For years, the Ukrainian economy has been a laggard behind most of its Eastern European neighbors.
There’s progress, though: The nation has climbed 78 places in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking and moved up 28 positions in the Index of Economic Freedom in the last 10 years.
Here are five books that explain how and why Ukraine’s economy got to where it’s now, what the current economic outlook is, and what the future may hold for the country.
Title: “Awesome Digital Ukraine”
Year: 2019
Authors: Andrei Kirilenko and Glib Buryak
Price: $22
The Ukrainian information technology industry is booming: the country is home to the world’s best IT outsourcing companies and 170,000 tech specialists that are valued abroad. Written by Andrei Kirilenko, associate professor at Cambridge University of Finance, and Ukrainian economist Glib Buryak, the book tells a story of local high-tech businesses, Ukraine’s computer science geniuses, their heritage, and the prospects of the industry.
Title: “Building Ukraine from Within”
Year: 2018
Author: Anton Oleinik
Price: $31
Sociology and economy professor Anton Oleinik argues that Ukraine is currently going through a revolutionary period as it builds a nation state. In his book, Oleinik analyzes the social, economic and political developments in Ukraine after the 2013–2014 Revolution of Dignity and during the ongoing war with Russia. The book looks into how the policy of Ukraine’s elites may or may not lead to the emergence of a viable and sustainable national democratic system in the country.
Title: “The Political Economy of Independent Ukraine”
Year: 2017
Author: Oleh Havrylyshyn
Price: $80
A Canadian economist with Ukrainian roots, Oleh Havrylyshyn traces Ukraine’s economic transformation since the country became independent in 1991. The book analyses a slow evolution of economic reforms under the guidance of local elites and oligarchs with self-serving interests. Havrylyshyn explains the outcomes of Ukraine’s 25-year-old economy and tries to predict what may come next.
Title: “Property, Predation, and Protection: Piranha Capitalism In Russia And Ukraine”
Year: 2016
Author: Stanislav Maynard Markus
Price: $22
The book presents a vivid account of so-called “piranha capitalism” in Ukraine and Russia where property rights are threatened by piranha-like actions of low-level officials—their corruption and bureaucracy. By conducting over 150 interviews with business owners, policymakers, and bureaucrats, Markus explores how the state and businesses interact in countries with emerging markets. The author concludes that firms can protect themselves through alliances with foreign businesses and local communities.
Title: “How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy”
Year: 2009
Author: Anders Aslund
Price: $27
Today Ukraine is an independent state with a market economy and private ownership, but it has not always been like that. In his book, Swedish economist Anders Aslund talks about the ups and downs of Ukraine’s economy: from Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s “Perestroika” reforms to the 2004 Orange Revolution and the precarious post-revolution period. The author addresses the questions of Ukraine’s political instability, widely spread corruption, and malfunctioning constitutional order standing in the way of progressive reforms and Ukraine’s attempts to be fully recognized as a European state.
More titles:
Functioning of the Financial System of Ukraine (2020)
Ukraine: Democratization, Corruption, and the New Russian Imperialism (2015)
Economic Reform in Ukraine: The Unfinished Agenda (2000)
The Ukrainian Economy Since Independence (1999)
