Resource information
Favorable economic conditions offer a
window of opportunity for the Ukrainian government External
factors served as a catalyst for the economic turnaround but
policies and reforms have also played a critical role.
Nevertheless, the positive trends will weaken without vision
at the top level of government. An "insider
economy" threatens to become a primary obstacle to
Ukraine's future development and also weakens the link
between economic growth and welfare benefits for the larger
population. This report examines the obstacles to
sustainable growth and outlines the strategic vision for
economic policy and reform. Specifically, it discusses
adopting the economic strategy of European Choice, which
addresses many o f the outstanding problems emphasized in
the previous chapter. This includes strengthening legal and
regulatory institutions, improving standards o f corporate
governance, reducing subsidies, continuing reform in
agriculture, negotiating free trade agreements, and bringing
numerous standards into harmony with WTO and EU
requirements. Ukraine has also established a set o f
Millennium Development Goals for elevating key social
indicators in the direction o f EU levels. This includes
ambitious goals for poverty reduction, expanding access to
quality health and education, reducing infant mortality,
preventing the spread o f HIV/AIDS, achieving environmental
sustainability, and addressing gender inequality in the
labor market. The next task will be a more precise
formulation o f policy and reform directions that are
consistent with these underlying goals, including the
prioritizing and sequencing of specific measures to make
most effective use of the Ukrainian political process.
