New Minister of economy, a strong manager or a debt restructuring pro – impression mixed

UKRAINE - In Brief 20 Mar 2020 by Dmytro Boyarchuk

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On March 17th parliament approved Igor Petrashko as Minister of Economy, Trade and Agriculture. Petrashko was Deputy Director of Ukrlandfarming, the agro-holding of oligarch Oleg Bahmatyuk, and he was the person who completed the debt restructuring of the holding. Due to that story observers joked that the new Minister is a "default specialist". But, apparently, he was selected for the post not because of his credentials as a debt-restructuring pro but because of his old acquaintance with Premier Denys Shmygal – they were classmates in high school. I met Igor Petrashko in person only once, and that was just socialite talk. No clear vision of his economic views and priorities. He used to be a person from business, thinking about making things happen with profits. Those who worked with him closely are cautiously positive. Just wait for his first moves and decisions, they said. But I came across his interview which made me worried. His thoughts about how an economy works and how it should be stimulated were quite sporadic. He was blaming the IMF for the deep crisis of 2013-2014. The painful experience of debt restructuring he had at Ukrlandfarming apparently, put an indelible impression on his way of thinking. He did not mention anything about land reform but it’s unlikely an opponent of the land market was appointed to supervise the land reform process, which was re-confirmed as a priority of the new Cabinet. Remarkably, among his first moves Petrashko called for economists and experts to hear their proposals. It looks like a positive signal. Macro-economics, apparently, is not his strong side but hopefully he is able to listen. At this point impressions about Petrashko ...