The Rise of the So-Called “Oligarchs” in the Ukrainian Economy (Essay Sample)

The Rise of the So-Called “Oligarchs” in the Ukrainian Economy
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The Rise of the so-called “Oligarchs” in the Ukrainian Economy
Introduction
Like several other post-Soviet societies, Ukraine has encountered the rise of an oligarchic system, which has locked economic and political elites in a partial reform equilibrium. Oligarchy is defined as the rule of a small, self-serving clique, who use their affluence to wield political influence. The oligarch concept is linked to political corruption and applied in the analysis of officially democratic systems with authoritarian leanings (Pleines, 2016). Successive regimes in Ukraine have been embroiled in personal rulership whereby rent-givers and rent-seekers have created an alliance to maintain the status quo. The resultant situation is beneficial to both economic players who access the redistribution of national resources, and political players who gain an unimpeded position of power. The oligarchic system has facilitated the systematic looting of economic wealth, levied heavy costs on the Ukrainian society, and set it on a vicious circle of administrative weakness, underdevelopment, and incapacity to enforce changes (Puglisi, 2010). This paper explores the rise of the oligarchs in the Ukrainian economy.
The Rise of the Oligarchs in Ukraine
The oligarchs first arose in the years after Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. They amassed wealth by acquiring privileged access to the gas market, seizing corporations from private owners, undertaking trade with state entities on favourable terms, and privatising state enterprises at discounted prices. The dubious transactions that underlie the oligarchs’ fortunes give them the impetus to keep state officers corruptible, rig the economy, and weaken the rule of law (Abrams & Fish, 2016). The oligarchs would find it hard to thrive in an environment where regulators