International Centre for Policy Studies

[en/] Projects Publications Укр Eng About centre About ICPS ICPS team Partners Supervisory Board Career and Internship Reports Contacts Research areas Foreign Policy Internal Policy Economic Analysis Social policy and human rights Activity Current projects Projects archive Periodicals (Inside Ukraine) Publications Internal Policy Public discussions in the regions: "Mоdels and costs of Donbas conflict settlement" ICPS Press 02.02.2017 Foreign Policy Yevgeniy Yaroshenko commented the statement by the German Ambassador Ernst Reichel ICPS Press 07.02.2017 Social policy and human rights Ukraine presented the report at UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women ICPS Press 15.02.2017 Foreign Policy Ukrainian issue on the Munich Security Conference 2017 ICPS Press 20.02.2017 Foreign Policy Round table "International interim administration as a model of Donbas conflict settlement" ICPS Press 28.02.2017 Economic Analysis ICPS held a conference "Transparency, financial health and competitive municipalities: presentation of online platforms" ICPS Press 03.03.2017 View More from this author More from this category Economic Analysis ICPS held a conference "Transparency, financial health and competitive municipalities: presentation of online platforms" Within the project “Transrarent, financially healthy and competitive local governments in Ukraine” which is implemented by the Institute for Economic and Social Reforms in Slovakia (INEKO), in partnership with the International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) and with financial support of the Official assistance for development of the Slovak Republic – SlovakAid there was held a presentation of online platforms. "The transparency of 50 largest cities in Ukraine” (http://transparency.icps.com.ua), its purpose is to increase the transparency of local governments by developing and implementing appropriate recommendations and monitoring of current level transparency of municipal councils in 50 major cities of Ukraine. Transparency rating of 50 largest local governments in Ukraine is based on data which are obtained from the following sources: The responses to the questionnaire were sent by ICPS to 50 city councils. Each questionnaire contained 23 questions. The responses to the requests for information were sent by ICPS informally - through a third person ("secret client request"). Each request contained three questions and was intended to detect city councils` reactions to requests from citizens. Information is publicly available on official websites of local councils. “Transparency of local budgets and their capital cities in Ukraine” (http://budgets.icps.com.ua), portal target is promoting the financial health of regions, cities and towns. Whereas, the transparency, the financial stability and the formation of regional competitive advantages - all these are the basic principles for the effective functioning of local authorities in the long term. The site contains data on local governments` budgets of all 24 regions of Ukraine and their administrative centers. According to Slovak experience, the data are divided into the following types: geographical data, short description of areas, indicators of the financial stability and financial health. "The competitive capability of regions and measuring regional business environment in Ukraine" (http://competitiveness.icps.com.ua/) Analysis of the competitive capability of regions should provide stakeholders the information on business environment current state in the regions, as well as the specific problems of economic development in the regions. The project will provide the local government representatives a useful tool for regional development and eliminating the local barriers of business environment. The assessment model of the competitive capability of regions in Ukraine covers 24 regions of Ukraine (all areas excluding the Crimea). Regional Business Environment Index (RIDS) is calculated on the basis of 103 independent indicators that are calculated on the basis of two sources of information: statistical data for 2014-2015 and companies` survey concerning assessment of business conditions in the regions. Project partners Robert Kičina (Business Alliance of Slovakia), Peter Golias (Director of the Institute for Economic and Social Reforms) and Michal Piško (Project Coordinator of Transparency International Slovakia) presented the implementation experience of the project in Slovakia. National Deputy Oksana Prodan as representative of the Chairman of the Cities Association of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada on behalf of the community noted about the local governments` transparency factor as an important prerequisite for creating a favorable business environment and investment climate in general. Advisor to the Mayor of the Dnipro city, Yanika Merylo in her speech focused about the necessity to introduce online services that will allow every citizen to keep track of their city, from the procurement to the infrastructure facilities map. ICPS Press 03.03.2017 View More from this author More from this category Foreign Policy Round table "International interim administration as a model of Donbas conflict settlement" International Centre for Policy Studies supported by the International Fund “Renaissance” held a roundtable