For Kira Rudyk, leader of ALDE Party member Golos in Ukraine, her country is on the brink of a better future. In this op-ed, she outlines the work her party has undertaken to establish a concrete plan for Ukraine’s development and to foster new, day-today political standards, among others.

This op-ed was originally published in the ALDE Party Liberal Bulletin in June 2021.

Modern Ukraine is a society with high demand for liberal, just and democratic governance. This civic request was materialised in September 2019, when Golos was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Our team of professionals with impeccable reputation came from the business and public sector and joined the Parliament and local councils to change Ukraine for the better.

Today, we’re encouraging the Parliament and the government to plan in advance – if there is no plan, there will be no work done. We are setting the new professional standards for Ukrainian politics: working for efficiency and results, and not from one election to the next, which has been the standard in the past.

Ukrainian politics is still more about giving promises than fulfilling them, but we are trying to break this tradition and set the example by fulfilling our election programme. In 1,5 years, Golos has already fulfilled more than a third of our election promises.

We have also prepared a clear plan for Ukraine’s development – this has not happened in our politics before. It is a step-by-step action plan for 2021 that can be assessed by the results at the end of the year. The National Plan for 2021 includes a range of strategic and tactical tasks, from equality to security.

1. Economic development

Letting the economy function with no extra pressure from the state is the ground rule. That is why we want to stop extensive pressure on business from the Security Service of Ukraine when it deals with economic crimes. This power should instead be shifted to the newly created institution, the Bureau of Economic Security. It has enough professional capacity to deal with economic issues properly and according to international standards. We also work on reducing the labour taxes and developing a longterm budget planning, and advocate capital amnesty for businesses so that entrepreneurs – except for public officials and criminals – could legalise funds by paying the appropriate tax.

2. Green course

Ukrainian cities are suffocating from emissions and pollution. We stand for creating air quality monitoring and energy efficiency systems, which will help reduce emissions from companies. Our priority is to introduce the ‘green course’ simultaneously with Europe, so that from 2030 Ukrainian goods would comply with environmental standards and would not be subject to additional duties.

3. Equal rules for everyone

Another priority for us is the judicial reform. Restarting the judiciary has become a matter of survival, as corrupted courts constantly block foreign investment and economic development, and citizens have zero confidence in courts.

We will work to complete this reform and prevent the anti-corruption reform roll-back. We believe that law enforcement, instead of being a threat to people or businesses, should finally become their defender. To this end, we will promote a full-fledged reform of the Security Service of Ukraine, the prosecutor’s office and the police.

4. Safety above everything

Most importantly, we should not wait with these actions until the war ends. Golos is the only party with a clear vision on how to get Russia out of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. We have developed a realistic ‘cold’ de-occupation strategy, peace on Ukrainian terms: termination of the Minsk agreements and starting a new negotiations format. We are also working to implement the NATO standards in our army.

5. Overcoming COVID-19 and other goals

Our plan also includes such strategic areas as education, pension, health care reform, decentralisation, digitalising administrative services, and the fight against COVID-19. With each of these areas involving tactical levels, we are ready for surprises and challenges. If only the government would take up our plan for the better future of Ukraine and the whole of Europe.

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