By Stefan Wagstyl, eastern Europe editor
When Ukraine’s economy was booming it did not seem to matter so much that its political leaders were locked in perpetual strife. The deadlock between president Viktor Yushchenko, Yulia Tymoshenko, his glamorous prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, the main opposition leader, made headlines.
But investors and consumers alike made hay. In mid-2008 everything came to grinding halt. And now the in-fighting matters. Kiev cannot survive financially without International Monetary Fund support, but the country’s programme has been suspended since October largely because the leaders cannot agree on the necessary reforms.
The situation is so bad that key letters of intent from Kiev to the IMF have to be signed not by one person, or even two but by four – the president, the prime minister, the central bank governor and the finance minister. The difficulties of dealing with this deadlock have in the past year cost Ukraine dearly. It is to be hoped that whoever wins next month’s presidential election will prove more adept at building consensus than Mr Yushchenko.
Related reading:
Economic cloud FT
Kiev infighting sours presidential race FT
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