This is How Ukraine Could Turn Into a 'Functioning Democratic State'

Ukrainian oligarchs are the main obstacle for establishing a functioning state and a stable economy in the country, political risk consultant Neil Abrams and analyst Steven Fish wrote in an article for Foreign Policy.

In Ukraine, oligarchs control all major media, the parliament and the judiciary system. The executive branch is headed by President Petro Poroshenko, an "oligarch with a dubious past," the article read.

Until a heavy blow is dealt to tycoons’ power and wealth any reforms in Ukraine are doomed to fail, the analysts noted.

In the article, they presented a roadmap of four steps needed to give a chance to reforms.

First, via popular actions at the polls, Ukrainians must replace the political class which has ruled the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the article read.

"Any government that hails from this class, including the current one, will be too compromised by ties to the oligarchs to transform the country," the authors wrote.

They recommended electing a parliamentary majority and a president "from outside the post-communist political establishment."

The second step is replacing corrupt officials in the state administration with "motivated activists and outsiders."

These first two steps are aimed at loosing the oligarchs’ grip on the state, according to the article. The third and fourth ones would blow a deal to their financial power.

"The third step is to eliminate the subsidies on which most of the oligarchs depend. This first requires privatizing state enterprises that the moguls use to enrich themselves," the authors proposed. Moreover, Ukraine’s system of taxation and regulation should be simplified.

Finally, the government must force oligarchs to cough up a significant part of their wealth, the article read.

"The newly-established special prosecutors should carry out arrests on corruption-related charges of as many oligarchs as possible. It should then offer them a plea bargain: Either pay a giant, one-time tax on the assets they’ve stolen or face prosecution for past misdeeds," the article read.

The West can help Ukraine in this noble cause, the authors pointed out. Western countries should give access to information about oligarchs’ offshore schemes. They also should suspend financial aid to Kiev because it is only strengthening the positions of the current ruling class.

"All aid could resume once genuine reformers come to power and install a government free of oligarchs and their hirelings," the authors wrote.