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Ukraine’s obstacle-laden path to progress

Ukraine greeted 2017 with cautious optimism, as its GDP ticked up and a banking sector shake-up proved successful. Now a blockade of the separatist east threatens to stall economic recovery, while political complications could slow the reforms crucial to attracting investment. Stefanie Linhardt reports.
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Following years of uncertainty and war with separatist rebels supported by neighbouring Russia, Ukraine’s economy looked poised for some degree of recovery in 2017, but renewed tensions in its east could dash expectations.

The vast country, located between the EU and Russia, covers an area of about 603,500 square kilometres and is home to about 42.5 million people. Tensions with separatists, which started in 2014, saw Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula being annexed by Russia in March 2014. Meanwhile, separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions proclaimed themselves as leaders of people’s republics in May 2014, meaning some 7% of Ukraine’s landmass is either in disputed territories or in the conflict zone.

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