The aftertaste of banking sector reform

Over the next couple of months Ukraine will be facing powerful economic challenges

The Ukrainian Week spoke to Minister Suprun about the most dangerous superstitions in healthcare, promotion of healthcare, the development of critical thinking, the future of the healthcare reform, and about opponents

Ukraine’s oligarchs are slowly but surely losing their economic clout

Certain little-known facts about reforms in Georgia could be a good lesson for Ukraine

How corrupt oligarchic lobbying by a Russian monopoly on Ukraine’s electricity market is destroying the country’s energy security and making Ukrainians pay more for energy than they should

The Ukrainian Week spoke with Germany’s special envoy to Ukraine on reform in governance and decentralization, Georg Milbradt, about German government assistance in the implementation of reforms and about the successes and difficulties faced in this process.

Why are Ukraine’s public finances starting to look shaky?

Reforms in the roadways management system are starting to show results

Deputy Minister of Finance on the revised plans for a strategic restructuring of the state banking sector in 2018-2022

Ukraine’s banking system needs to be put to work serving the national economic interest

Where Ukraine’s banking system is moving

Finance Minister about reforming the State Fiscal Service and other challenges facing Ukraine’s domestic economy

Head of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO on the prospects of NATO expansion, Ukraine’s plans on defense reform, and the impact of politics on security considerations within the Alliance

What’s new for Ukraine’s defense and security institutions in the President’s national security draft law?

Deputy Chair of the National Bank of Ukraine Council and Honorary President of the Kyiv School of Economics on monetary policy, mid-term risks, fundamental problems in Ukraine’s economy, the role of confidence and the restoration of fairness in economic development

The shambolic renovation of the Central Electoral Commission, which has been in progress for several years now, looks about to be finally concluded. On Feb. 5, the President submitted a list of candidates to the Verkhovna Rada and this suggests that the process is finally being unblocked

How Ukraine’s joint ventures with EU countries in the energy sector develop

A conflict between different groups of influence in government for control over state-owned oil and gas assets threatens to undermine the country's energy security

What will change for teachers and students in 2018

Mostly discussed for its regulation of the language of instruction in schools, the new law offers more overlooked important innovations intended to change the quality and the content of education in Ukraine

This week started off with a bang in Kyiv...and it had nothing to do with working on healthcare reform, which the Verkhovna Rada eventually passed on October 19. The #1 topic became a protest action to push political reforms forward that was called by anti-corruption politicians and former Odesa Governor Mikhail Saakashvili

New growth areas in the Ukrainian agricultural sector are gradually changing the industry

Why Ukraine's healthcare system needs to change

Deputy Minister of Health Oleksandr Linchevskiy talked to The Ukrainian Week about the reform of Ukraine’s medical system

Candidates for positions in the renewed Supreme Court have one last barrier to overcome

What kind of land market Ukraine needs

Although there’s been a sharp reduction in trade and commercial ties with Russia and in Ukraine’s dependence on its neighbor, some key sectors still show levels of interaction that pose a threat to national security

The amalgamation of territorial communities has been chaotic. This may lead to unequal funding, abilities to support themselves and impact on local residents

Ex-Deputy Prosecutor General on the case of the diamond prosecutors, the threat to reforms, and why the establishment of an anti-corruption court will not heal Ukraine’s judiciary

IMF First Deputy Managing Director on the details and prospects of the IMF’s cooperation with Ukraine

What’s missing for the management of state enterprises to be properly reformed?

Why banking and lending don’t go together with populism

How reforms change the banking system

What’s behind the discreditation of Valeria Hontareva and demands for the NBU Governor to resign

The concept of the judiciary reform was approved back in 1992, and its implementation began as soon as the Constitution was adopted

What are the prospects for Ukraine’s agro-industrial complex?

How the status of land in Ukraine affects its owners and big agribusinesses

The Minister of Finance on the new blueprint for tax reform, the campaign against shadow economy, corruption at the customs, State Fiscal Service reform, and the 2017 budget

Who is changing the Constitution of Ukraine today and how? How are these innovations linked to reforms in the country? The Ukrainian Week speaks to constitutional and administrative law expert Ihor Koliushko, chairman of the Center of Policy and Legal Reform

Many of the problems connected to Ukraine’s Basic Law are the result of trying to rebuild it on the foundations of a soviet constitutional heritage that does not reflect current realities

Head of the Ukrainian State Property Fund on the estimated value of state assets in Ukraine, performance of the privatisation plan, bidders for the Odesa Port Plant and Russian management of Ukrainian regional power companies

After two very hard years, Ukrainians may be able to breathe more easily this coming summer

Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia on the decision-making process on provision of arms to Ukraine, reset policies between the US and Russia, and the need for reforms in Ukraine

Having studied the experience of legal system reforms in various countries, I can say that even though I am critical about every process in Ukraine, still I am an optimist

The dangers of further impoverishment

By the end of 2015, Ukraine basically had all the core anti-corruption bodies

How the micro-merchant crowd lives

Can activists defend community interests even if outwardly undemocratic forces control local government?

