Governor Saakashvili: Ukraine needs 20 years to go back to the level of 2013

Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe. It needs at least 20 years to go back to the level of the Yanukovych epoch, the newly appointed governor of Odessa region Mikheil Saakashvili said at a strategic session of Odessa region on June 14.

“If all of a sudden the country’s economy stops declining and starts to grow by 4% a year, it will need no less than 20 years to attain the level of 2013,” Saakashvili is quoted as saying by Timer (Odessa).

According to Timer, the average lifetime in Ukraine is 71, so, those who are 50 today may well fail to see the improvement.

As EADaily reported, once appointed as governor of Odessa region by President Petro Poroshenko, former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili announced a campaign to privatize local state-owned companies and to fire most of their employees. The first on the list is the port of Odessa, the biggest port in Ukraine.