discussion “International Interim Administration as a model for conflict resolution in Donbas”. The event is the continuation of series of ICPS's developments devoted to conflict resolution. In particular, on October, 2016 the experts presented the study “Models and costs of Donbas conflict settlement: International Experience and Ukrainian Realities”. It should be noted that since the Minsk agreements have been deadlocked, the conflict resolution requires new ideas and suggestions. In this regard the establishing of the International Transitional Administration in non-controlled territories can unlock the Minsk process and promote the peaceful settlement and reintegration of uncontrolled parts into Ukraine. Within the project “Modeling the implementation of the Minsk agreements” ICPS experts presented a study in which the opportunities and obstacles to the establishing of the Transitional Administration in non-controlled territories were analyzed. ICPS Chairman Vasyl Filipchuk as the moderator of the event stressed the importance of analyzing the practical aspect as how is it possible to restore the sovereignty. The Deputy Minister of temporarily occupied territories and IDPs George Tuka noted that Ukraine should do everything to return under control the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and not to abandon the region. Senior ICPS analyst Evgeny Yaroshenko during the presentation emphasized that the mechanism of the transitional administration is the international practice that allows us to establish on the transitional period the legitimate government in a certain territory which has been gripped by conflict or become the victim of aggression of another state. Introduction of administration provides problem solving in military and civilian spheres. In particular, the task of the military sphere is to maintain peace through deployment of the "blue helmets" which has to reduce the violence from both sides. In turn, the civil sector concerns establishing the public order, creating and training the police forces and holding local elections. There are many examples in the world of how the interim or transitional administration has contributed to the return of the states territories. Such administration operated in Kosovo, eastern Slavonia (region of Croatia) and East Timor. “From the perspective of Ukraine, the most revealing example is the peaceful reintegration of Eastern Slavonia by Croatian example. In the information space, we usually understand the forcible return of the territory under the Croatian scenario. If clarify most of the territory of the Serbian margin, which in the early 90s was controlled by the Croatian government troops, it was returned by force. But Eastern Slavonia was re-integrated into the Croatian constitutional space due to the important international mechanism, as the transitional administration”- said Yevgeniy Yaroshenko. ICPS Press 28.02.2017 View More from this author More from this category Foreign Policy Ukrainian issue on the Munich Security Conference 2017 On February 17-19, 2017 the 53rd Munich Security Conference was held. The Security Forum was attended by more than two dozen heads of state and government (including Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister of Turkey Binali Yıldırım, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko), Vice President of the USA Mike Pence, Secretary General of the UN António Guterres, Secretary General of the NATO Jens Stoltenberg, dozens of foreign ministers (France, Germany, the Great Britain, China, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Turkey, Saudi Arabia), defence ministers and prominent politicians, diplomats and experts. Participants discussed the problems of the European Union, the NATO, transatlantic relations, democracy, terrorism, the Syrian crisis, the situation in East Asia and other challenges to international security. The Chairman of the Munich Security Conference was a prominent German ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger. On the first day of the Conference the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko delivered a speech. In the President’s speech, there are the following messages: to refrain from appeasement of Russia not to repeat the experience of the Munich Agreement in 1938 on Nazi Germany; to strengthen the transatlantic unity; ​ "Supporting Ukraine is the cheapest investment into security of Free World"; ​ No deals on Ukraine's future behind Ukraine; to continue sanctions until Russia withdraws its troops from Crimea and Donbas; to deepen rapprochement between the EU and Ukraine as " Ukraine now is the most Euro-optimistic nation on the European continent". Poroshenko's speech contains a lot of calls to the West for supporting Ukraine and countering Russian aggression. However, apart from continuing sanctions, the President of Ukraine did not submit any new proposals to restrain Russia. Poroshenko also said nothing about the contribution that Ukraine was could make into the European and Euro-Atlantic security. Primarily, key partners are interested in Ukraine’s possibilities in addressing common challenges, and not only in solving the problem of Crimea and Donbas. On the second day of the Conference a meeting of the Normandy Four Foreign Ministers (Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia) was held. The