Two years after the Revolution of Dignity, Odessa Oblast, one of Ukraine’s key regions in
economic and political terms, is still strongly polarised as regards its residents’ views on the
future of their country. The political circles rooted in the Party of Regions have maintained
their influence to a great extent due to increasing dissatisfaction with the central government’s
activity and with the economic crisis which has strongly affected the public. Politicians
linked to the ancien régime remain the most important political players. Some pro-Ukrainian
circles had pinned their hopes for change in the region on the nomination of the former Georgian
president, Mikheil Saakashvili, for governor of Odessa Oblast on 30 May 2015. At the
beginning of his rule this politician made widely publicised promises to combat corruption,
to improve the quality of the administration services, to develop infrastructure and to attract
foreign capital. However, more than half a year has passed since he assumed office, and it
is difficult to speak about any spectacular successes in reforming the region. Saakashvili has
above all become a player on the national forum, supporting the presidential camp in their
struggle with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, among
others. However, his nomination has made Odessa Oblast more important for Ukraine, above
all in political and symbolic terms. This is because Odessa Oblast is the best manifestation of
the condition of the Ukrainian state two years since the Revolution of Dignity – rudimentary
reforms or no reforms at all, strong resistance to any changes from the administration, strong
local political-business connections, the lack of consolidation among post-Maidan groups and
corruption inherent in the system
