A Review and Analysis of Ukraine’s Road towards Capitalism over the Past Three Decades

ABSTRACT

Following Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1991, the country’s ruling class initiated a process of capitalist development that it has carried forward ever since. Politically, Ukraine has sought closer ties with the West, and has turned to the Right. Economically, it has abandoned the socialist road for a capitalist one, which instead of bringing development and prosperity has led to deindustrialization and recurrent economic crises. Ukraine’s persistent turn to the Right has to a marked degree torn apart Ukrainian society; it served as the root cause of the Crimean referendum on rejoining Russia and of the civil war in the Donbas region, before dragging Ukraine into conflict with Russia. After three decades of capitalist development, Ukraine has turned from a strong industrial power into the poorest country in Europe.

KEYWORDS:

• Region of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
• the dissolution of the Soviet Union
• transition country
• Ukraine

Acknowledgements

This article was translated from Chinese by Zixu Liu, Associate Researcher with the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 See “Ukrainian Independence Referendum.” https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1991-2/the-end-of-the-soviet-union/the-end-of-the-soviet-union-texts/ukrainian-independence-declaration/.

2 See “Poorest Countries in Europe 2022.” https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/poorest-countries-in-europe.

3 For information about the infiltration of Soros’s foundation (Soros Fund Management) in the Soviet Union, see Yan (2011).

4 See “A Document in 1991 Showed that Putin Was Right: NATO Cheated Moscow and Promised Not to Expand.” [In Russian.] https://inosmi.ru/20220219/nato-253105281.html.

5 See “The 49th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine, December 27, 2014, Verbatim Record.” Accessed June 30, 2021. https://www.kpu.ua/uploads/2015/03/49y_chist.284858.pdf.

6 On April 21, 2014, United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland confirmed in an interview with CNN host Christiane Amanpur that since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States had “invested $5 billion” in Ukraine “to support the Ukrainian people’s desire for stronger and more democratic government.” https://www.newsru.com/world/22apr2014/nul.html.

7 See “The 49th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine, December 27, 2014, Verbatim Record.” Accessed June 30, 2021. https://www.kpu.ua/uploads/2015/03/49y_chist.284858.pdf.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Airu Chen

Airu Chen is Associate Professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Associate Researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Her research focuses mainly on the history of the Soviet Union and of the socialist movements in Eastern Europe and on the territory of the former Soviet Union. She published many articles such as “Adhering or Not to the New Economic Policy: Debates between Stalin and the Right Faction Headed by Bukharin and Rykov,” “Fusion and Division: The Evolution of Social Classes and Strata in Russia,” “Communist Parties in Central and Eastern Europe: History, Practice and Future Development,” and “The Current Situation of ‘Neo-socialism’ in Russia and Its Causes.”