Zelenskiy has surrounded himself with reformists whose appetite for change saw them pushed out of the current administration. These are people like Aivaras Abromavicius and Oleksandr Danylyuk, former ministers for economy and finance. There’s talk of other pedigree names to help tackle corruption.
Yet there are also suggestions that former officials from the team of Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych – ousted by protesters in 2014 – are pushing to influence Zelenskiy’s agenda. Zelenskiy has denied that and promised to reveal his picks for five top positions before the runoff, though that looks unlikely to be fulfilled.
He also has repeatedly denied political connections to exiled billionaire Ihor Kolomoiskyi, a vocal supporter whose TV channel airs Zelenskiy’s shows and who has been suing the central bank and government for nationalizing his Privatbank in 2016. A court in Kiev on Thursday ruled in favor of Kolomoiskyi, though there will be an appeal so it has no legal impact for now.
“I would like to see people who have good reputation, who either worked in state institutions or who are real activists, those able to fight against the corrupt system,” said Danylyuk, adding that he won’t participate otherwise. “A weak team would undermine the momentum that Zelenskiy has gathered. Such changes tend to also attract opportunists with questionable reputations. Those should be weeded out.”
Meanwhile, Poroshenko has played on his opponent’s lack of experience and derided him as a puppet of Kolomoiskyi. He also poked fun at how Zelenskiy would fare when face to face with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has questioned his rival’s patriotism. While Zelenskiy is learning Ukrainian, like much of the population his first language is Russian.
Much of Zelenskiy’s entourage hails from his TV production company, 95 Kvartal. He started it with childhood friends after he finished a law degree at a local university and turned his attention full time to comedy. They’re also helping with his campaign, stepping into the murky world of Ukrainian politics, where past electoral strategists include President Donald Trump’s convicted former campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Official declarations by Zelenskiy show 2017 income exceeding 7 million hryvnia ($260,000) as well as property including several Kiev apartments, luxury watches and Land Rover and Mercedes cars.
Ivan Bakanov, a lawyer who lived in the same housing block as Zelenskiy as the pair grew up in the industrial hub of Kryvyi Rih, is heading his campaign. He describes his childhood friend as a natural leader and expert negotiator who promotes anyone he considers talented.
“He knows how to unite people,” Bakanov said. “He trusts people, and that’s both his strength and his weakness.”
Should he prevail, it will be also down to comic timing and being media savvy. In Zelenskiy’s hit program “Servant of the People,” one of only a handful of Ukrainian shows to make it to Netflix, he plays a schoolteacher thrust into the presidency after a video of him railing against corruption goes viral.