Post-Soviet Ukraine: in search of a constituency for reform

Abstract

During its first years of independence, Ukraine suffered economic and political stagnation and stubbornly avoided serious reform. As president since July 1994 Leonid Kuchma has pushed through some significant reforms, but the social support for such reforms remains uncertain. Opinion polls suggest that the public has mixed views on the matter, and key sectors, including labour unions, heads of state industries and agricultural organizations, still rely heavily on assumptions of the state-planning era, and exploit their links with the state apparatus to preserve elements of the old system. New organizations struggle, for various reasons, to make their voice heard. Creating a solid body of support for reform is thus proving difficult, and perhaps the political 'bargain' between Kuchma and industrialists' groups offers greater hope than the application of economic theory.