• www.promoteukraine.org • Promote Ukraine • Промуй Україну • 1 THE RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION VIRUS AND ITS VICTIMS IN UKRAINE AND THE EU HEAD OF THE MISSION OF UKRAINE TO THE EU MYKOLA TOCHYTSKYI: “WITH GOOD WILL WE CAN JOIN THE EU IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS” MEP ANDRIUS KUBILIUS: “EU TRIO STRATEGY WOULD OFFER UKRAINE NEW EU HORIZONS” WHAT CAN CHORNOBYL TEACH US ABOUT FIGHTING COVID-19? JULY 2020 Brussels Ukraїna Review Brussels Ukraїna Review Огляд Україна Брюссель Edition – 1 July 2020 Journal is published in Ukrainian EDITOR’S and English Online: FOREWORD www.promoteukraine.org Publisher: NGO «Promote Ukraine» he easing of quar- Through the lenses of journal- www.promoteukraine.org antine rules on the istic analytics, interviews with European continent an ambassador and Member of Address: allows us to fulfil our the European Parliament, and Velyka Zhytomyrska 33 plan of presenting survey results (another pilot ini- Office 611 you the third issue tiative of our team), we offer you, Kyiv 01601 Tof “Brussels Ukraine Review”. our reader, an overview of the The previous edition, published agenda relations between the Address of the in April, was released only online EU, Ukraine, and Russia. Belgian NGO «Promote Ukraine»: because of quarantine restric- Veldstraat 24 tions, and it is still available on Enjoy reading! 1731 Relegem our website. Belgium However, this printed version Email: presents a more comprehensive [email protected] view of the current situation in Ukraine and the world. Editor-in-chief: Here we have dared to capture Marta Barandiy the best snapshot of modern life, Editors: ranging from its virtual aspects Evhenia Kolomiyets-Ludwig (digitalization and misinforma- Natalia Richardson tion) to its most physical and materialistic manifestation – the Editorial assistant: land market; from the matters Nathan Stormont of “geopolitical” honour (e.g. the Illustrations and page making : investigation of mind-bending Anna Chernysh-Poltoratska cases in international courts) to apprehension of Ukraine’s stra- Journal «Brussels Ukraїna Review» tegic perspectives in the coming is distributed free of charge among decades. researchers, experts, opinion leaders, government officials and politicians of Ukraine and the European Union. Reproduction of the materials of the Journal is permitted only with the reference to the Journal. Opinions and other content published by the authors in the Journal, do not necessarily reflect the position of the Board of editors. Author is solely responsible for the content of the material he/she provides. Author is only responsible for the material, provided in the original language. Translation of the materials is made by a third party on the request of the Publisher. The Publisher is not responsible for the goods and services, advertised within the publication. Photos are from open sources. 2 • Brussels Ukraïna Review • www.promoteukraine.org • • www.promoteukraine.org • Promote Ukraine • Промуй Україну • 3 IMAGE OF UKRAINE: EDITOR’S FACT CHECK 02 Editors’ Foreword 32 Ukraine after the Revolution FOREWORD of Dignity – between Populism DIGITALIZATION CULTURAL PAGES and Reality Taras Byk 04 Ukraine is at the forefront of 70 Vyshyvankas as one of the the digital and tech sectors: how beautiful symbols of Ukraine UKRAINE VERSUS RUSSIA can the EU make the most of it? Natalia Richardson Andrea Castagna 36 The Russian disinformation Anna Melenchuk 74 Out of the box options - virus and its victims in Ukraine How the Euromaidan brought and the EU UKRAINE IN JUNE 2020 up a new cultural stream for Stepan Nazarenko the younger generations 08 The war against civil society. Juna Zimmer 42 Disinformation can kill Why Volodymyr Zelensky repeats Rika Zimmer Natalia Richardson Yanukovych’s mistakes Stepan Nazarenko 46 Ukraine v Russia: major courtroom battles lie ahead ZERO CORRUPTION Ilya Tarasyuk 12 What can Chornobyl teach INTERVIEW – ANDRIUS us about fighting COVID-19? KUBILIUS INTERVIEW – MYKOLA 52 MEP Andrius Kubilius: TOCHYTSKYI “EU Trio Strategy would offer Ukraine new EU horizons” 14 Head of the Mission of Natalia Richardson Ukraine to the EU Mykola Tochytskyi: “With good will SURVEY RESULTS we can join the EU in the next 10 years” 60 Results of an online survey on the attitude of the Ukrainian REFORMS population to the restrictive measures introduced to combat 22 Land for Ukrainians the COVID-19 pandemic or the story of a moratorium and the authorities’ steps to Inna Krupnik return Ukrainians home from countries with high rates of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 ANDREA CASTAGNA IS A BRUSSELS- BASED POLICY SPECIALIST FOCUSING ON EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS HE HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN PROJECTS RELATED TO INNOVATION, EDUCATION, YOUTH POLICIES AND SPORT. DIGITALI DIGITALI ZATION 4 • Brussels Ukraïna Review • www.promoteukraine.org • • www.promoteukraine.org • Promote Ukraine • Промуй Україну • 5 UKRAINEUKRAINE ISIS ATAT THETHE FOREFRONTFOREFRONT OFOF THETHE DIGITAL DIGITALAND TECH AND SECTORS: TECH SECTORS: HOW HOWCAN THE CAN EU THE MAKE EU MAKE THE MOST THE MOSTOF IT? OF IT? In the last few