The IMF's assessment of Ukraine's reforms and outlook

Ukraine’s banking sector faces massive consolidation and change of owners

An overview of Ukraine’s new tax system

Ukraine will face a complete degradation of public services unless painful but necessary changes take place

Positive and negative results of austerity and painful economic reforms

Whose interests will guide the new SBU chief

In an exclusive interview with The Ukrainian Week, the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NAB) spoke about fighting corruption in the judiciary, the creation of a “corruption registry”, and its regional management of anti-corruption efforts. Interviewed by Tetiana Omelchenko

What searches and arrests at the Prosecutor General's Office signal

It is usually helpful to understand the nature of a problem before effective solutions to it can be developed and implemented

An off-the-peg decentralization solution to the complex problem of development without effective physical and institutional infrastructure can do Ukraine more harm than good

Major challenges in the upcoming election of regional governments

Oleksandr Chernenko spoke about the main challenges to changing the local political powers-that-be, electoral risks, and the voting rights of internally displaced persons

The Minister for Social Policy spoke to The Ukrainian Week about his vision of the pension reform, de-shadowing of taxes and salaries, subsidies and assistance to IDPs and ATO veterans

The existing pension system is one of the major pillars of the ineffective and corrupt political and socio-economic model of the “old Ukraine”

If you want to save the country from the economic collapse, make protection of SMEs a national idea

Ex-US Ambassador to Russia on the “reset policy”, Russia’s “resource curse”, and main threats of Putin’s policy for the West and Ukraine

Member of Parliament Yehor Firsov on how reforms can be both painful and comfortable

Sociologist Iryna Bekeshkina on the public’s expectations of change, perceptions of reforms, and the government’s lack of preparedness for them

A popular blogger and an active participant of lustration on changes that have taken place at the Ukrainian prosecution service over the past year

Economic reforms are slowly gaining momentum in Ukraine, but the results are not yet in sight

Law enforcement reforms

Ex-Ambassador of the US to Ukraine talks about trust for the Ukrainian government and its will to implement reforms in the United States and Barak Obama’s Ukraine and Russia policy

Mr. Strikha spoke to The Ukrainian Week about the current status and the potential of the Ukrainian science, the need for reform at the National Academy of Sciences, and forged academic degrees.

On the maladies afflicting Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences and its chances of recovery

The Ukrainian Week discussed the situation with the new electoral legislative framework with Oleksandr Chernenko, the long-standing head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine and Member of Parliament with the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko.

Hopes for stamping out corruption, reforming law enforcement bodies and transforming the country in accordance with the European values are futile, unless major flaws in the Ukrainian electoral law are eradicated

The benefits and concerns of the budget reform

The Ukrainian Week spoke to former Deputy Interior Minister about the reform of the law enforcement, the prospects of Georgian know-how in Ukraine, and the future of volunteer battalions

More than ever Ukraine needs statesmen with a long term vision looking beyond the horizon of their current mandate

The Ukrainian Army after 23 years of “ingenious” military reforms and three months of warfare in Eastern Ukraine

Sweden is the best country for the elderly and Ukraine lags behind, Global AgeWatch Index reports

The Ukrainian government is likely to take radical steps to close the budget gap

The Vitaliy Klitschko brand could be a cover for many potential party switchers associated with oligarchs, and these politicians are unlikely to be controlled in the future by the UDAR party leader

A landmark work by the world-renowned economist confirms that the current “reforms” of the Ukrainian government will inevitably lead to an economic crisis

If the Ukrainian government does not change its domestic policies, the country will face international isolation and subjugation to Russia after the 2012 European Football Championship

Reform is probably one of the most often used words in Ukraine. Because of its frequent, often thoughtless use, it has a hollow ring to it, having lost its essence.

Life is change. 2,015 readers of The Ukrainian Week advise the government on choosing changes wisely through a survey open on tyzhden.ua website over 1-21 December 2011*

The Ukrainian Railroad is being reformed at the expense of its passengers and employees

Involvement of the society into implementation of state’s policies is of a reason only in case, when the public opinion and opinion of independent experts are heard by the state. In Ukraine neither of the above mentioned is taken into account.

Instead of initiating a full-fledged pension reform the government will simply make life harder for the retired living on the existing pay-as-you-go pension scheme

The authorities have enough powers in their hands to launch any reform but the nature of relations among those in power results in the dragging out of changes or confusing their essence

“A willingness to carry out reforms is a good sign, but such reforms should not be carried out by sacrificing quality”, EU Ambassador, Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira

Ukraine’s justice system was overhauled (see UW, Is. 21, 29/2010) after the law on the judicial system and the status of judges was passed and regulations about the Supreme Council of Justice were amended almost a year ago

The announced reform of the state procurement system creates a legal framework for the uncontrolled use of over UAH 130 billion of budget funds per year

A massive layoff of officers could leave Ukraine’s army weaker and its police more corrupt