diplomats agreed that the ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons should be a precondition for the start of the political process. In addition, the parties agreed to provide access of the Red Cross to the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine. However, it was stressed that negotiations in Normandy format should not be extended by the State Secretary of US Rex Tillerson. The meeting in the Normandy format has not shown any breakthrough. Instead, it was once again emphasized that the implementation of the political provisions of the Minsk agreements should be preceded by the creation of a proper security environment. The main innovation was the German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel first participation in Normandy Group. In general, this year's Munich Security Conference has not provided a separate panel for Ukrainian issue n. The conflict in Donbas and the annexation in Crimea were only indirectly mentioned during the discussion of other international security issues. Meanwhile, world leaders were waiting for concrete proposals from Ukraine to address common security challenges, but not the repetition of the old messages. ICPS Press 20.02.2017 View More from this author More from this category Social policy and human rights Ukraine presented the report at UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women February 14, 2017 at the UN headquarters in Geneva Ukraine presented its eighth periodic report for 66-th session Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Committee CEDAW). According to the procedure of the reports presentation, public organizations of Ukraine prepared and submitted independent reports and participated in discussions with the Committee members. Mariia Veselovska, ICPS expert on gender issues, said that according to the report of the Committee the appropriate recommendations to the Ukrainian government were provided. In the report was presented the main problems of men and women equality in Ukraine as follows: • Women in Ukraine are 24% paid less than men. This indicator has not changed since 2009. • Gender-based violence is very widespread in Ukraine. 22% of women and girls aged 15-49 have suffered from physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime. •The percentage of women in power is quite low. The part of women working in the Parliament is 11% and in government - 12%. Overall, 16% of civil servants in Ukraine are women. Accordingly, the Committee members were interested in state level mechanisms existence addressing these problems in Ukraine, what obstacles should be removed to ensure equality between men and women, especially in politics and decision-making positions, as well as the problems of vulnerable groups of women as older women, women with disabilities, women from rural territories. NGOs highlighted in the reports a number of challenges faced by women in Ukraine: Reduction of social spending and jobs adversely affect the economic situation of women. A) Women and families are the primary beneficiaries of state social spending. B) That is women who are widely involved in areas affected by jobs reduction (education, medicine, social services). The report indicates problems for women in rural areas, in particular: "More than two-thirds of women from rural territories of active working age are working or self-employed unofficially. Thus, they are not protected by labor laws, have no social insurance and therefore can not receive pension». Separately highlights the problem of social payments for IDPs, most of them - 62% - are women, and a lack of sources of income for women who are in areas close to the line of conflict. ICPS Press 15.02.2017 View More from this author More from this category Foreign Policy Yevgeniy Yaroshenko commented the statement by the German Ambassador Ernst Reichel The German ambassador to Ukraine Ernst Reichel has suggested that local elections in the uncontrolled part of Donbas could be held even before the Kremlin withdraws Russian forces from the occupied territories. “It does not mean that elections in Donbas can take place only when there are no Russian troops or with a Ukrainian flag on every city administration building”, said the ambassador. He also noticed that the last parliamentary elections in the GDR were held in the presence of the Western group of Soviet troops and under the Communist regime in East Germany. Moreover, the ambassador considers that the parties have to change circumstances in order to make the elections possible. This statement by the German ambassador demonstrates that Germany is aimed at boosting implementation of the Minsk agreements. As a leader responsible for European security, Berlin seeks to avoid expenses on “Ukrainian crisis”. As a result, German diplomacy considers that local elections in the occupied part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions should be a first step towards activating Minsk process. Regardless of the diplomatic statement made by the ambassador, the conditions of elections in East Germany and occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine cannot be compared for the following reasons/ Firstly, there was no armed conflict between East and West Germany. As a result, East Germany had favorable conditions for the elections. Meanwhile, the situation in