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| - Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said Friday he wanted to help steer Ukraine through an economic crisis as he eyes a comeback to the frontlines of the ex-Soviet country's politics. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has vowed to secure Western investment and rid the country of corruption, has proposed appointing Saakashvili as deputy prime minister in charge of reform efforts after restoring his Ukrainian citizenship last year. The candidacy of the 52-year-old must now be approved by parliament which is controlled by Zelensky's ruling party. "Ukraine is entering an economic storm. We have to make unconventional decisions in order to save the Ukrainian economy," Saakashvili told reporters in the capital Kiev on Friday. "The president has entrusted me with conducting negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. Ukraine needs much more aid than it is receiving now," he added, speaking ahead of a meeting with members of the ruling party. It was not immediately clear when parliament could consider Saakashvili's candidacy and senior lawmakers said Friday he should first hold a number of meetings with legislators. Saakashvili's appointment would come at a particularly difficult time for Ukraine, with observers warning that the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic may lead the country's economy to shrink by up to 10 percent this year. Zelensky's government has been seeking to unlock an $8 billion loan from the IMF and secure assistance from other donors as well as negotiate an end to a six-year simmering separatist conflict with Russia. Saakashvili said Wednesday on Facebook that he had received an offer from Zelensky to become deputy prime minister in charge of reforms and held talks with Prime Minister Denys Shmygal. "I want to my experience to be helpful and I have therefore accepted Zelensky's offer," he told reporters on Friday. If confirmed by Ukrainian parliament, the appointment would mark a spectacular new chapter in Saakashvili's turbulent career which saw him put ex-Soviet Georgia on a pro-Western path after leading the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003. During his 2004-2013 presidency, Saakashvili reformed Georgia's economy and attracted foreign investment but he also went to war with Russia over two breakaway regions. In 2015, Zelensky's predecessor Petro Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili governor of Ukraine's strategic Odessa region. But his stint at the helm of the Black-Sea region was dogged by controversy as he ruffled many feathers and criticised the huge wealth of some politicians. He fell out with Poroshenko, was kicked out of the country and accused of trying to stage a coup sponsored by Russia. bur-dg/as/txw
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