"Russian vodka caused Ukrainian President Poroshenko to lose the election"
With just over 24% of the vote, Mr. Poroshenko lost the Ukrainian presidency. But it is surprising that an Israeli journalist revealed that the reason for his defeat was Russian vodka.
Ukraine's incumbent President Piotr Poroshenko lost the presidential election for banning the import of Russian vodka, a favorite among Ukrainians, Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer writes in an article in Haaretz.
According to the author of the article, Mr. Poroshenko has failed to solve the most important problems for Ukraine, such as corruption, a weak economy and the conflict in the east of the country.
“Porosheko's failure to address at least one of these issues was exacerbated by the fact that he could not make voters forget that he still had a stake in trade with Russia, while Ukrainians could no longer buy their favorite Russian vodka in Ukraine. This put an end to his presidency,” Pfeffer wrote.
At the same time, Poroshenko's opponent, Vladimir Zelensky, has at least one "valuable asset" that, however, can be quickly lost - at the moment he is a "unifying figure with a pristine reputation," the author of the article believes.
