Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Income growth in Ukraine will be happening very slowly
According to official data, wages in Ukraine are increasing but it feels like they are falling, especially if one converts them into U.S. dollars. However, is it fair to compare social standards in U.S. dollars, asks the newspaper KP in Ukraine. Director of Economic Programmes of the Razumkov Centre Vasyl Yurchyshyn believes that if we compare...
EU Court Annuls Asset Freeze on Five Former Ukraine Officials
The court accepted appeals against the EU asset freeze by former prime ministers Mykola Azarov and Serhiy Arbuzov as well as Mr. Arbuzov’s son, Oleksiy. Serhiy Klyuyev, the brother of a former top aide to Mr. Yanukovych and former energy minister Eduard Stavytsky also won their appeals against sanctions the EU adopted to stop the […]...
Russia, Germany Clash Over ‘Rape’ Case
Berlin warns Moscow not to make political capital of ongoing investigation, decries foreign minister’s talk of a ‘cover-up.’ …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Devaluation of the ruble will not affect the hryvnia exchange rate
In his comment to the news agency TSN, Director of Economic Programmes of the Razumkov Centre Vasyl Yurchyshyn described the main causes of the economic crisis in Russia and its possible impact on the economic situation in Ukraine. When the hryvnia was collapsing last year, it was also hard to stop it. For Russia, the situation is more...
Launch of the 2015 Global Go To Think Tank Index
On 28 January 2016, the Razumkov Centre held the roundtable “Why think tanks matter to policy makers and the public” as part of the global launch of the 2015 Global Go To Think Tank Index, published by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. The Ukrainian edition of the 2015 Global Go to Think Tank Index...
Moldovan Anti-Government Protests Unify Pro-Western, Pro-Russia Groups Across Ethnic Lines
From January 20 through 24, tens of thousands of angry protesters rallied in Chisinau each day in -10° C (14° Fahrenheit) temperature to demand the resignation of the just-installed government, dissolution of the parliament—both institutions are now controlled by the billionaire Vladimir Plahotniuc—and new parliamentary elections. The atmosphere...
The Russian Public Seems to be Less Receptive to Hate Propaganda
Low oil and commodity prices have crippled the Russian economy, caused a massive devaluation of the ruble and a contraction of government budget expenditures. At a conference of the All-Russian Peoples Front (VNF—Vserossiysky Narodni Front—a pro-Kremlin populist organization) in Stavropol in the North Caucasus this week a woman from North Ossetia...
Germany’s Defense Budget Increase: Analytically Wrong but Politically Right
Transatlantic TakeBERLIN—This week, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced that she wants to spend €130 billion ($140 billion) on defense equipment until 2030 — increasing the overall defense spending by €3-4 billion annually over the next 15 years. The bold announcement was actually the latest step in a longer-term plan by the...
Economic Headwinds: Big Players, Regime Uncertainty and the Misery Index
Steve H. Hanke Before we delve into the economic prospects for 2016, let’s take a look at the economies in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East/Africa to see how they fared in the 2014-15 period. A clear metric for doing this is the misery index. For any country, a misery index score is simply the sum of the unemployment,...
Mr. Lavrov, Russia, and the Budapest Memorandum
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a lengthy press conference on January 26, in which he reflected on the performance of Russian diplomacy in 2015. Among a number of issues, he addressed Moscow’s obligations under the December 1994 Budapest Memorandum on security assurances for Ukraine. Mr. Lavrov was asked how, given...
