Economy

It became clear that Ukraine has failed to receive the third and final tranche of the MFA III. Initially, the MFA III at EUR 1.8 bn was agreed in 2015 under a number of conditionalities that envisaged 22 measures in the areas of energy, public financial management, anticorruption policy, etc.

In October, the USAID Leadership in Economic Governance (LEV) Program held its final event. The project lasted for three years and made an important contribution to the policy of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development in Ukraine.

Ukraine needs at the very least 5% annual GDP growth to catch up with neighboring countries in economic development. One option would be improved investment climate for higher FDI and domestic-sourced capital investment. Other options are limited given lack of fiscal space and aging capital assets.

Politicians should ask themselves if depriving citizens of their right to choose high quality reasonably priced services while putting private businesses at a competitive disadvantage is the path Lithuania should follow.

Lithuania has long been praised for its rankings in the categories of starting a business, registering property, and enforcing contracts, but it has also been criticized for a heavy administrative burden and red tape pervading the areas of dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, and paying taxes.

In the Czech Republic, we have gone through four decades of central planning of prices of practically everything. And the result? Either the price has been set too high and surpluses have been accumulated, or too low, and the television in the evening informed the audience about shortages of underwear and toilet paper.

A golden era for Bitcoin. Its value overcame the margin of USD 6000 per Bitcoin. The reason is once again the cleavage of the cryptocurrency, as this week is expected to witness the dawn of the new Bitcoin Gold. The principle of Bitcoin Gold is very similar to that of Bitcoin Cash, but the philosophy beyond these two cryptocurrencies is different.

The Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been using state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to push for changes in the justice system that are detrimental to rule of law, economic growth, and civil liberties. At the same time, SOEs saved the Polish Mining Group (PGG) from bankruptcy.

Lowering the retirement age is contrary to the plan of Mateusz Morawiecki, Minister of Economy, which rightly linked in one of the documents the decline in working-age population with a slowdown in economic growth. It will put a drag on catching up with the Western Europe\'s living standards.

Countries abroad have only just witnessed various hacking attempts targeted at their healthcare systems. Our most recent cautionary tale involves a virus called WannaCry. And this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to data hacking, as the sole purpose of this attack was illegal money-making.