years Ukraine has increasingly ANNA MELENCHUK IS A CO-FOUNDER OF THE attracted IT INSTITUTE OF INNOVATIVE foreign investors: GOVERNANCE AND THE 20 percent of the EUROPEAN DIGITAL world’s leading DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE. SHE IS INTERNATIONAL companies, DEVELOPMENT including Microsoft, SPECIALIST FOCUSING Samsung, Huawei, ON EU PARTNERSHIPS and others opened AND NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICIES IN THE AREA OF their offices in the DIGITAL COOPERATION, country. GENDER EQUALITY AND CLIMATE FINANCE. kraine is in- concluded with Ukraine in 2014, the taxation of digital and tech gi- creasingly provides a good basis for deepen- ants is a hot topic of EU politics, moving to- ing digital cooperation between it is expected to have an impact wards be- Ukraine and the EU. on the future development of the coming one Ukrainian digital market and its of the digital integration with the EU. and tech leaders in Eastern U It is likely that the implementa- Europe. Marked by recent suc- tion of new digital taxes within the cesses such as the implemen- EU would result in a massive relo- tation of the e-procurement cation of IT investments and busi- service ProZorro, the creation ness processes in Europe. Ukraine of one of the biggest 4G net- It is likely that IT can be a potential destination work of Europe, and the intro- for such offshoring. To date, duction of several eServices, offshoring will Ukrainian and Ukrainian-based Ukraine’s government is set- increasingly be a IT firms compete with neighbour- ting high standards in the field ing European countries including of digital transformation. In- problem affecting Poland, Czechia, and Romania. deed, Ukraine’s digitalisation Compared to many EU member is led by joint efforts from the the EU-Ukrainian states, industry leaders currently state and business communi- see Ukraine as having key compet- ties: digital industry is a bright relations. itive advantages such as the state’s spot in the Ukrainian economy flexible labour regulations and a and its IT is the most dynamic simplified taxation regime. More- industry in the country. While Ukraine is doing rela- over, in Ukraine the total number This digital and tech success tively well in the field of digital of people working in the IT indus- is due to many factors. First, and tech, it is no secret that the try is larger than in most Eastern Ukraine has the 4th highest EU is experiencing some issues in European countries. number of certified IT pro- this sector. European companies fessionals in the world. Tech often lag behind the American companies can benefit from and Chinese digital and tech in- a friendly start-up ecosystem dustries. Thus, the new Europe- and a highly educated, En- an Commission has emphasized glish-speaking workforce. In the need to tackle the EU’s loss of addition, low taxes, affordable competitiveness against US and infrastructure, and relatively Chinese tech companies. Only a cheap labour enable national few EU countries currently can and international companies effectively benefit from a strong to maximise their profits. In As the debate on and stable IT industry and many the last few years Ukraine has new and old member states still the taxation of increasingly attracted IT for- struggle to attract international eign investors: 20 percent of investments in the digital and digital and tech the world’s leading companies, tech sectors. Moreover, the de- including Microsoft, Samsung, giants is a hot topic bate on the Digital Tax and the Huawei, and others opened new corporate tax rules for IT their offices in the country. of EU politics, it is companies will certainly influ- Moreover, the European Union ence the long-term strategy of expected to have has emphasized the need to in- big tech firms within the EU. tegrate Ukraine into the Dig- Countries such as France, Italy, an impact on the ital Single Market in order to and Belgium want to limit the strengthen EU-Ukrainian eco- future development tech giants’ ability to avoid tax- nomic ties. Ukraine has already es. They argue that taxes should been involved in the Digital Sin- of the Ukrainian be based on where the digital gle Market strategy. There are activity takes place, not in the some joint plans in the area of digital market and country where companies have eTrade and eCustoms. Also, the their headquarters or opera- its integration with Deep and Comprehensive Free tional centres. As the debate on Trade Agreement, which the EU the EU. 6 • Brussels Ukraïna Review • www.promoteukraine.org • • www.promoteukraine.org • Promote Ukraine • Промуй Україну • 7 This is particularly import- ant for large projects requiring software, which can make cyber security might be a central large teams of specialists. Also, Europe a strong competi- topic of the future Ukraine’s Euro- Ukrainian professionals are ready tor to the US and China. To pean integration. to work under more severe con- achieve this, Ukraine and the If Brussels manages to bene- tract terms, such as unusual shifts EU should agree on common fit from Ukraine’s digital proxim- to support different time zones principles related to transpar- ity, both Ukraine and the EU will and longer hours.