Water factor remains one of Ukraine’s few leverages on the situation in Crimea. Russia has made much efforts to decrease the costs for Crimea’s maintenance, but has not managed to resolve the problem of water supplies on the annexed peninsula. The aggravation of water shortage in Crimea is pushing Russia to dialogue with Ukraine on Read more about Water factor in the Crimean question[…]
The main political event in February is the resignation of Andrii Bohdan and appointment of Andrii Yermak as the head of the President’s Office. This personnel decision is the result of the apparatus struggle of different groups of influence in the President’s Office for “access to the body of Zelenskyi”. After the victory of Yermak, Read more about Analysis of personnel decisions in authority structures[…]
Throughout 2019, the Ukrainian hryvnia has hit a record high. None of the experts, who gave forecasts of the hryvnia exchange rate for the last year, failed to anticipate in advance that the course will be strengthened so significantly. Neither business nor citizens were prepared for this situation and suffered losses. However, the state Read more about Strengthening the hryvnia: risks and opportunities[…]
On February 19, 2020 Democracy House presented a first issue of U at Glance analytical paper in 2020. During the presentation, the experts of Democracy House analyzed a Munich peace plan, a recent flare-up in Donbas, water crisis in the occupied Crimea, Bohdan’s replacement with Yermak and Hryvnia exchange rate. The event was attended by over 40 Read more about Democracy House presented a first issue of “U at Glance” in 2020[…]
Democracy House is carefully examining any proposals which are intended to bring peace to Ukraine and restore Ukraine’s sovereignty over a part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Democracy House expresses gratitude to all Ukrainian and foreign actors who work hard every day to rescue Ukrainian Read more about Democracy House joins Ukrainian expert community in condemning 12-step “Munich peace plan”[…]
Concessions legislation has existed in Ukraine since 1999. However, no infrastructure project in Ukraine has been implemented under concession. Among the main reasons are the complicated procedure of selection of concessionaires and concession terms, problems with determining concession payments and granting of land plots, too strict regulation of concession, which does not take into account Read more about New legislation for concessions[…]
The nature of the conflict Most residents of Ukraine consider events in Donbas an interstate conflict. According to a nationwide poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 45% of Ukrainians identify the Donbas conflict as Russian aggression; 17% – as internal conflict, where Read more about Opinions of the residents of Donbas on settlement of the conflict[…]
Position of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi Throughout the 2019 election cycle, Volodymyr Zelenskyi has positioned himself as a politician who would come to an agreement with Vladimir Putin and bring peace to Donbas. The use of peacemaking rhetoric in political competition allowed Zelenskyi win the presidential election and form a mono majority of the “Servant of Read more about Positions of key Ukrainian actors in resolving the conflict in Donbas[…]
The conference was being organized within the project “Analytical support for the Slovak 2019 OSCE Chairmanship” which Democracy House implements with the support of the Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation. The OSCE appeared to be the only neutral player, which for over five years has been working on the mitigation of hostilities between all Read more about Conference “OSCE in Ukraine in 2019”[…]
The year 2019 has become a difficult one for the Ukrainian economy. However, it brought some pleasant surprises: – strengthening of the hryvnia against the dollar by 15%; – increase in GDP growth up to 4% – decrease in inflation to 5% Ukraine had the record grain harvest, the largest ever inflow of non-resident funds Read more about Challenges for the Ukrainian economy in 2020.[…]
The next year will be extremely difficult for Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Zelenskyi personally bears all political responsibility for state decisions, economic and foreign policy. As a result, there is a systematic fall in his ratings. It is likely that, after the winter tariff crisis, key oligarchs will be actively involved in the competition against Zelenskyi, Read more about 2020 for President Zelenskyi: risks and possible scenarios[…]
Volodymyr Zelenskyi initially expected that he would be able to rapidly bring an end to a conflict in Donbas. However, he disregarded that he has either to accept Russia’s terms of peaceful settlement or to maintain a low-intensity conflict, just like Petro Poroshenko. The strengths of this policy include focus on the release Read more about Zelenskyi’s policy on peaceful settlement: strengths and weaknesses[…]