SCAS-VUIAS Fellow, SCAS.
Principal Researcher, Institute of Industrial Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

ABSTRACT:
This talk will explore how and why Russian actors employed various types of non-military strategies to gain influence and control over key industrial subsectors in post-Soviet Ukraine. Why were some of these – particularly those linked to raw materials, energy, and chemicals – so vulnerable to influence through both direct acquisitions and Russian-affiliated proxies? How did corporate, financial, legal, regulatory, and geopolitical instruments interact to create a hybrid mechanism of leverage? The talk will examine selected case studies in the chemical and related industries, linking them to Ukraine’s wider institutional and economic setting. This integrated approach will provide new insights into the patterns, drivers, and outcomes of gradual Russian influence across Ukraine’s industrial landscape prior to the onset of overt military actions.