“I’m not a politician (I don’t represent any institution) so I can afford to speak frankly. For me, 2025 is a hard year, the fourth year of the war. We’re now discussing all sorts of minor things — the transfer of 4% of personal income tax to the state budget or back to the regions, corruption cases, but we’re losing sight of the main context: Ukraine is fighting for survival.
I’ve lived through this before. Back in Luhansk, I was also a city council member — debating something with someone, fighting corruption, building homes, businesses, mines. And then suddenly I realised that my country was gone: gone with its percentages, its corrupt officials, its mayor Kravchenko, its governor — gone with everyone. Because other people came and took everything from us.
Looking back at this year, I really want us not to forget the essential thing amid petty political battles over flows of money, reputations, perhaps even genuinely important issues — not to lose the country, not to lose Dnipro or Kharkiv. Against the backdrop of poor governance and the loss of public trust in the government, who, frankly, is going to fight for this country?” said Ihor Liski.
The situation today reminds him of the events of 1918.
‘Anyone who has read the memoirs of Hetman Skoropadskyy will recognise the pattern. Our northern neighbour is unfolding exactly the same scenario as a century ago: internal strife, one hetman replacing another, everyone fighting one another — and in the end the Red battalions arrived and swept them all away. And where are they now? Where is Symon Petlyura and the Ukrainians who fought so fiercely for the Ukrainian language? There is no one left,’ the businessman noted.
That is why every decision, he added, must be taken with a single question in mind: does it bring us closer to victory?
At the same time, Ihor Liski described the work of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies as measured and well-communicated.
“It feels as though this is the most grown-up institution in the country. To fight corruption so boldly and concretely, while maintaining public support and not completely dismantling a state institution… because you could have levelled everything. To communicate it in a way that wouldn’t leave ruins afterwards,” the businessman observed.
He believes that parliament, the coalition, the president, and other state bodies should act with the same thoughtfulness.
“We can sort out who wins the elections later. What difference does it make, in the end, if it’s a Ukrainian? Otherwise, there will be other people, and none of you, believe me, would be able to live here. I guarantee it. Those in Luhansk thought they could sit it out, ‘what difference does it make?’ — they’re either dead, in a cellar, or worse,” Liski said.
On a positive note, he is convinced that if Ukraine holds firm and wins, the country will emerge fundamentally transformed.
“Just imagine: in August, the country created a revolution and defended the society’s core right — to have an honest, uncorrupted government. And no one was beaten, the authorities listened, the anti-corruption agencies didn’t turn it into political PR or a vendetta, but continued their work in a professional way. That is real progress. Usually, after any so-called revolution, things get worse and worse — but this time it’s a major success.
I really want nobody at a high level to even consider creating such brazen, large-scale corruption ever again. Let it serve as a lesson for generations. I also want discussions about the economy to never descend into stories of who benefits, who’s behind it, who will fix it. It’s terrifying when a Ukrainian businessman is afraid even to work with the budget or supply the Ministry of Defence in the middle of a war. We don’t trust our own country enough to let the manager we appointed handle purchases of goods we supply,” Liski stressed.
For now, he believes, Ukraine must show its partners the one key asset it has — unity.
“Our unity is our only card, one that no one ever counted on, believing that Ukrainians would never come together. If we unite and defend our borders at the front, that will be the main argument — we will secure fair conditions for peace, rebuild institutions, hold new democratic elections. And suddenly, looking back, we will realise we live in a better country,” the businessman noted.
Before that, however, Liski predicts, Ukraine faces another 10–11 months of real testing.
“It all comes down to the autumn of next year. In the US, there will be elections [for the Senate], and Trump really wants to end the war before then and wear that medal. So part of American electoral politics will revolve around the war in Ukraine.
The other factor — the enemy has economic resources to sustain 9–11 months of active war. That’s why they’re accelerating — either to collapse us as much as possible and seize what they can, or to negotiate with American partners to break Ukraine together with Europe and foist a peace deal on us.
To prevent either outcome, we need to unite around the main goal — to endure. Because the only card we can play is that Ukraine is united, capable of fighting, defending its sovereignty and independence, and making decisions about its future as a mature nation. That’s how we win the right to sit at the table and determine our own destiny,” Ihor Liski emphasised.