Publications

The Russian-Georgian crisis in August 2008 has shown how much Ukraine is exposed when a crisis involving different european countries (including Russia) occurs. Even if the political climate was deteriorating before the summer, this conflict ended up in Ukraine with a new crisis, the third one in six years time. The two leaders of the country (V. Iouchtchenko and I. Timochenko) have not been able since the Orange revolution that they initiated in 2004 to follow a pro-reform path that could have move Ukraine closer to the EU. However, one cannot expect from a young state, split into different regions that do not share the same beliefs, the same language, the same foreign policy orientations to implement in a short period of time the reforms that central european countries have successfully endorsed.

The following contributions highlight some of the main challenges faced by Ukraine. The articles dedicated to the energy issue aim at explaining the roots and the consequences of one of the main contentious issue between Russia and Ukraine. Indeed, energy is not only an economic and a foreign policy issue. It has generated the competitivness of the Ukrainian industry and may be seen as a test of the capacity for Ukraine to behave accordingly to transparent standards. So far, it has among other things contributed to the success story of some oligarchs that play a significant role in the economic and political life of Ukraine. V. Pinchuk is one of them. The contribution that is devoted to him helps to understand where oligarchs come from and how they want their business to become more transparent than their own carrier. Could they act soon in favour of european standards ? According to the contribuion dedicated to the economic geography of Ukraine, this scenario is not unlikely but a strong political will is needed to make sure that European technical standards apply in Ukraine, in particular in industry and in agriculture, which strongholds are located in the East, close to the russian border.

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