Saakashvili appointed governor of Odessa region

THE new governor of Odessa in southern Ukraine has many useful attributes. He once implemented a boldly successful anti-corruption campaign, sacking all the traffic police. That is valuable experience in a region. He speaks numerous languages, a plus in a polyglot maritime area. As an out-of-towner, he is not implicated in the oligarchic in fighting that blights Odessa and much of Ukraine.

The thing is that the new governor, Mikheil Saakashvili, is not just any out-of-towner. He is a former president of Georgia, on the other side of the Black Sea. Mr Saakashvili led the “rose revolution” of 2003 and tried to steer Georgia towards membership of the European Union and NATO.

It is not unusual for embattled governments such as Ukraine’s to enlist foreigners to help the transition to democracy and clean up corruption. When uncompromised local talent is scarce, that makes sense. And it isn’t only struggling countries that do it: in 2013 Britain’s government brought in Mark Carney, a Canadian, as boss of the Bank of England.

By materials of “the Economist”  

Sadko Consulting in looking forward to implement the new approach to fighting with corruption and expects the flow of foreign investments to Odessa region and Ukraine.