13:58 22.12.2017

EBRD managing director for Eastern Europe and Caucasus urges intl society to step up impulse of reform support in Ukraine

2 min read
EBRD managing director for Eastern Europe and Caucasus urges intl society to step up impulse of reform support in Ukraine

Managing Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Eastern Europe and Caucasus Francis Malige has called on international society to step up support of further reforms in Ukraine.

Reform in Ukraine is being rolled back, it would seem. The country is impossible to reform, some say already. It is hopelessly corrupt, one hears. The thunder of “we told you so” is rumbling in the distance.

But while the pushbacks are real, they also show that reforms are biting.

"Reform in Ukraine is being rolled back, it would seem… But while the pushbacks are real, they also show that reforms are biting…Achieving reform in these times requires an approach that tightly coordinates the positions of the international community around shared objectives," he wrote in an article in the Financial Times newspaper.

He said that some are genuine reformers and others are deeply conservative in Ukraine. But Ukraine's reformers have another trait in common: they count on the international community.

"International support is tangible and delivers results," Malige said.

He said that the EBRD is one of the few institutions with the local presence to lead and measure implementation. Four years after the Maidan events we have reached a period of uncertainty. Election time is coming and the IMF (International Monetary Fund's) plan that provides a stabilising framework and a protective umbrella for the entire reformist community will expire in March 2019. More manpower is urgently needed for this purpose.

Malige said that the G7 presidency, which next year rotates to Canada, a country with a large Ukrainian diaspora and a vocal friend of Ukraine, offers a great pulpit.

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