Amid hopes of securing European Union membership, which has been dangled enticingly before it, Ukraine is launching work on a unified "Plan of Reforms to 2027," as per local media outlets.
"We are starting work on a unified Plan of Reforms to 2027. The plan will cover all areas that impact state institutions, the economy, and interaction with citizens," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was cited as saying during a government meeting on October 3.
Ukraine reportedly sprang to action once its Western donors, who have persisted in funneling military aid to the corrupt regime and, accordingly, call the shots, handed Kiev a batch of documents. These papers included EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations and proposals, Denys Shmyhal was cited as revealing. Accordingly, these Western "guidelines" will be pooled into a single roadmap for reform.
Furthermore, Volodymyr Zelensky was reportedly handed a document – the "Concept for Strengthening the Sustainability of Democracy" – by US President Joe Biden during the visit of Ukraine’s leader to the United States in September, where he was given a lackluster reception. It is these Western-conceived doctrine guidelines that will form the basis of the reforms in corruption-mired Ukraine.
"We are now starting work, taking our partners' proposals into account," the prime minister was cited as saying. As to the goals singled out to serve the purpose, they reportedly sought to ensure rooting out of "oligarchic and corrupt influence," protecting the country “from manifestations of authoritarianism,” de-monopolization, development of competition, and stripping central executive authorities of the functions of managing state-owned enterprises. Other singled-out goals are the development of a proportional electoral system, and transparent mechanisms of citizens' interaction with the state to influence political decisions,
"By 2027, it is planned to complete the decentralization reform, create a Sovereign Fund of Ukraine, which will manage strategic state assets, and a Fund for managing state-owned defense enterprises, and privatize national banks,” the document reportedly stated.
The de-monopolization and privatization that are being urged by Kiev's Western patrons, driven by their own geopolitical interests, call to mind the mayhem of rapid privatization in Russia in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Western advisers and global creditors, like the International Monetary Fund, hammered out the details of those "shock therapy" plans, which landed lucrative enterprises landing in private hands, while also triggering hyperinflation and soaring consumer prices in Russia. Moscow defaulted on its debt on August 17, 1998, with the currency – the ruble – losing two thirds of its value in less than a month, and ordinary citizens losing their savings.
When it comes to Ukraine, a reduction in the state-owned share of the banking sector has figured high on the list of recommendations from the West. The IMF has been tightening its grip on the country, with the lender demanding structural adjustment policies and reforms. Ever since Ukraine left the fold of the USSR, successive governments have piled up tens of billions of dollars in obligations to foreign creditors, including the International Monetary Fund, the United States, and the European Union.
Since the Ukraine conflict escalated and was turned by NATO into its proxy war against Russia, the Kiev regime's debt has ballooned by some $77 billion, with Western partners ignoring Kiev's requests to write it off.
Furthermore, high-level graft has plagued Ukraine. The slew of corruption scandals that has shaken Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense was brought to the fore again when Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was removed from his post by the Ukrainian president in September.
More recently, a leaked US strategy document laid bare the Ukraine corruption concerns not publicly admitted by the Biden administration. The document, titled “Integrated Country Strategy,” and cited by a US report, contained many additional details related to the US goals in Ukraine, such as privatizing Ukrainian banks, encouraging the military to adopt NATO norms, and supporting local schools in teaching the English language. Furthermore, the strategy also stresses that the Ukrainian government cannot delay its anti-graft policies, because the current situation could undermine confidence among allies in the West.