Mikheil Saakashvili's appointment of Yulia Marushevska as Odesa's new customs boss has been making waves. Here's the New Zealand Herald's take on things:
The new head of customs at one of Europe's most notoriously corrupt ports is a 26-year-old YouTube star with no experience.
Yulia Marushevska became a poster girl for last year's Ukrainian revolution after starring in a video of the street protests that ended the presidency of Viktor [Yanukovych].
She is the protege of [Odesa's] governor, Mikheil Saakashvili, who as the former president of Georgia frequently clashed with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He is driving an anti-corruption crusade in [Odesa], a big part of which is taking on the criminality rife in the Black Sea city's extremely lucrative port.
However, the appointment of Ms Marushevska to the job customs chief has opened him up to accusations of ineptitude and corruption.
Ms Marushevska has an extensive education from [Kyiv] university and Stanford in the United States, but virtually no experience in enforcement or maritime law. Her highest qualification is an arts degree.
Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, has defended the appointment, but his statement almost seemed to be apologetic: "This is a modest, but very beautiful, efficient and talented woman, despite the fact that she has no training in customs.
"But she does have very good organisational skills."
Read the entire article here
