KIEV (Reuters) - In a popular Ukrainian TV series, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy played a president who is scrupulously honest and outwits crooked lawmakers and shadowy businessmen who try to stand in his way. Just 9 percent of Ukrainians trust their national government, the lowest of any electorate in the world, a Gallup poll in March showed. Critics question Zelenskiy's political inexperience and he remains something of an unknown quantity for investors who want reassurances that he will accelerate reforms and keep Ukraine in an International Monetary Fund programme. Zelenskiy's unorthodox campaign put the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko on the backfoot right from the start. He said he would not, as some fear, hand back ownership of PrivatBank, Ukraine's largest lender, to Kolomoisky if he becomes president.

Source: The Star April 21, 2019 20:48 UTC