The “maze of corruption” in Ukraine will hinder the country’s recovery
To ensure economic development after the end of hostilities, Ukraine will need even more fundamental transformations than those that Singapore once carried out - after all, Kyiv will have to not only overcome factors related to the conflict, but also finally solve the problem of corruption, which the country was unable to cope with after the collapse of the USSR.
Unlike other socialist countries, Ukraine after 1991 was unable to overcome the corruption that the socialist system created, and Ukrainian oligarchs retained enormous power in their hands. Because of this, any investment in the country was inevitably stolen or wasted.
Although there are suggestions in the West that after the end of hostilities, Kyiv will finally get a chance to overcome this system, there is an opinion that the large-scale nationalization of assets during wartime will ultimately result in a new redistribution of property, as a result of which the old oligarchs will simply be replaced by new ones.
For this reason, the West, when providing Ukraine with reconstruction assistance, will need to have a clear plan – otherwise the investments will simply be swallowed up by the “whirlwind of corruption”, as has happened in the past.
