Part of the series of webinars on understanding Ukraine organised by the UCU Members for Ukraine network, organising in the UK University and College Union for solidarity with Ukraine and its labour movement. Register for Zoom link. Registration is free but please consider getting a paid ticket to donate to Ukraine Solidarity Campaign appeal for rescue workers in Donetsk.

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Speakers:

Andrew Kilmister, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Oxford Brookes University

Dr Yuliya Yurchenko, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Greenwich

Chair: Dr Simon Pirani, Honorary Professor, School of Modern Languages and Culture, University of Durham

In this webinar we will look at the economy of Ukraine and the differences between agricultural and industrial areas of the country. We will examine the various economic policies pursued by Ukrainian governments, the impact of the Russian invasion and the war on the Ukrainian economy and the neo-liberal economic ‘reforms’ undertaken by the Zelensky Government and debates about what sort of economy Ukraine should have after the war. There are pressures on Ukraine from international capital and the European Union to opt for extensive privatisation, while trade unions and workers’ organisations in Ukraine are pressing for a social Ukraine, with wage-led growth and post-war reconstruction built around social need. We will also look at the case for debt cancellation and how this could contribute to building a social Ukraine.

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Background

Yurchenko, Yuliya (2023), ‘Ukranian Economy and Society: whither the (post-war) country?’ commons.com.ua/en/ukrayinska-ekonomika-i-suspilstvo

Yurchenko, Yuliya (2018), Ukraine and The Empire of Capital: from Marketisation to Armed Conflict, Pluto