The Political Economy of Independent Ukraine analyses the reasons for the abysmal economic performance of Ukraine during the 1990s. The main thesis is that economic development was blocked by a set of parasitic mechanisms at all levels of the economy that prevented the development of value-added economic activities. These parasitic mechanisms already developed under Soviet rule ('beating the system' by redistributing goods and services while disregarding formal rules) became a widespread practice.

HANS VAN ZON is Professor of Central and Eastern European Studies in the University of Sunderland. Among others he has worked as an advisor and research coordinator for the Commission of the European Union in Brussels and has been attached to the University of Amsterdam. His publications include Alternative Scenarios for Central Europe (1994), and The Future of Industry in Central and Eastern Europe (1996).

List of Figures, Schemes and Tables Acknowledgements Introduction Independence: Euphoria and Disillusionment Politics, State and Bureaucracy Economic Reform Structural Change in the Economy I: Sectoral Analysis Structural Change in the Economy II: The Micro Level Opening Towards the World Economy? Regional Economies Social Change: Economic Implications Path Dependency and Development Prospects Endnotes Bibliography Chronology Index