Упрощенная HTML-версия
Authors: Vladimir Olenchenko, Candidate of Science (Law), Senior Research Associate, Center for Eu-
ropean Studies, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian
Academy of Sciences
Anastasiya Nevskaya, Junior Research Associate, IMEMO Center for European Studies
THE WESTERNIZATION of Ukraine, a process
that was engineered abroad and gained momentum
in December 2013, sparked a large-scale national
crisis, which has affected the entire Ukrainian soci-
ety. Among other things, it has highlighted the de-
plorable state of the Ukrainian economy. Neither
politicians nor analysts nor outside observers ven-
ture to predict when this crisis will come to an end.
To make the Ukrainian crisis worse, neither Europe
nor the world in general has been able to resume stable growth.
On the whole, the nature of GDP restructuring makes clear that Ukraine is undergoing an ac-
celerating deindustrialization. The crisis has had the heaviest impact on the extractive industries,
manufacturing and construction, and on a sector crucial to them - banking and finance.
The crisis has laid the groundwork for large-scale redivisions of property in Ukraine, and some
of their results will be manifested in Ukrainian companies' activities in the EU after the launch
of a Ukrainian privatization program that was scheduled for 2015 but was put off due to in-
complete legislation. So far no privatization deals have been made either with domestic or with
foreign investors.
The EU assures Russia that the DCFTA will mean no essential changes to Russian-Ukrainian
trade and is on the whole a routine accord.
The Ukrainian government and the European Commission gloss over the need for Ukrainian
companies to adopt EU quality standards, and hence either modernize their production facilities
or close them down and set up new ones.
This aggressiveness manifests itself particularly clearly in Ukraine's debt negotiations with Russia.
It is apparently based on two theses that are common among the international financial com-
munity. One of them is that Ukraine's debts are the product of the "war" in the east of the
country, a conflict that, according to Western allegations, was orchestrated by Russia. The other
is that Russia puts economic pressure on Ukraine by raising customs barriers in response to its
free trade deal with the EU.
By and large, one has the impression that current processes in Ukraine's manufacturing, trade
and financial services are parts of the same plan. They are apparently designed to build a com-
fortable environment for U.S. and EU investors, while Russian investors would not only have
any opportunities of fair competition but would face artificial barriers rendering all their plans
senseless.
http://interaffairs.ru
Ukraine: Investment Outlook