of Naftogaz) was completed and in March 2019, and a breakthrough law regarding the lifting of the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land was passed.

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