Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Resident Senior Fellow Anders Åslund writes for Project Syndicate on how Ukraine’s primary economic challenges are not homegrown, but are rather the result of Russian aggression:
Ukraine’s economy may no longer be in free fall, but it remains in dire straits. The country’s GDP contracted by 6.8% last year, and is forecast to shrink by another 9% this year – a total loss of roughly 16% over two years. While things seem, to some extent, to be stabilizing – depreciation of the hryvnia has eliminated the country’s current-account deficit, and a massive fiscal adjustment brought Ukraine’s budget into cash balance in the second quarter of this year – the situation remains precarious.
Ukraine’s primary economic challenges are not homegrown; they are the result of Russian aggression. The country’s belligerent eastern neighbor has annexed Crimea, sponsored rebels in eastern Ukraine, pursued a trade war, intermittently cut off its supply of natural gas, and is threatening financial attack. So far, Ukraine has miraculously managed to withstand these assaults with little international support – but it is in desperate need of assistance.