Ukraine: Reforms and Roadblocks

Discussants

• Dr. Ihor Burakovskyi, Co-Chair, RPR Coalition Board and Chair, Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting
• Serhiy Fursa, Specialist in Sales of Debt Securities, Dragon Capital
• Maria Repko, Deputy Director, Center for Economic Strategy

Moderator

• Stela Leuca, Non-Resident Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
• Jonathan D. Katz, Senior Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

The Transatlantic Task Force on Ukraine (TTFU) invites you to a May 11 briefing on the status of Ukraine’s banking and other key reforms. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his goverment have promised international partners that reforms needed to unlock essential economic support needed for Ukraine, including from the IMF, will be adopted in the coming days. These resources are needed with the coronavirus impacting the Ukrainian economy including a sharp drop, as forecasted by the IMF, in GDP by 7.7 percent in 2020. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, plays a central role as the banking reform draft law moves through the chamber with an opposition parliamentarian coalition composed of pro-oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky and pro-Kremlin loyalists. Along with another round of government reshuffling of key anti-corruption and economic leadership posts, this raises new questions and concerns about the government’s commitment to implement reforms.

TTFU was established in October 2018 by the German Marshall Fund’s Frontlines of Democracy Initiative, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation’s Friends of Ukraine Network (FOUN) Democracy and Civil Society Task Force and Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR) with support from civil society organizations in Ukraine. The main focus of the task force is to provide a real-time platform for stronger U.S., European, and Ukrainian engagement and information sharing among policymakers, opinion-makers, and civil society organizations on political, economic, and security issues affecting Ukraine, its democratic transition, and engagement with Western partners. Please check out the reporting from our last event in April.

Due to concerns about the coronavirus and in order to enable a wider audience to participate in this discussion, we invite you to join us via webinar. You may register by clicking this link.