The Economist: War-torn reform

Even before the Russian invasion of the east of the country last year, the task of reforming Ukraine’s economy was daunting. Its people are poorer than they were when the Soviet Union ended. Corruption pervades Ukrainian life. The traffic police demand bribes at random and newspapers carry advertisements for companies that will forge exam papers for you. To this set of chronic problems, the war has added acute ones: the destruction of much of the country’s industrial base, spooked investors and a balance-of-payments crisis. If Ukraine is to build a stable economy, it must fix the public finances, shake up the all-important gas sector and stamp down on corruption against the backdrop of an unresolved conflict.