the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine is totally opposite as the fighting is ongoing and it is impossible to conduct elections in such conditions. Secondly, despite the ideological and political differences, the GDR was a subject of international relations, enjoying all rights and responsibilities. The legitimacy of the GDR was recognized even by West Germany, and both German states supported the dialogue long before the reunification. In contrast, Ukraine considers so called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as terrorist organizations and fears that the elections in the occupied territories of Donbas without proper security environment will help to legitimize pro-Russian militants. Thirdly, the elections in East Germany took place at the end of the Cold War when the socialist camp had collapsed and the regime in East Germany had been delegitimized. These elections were preceded by the German reunification, which actually meant the capitulation of the USSR in confrontation with the West. Instead, while the local elections in the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine is the first step towards reintegration of these areas, these elections in the presence of Russian troops and mercenaries will lead to Ukraine’s actual surrender to Russia given disadvantages of the Minsk agreements. ICPS Press 07.02.2017 View More from this author More from this category Internal Policy Public discussions in the regions: "Mоdels and costs of Donbas conflict settlement" ICPS within the project "Modeling the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the support of strategic advisers to MinTOT, supported by the International Fund "Renaissance" held a public discussion "The settlement of the conflict in Donbas: model and price" in Kramatorsk. The conflict in Donbas remains a primary challenge to Ukraine’s national security. The peaceful settlement of the conflict is hampered by the lack of a state strategy for reintegrating the particular districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (uncontrolled Donbas) as a result of disparities among the political elite. Analyst Yevgen Yaroshenko noted the international experience of conflict resolution. There are four possible models. The Bosnian model is based on preserving the state’s territorial integrity in exchange for its federalization. The Bosnian model may bring peace to Ukraine, though it will not contribute to resolving the causes of the conflict. Such a scenario is more favourable for Russia and the West as it will not divert additional resources from them in the confrontation over Ukraine. The Croatian model provides for an alternative solution to the Minsk process, relying on unilateral actions and the military advantage of government forces.The Pakistani model arose from prolonged and deadly conflicts when the state either realizes that it cannot defeat separatist forces by military means or concludes that resources invested in retaining disloyal territory enormously exceed potential benefits derived from reintegrating these areas. The German model provides for the returning of lost territories on pre-war terms by means of peaceful negotiations with external players involved. Senior economist Vasyl Povoroznyk said about costs of Donbas conflict settelement. A basic economic assessment of the implementation of one or other model of conflict resolution in eastern Ukraine should take into account the role of the region and its contribution to the economy of Ukraine in the pre-conflict period, an assessment of actual losses of the region as a result of conducting ATO and also the costs of conducting full-scale military operations in the ATO zone. Anatoliy Oktysiuk presented the positions of Ukrainian political parties regarding Donbas conflict settlement: "Ukraine’s current political forces have essential differences in attitudes towards resolving the conflict in Donbas. The ruling political parties demonstrate a vague vision of how uncontrolled Donbas should be reintegrated, avoiding decisive steps in this area for fear of political destabilization and early parliamentary elections. At the same time, oppositional and non-parliamentary forces enjoy larger room for maneuver and are more active in advancing their proposals for reintegrating uncontrolled Donbas". ICPS Press 02.02.2017 Load Subscribe for news and events ICPS Stay online with us Subscribe Announcements Periodicals Tweets Твиты от @ICPSUA Projects Projects archive 20.08.2015 International experience for consultations and public discussion of changes to Constitution 02.12.2015 Modelling of the Minsk agreements implementation and support of strategic advisors to the Ministry of Temporary Occupied Territories and IDPs 12.01.2017 All projects Periodicals Inside Ukraine 64 22.02.2017 Foreigh Policy Insight 23 Special Issue 04.07.2016 All editions Information About ICPS Current projects Events and News Our sites Apostrophe National dialog Anti-Corruption portal Subscribe for news Social Networks Address: Office 10, 14 Instytutska St. Kyiv, Ukraine, 01021 Tel.: +38 (044) 253-44-82 Fax: +38 (044) 253-44-82 E-mail: office@icps.kiev.ua For media inquiries: press@icps.kiev.ua Copyright © 1997 - 2017 ICPS International Centre for Policy Studies. All rights reserved Use of site materials is allowed provided the link to icps.com.ua Website design and development by OTAKOYI