Second regional academy for social democracy

Between 18th and 27th of February 2017, the Second Eastern European Academy for Social Democracy took place in Kyiv and the picturesque area of the Carpathian Mountains. The topic of the Second Academy was devoted to economic development of Eastern Europe and its possible reindustrialization.

The aim of the Academy was to discuss the shortcomings modern industrial policy of the countries from the Eastern Partnership and Russia has, to analyse prospects for the future economic development of the Region and to find out possible ways to generate growth and redistribute wealth, as well as to create sustainable, future-oriented economic basis for post-soviet countries by focusing on new technologies and possible reindustrialization.

As Ukraine is ongoing a unique process of reforming and re-thinking its economic policy, this country was chosen as an interesting case study of how social democratic policies could be implemented in transformation processes - although due to the government’s and IMFs policy these days it is developing mainly within a relatively neo liberal mainstream.

The Academy was divided into two parts. The first one took part in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, and combined discussions on Ukraine’s economic development during the last 26 years and its possible reindustrialization, showing what gains and losses the national industry has faced after gaining Independence and what the prospects for the future development of the industrial sector of Ukraine are.

The very first meeting was led by LEONID KRAVCHUK, first President of the Independent Ukraine (1992-1994), the former leader of the Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine, who provided the participants with the overview of Ukraine’s development after the collapse of the Soviet Union. BOHDAN FERENTS, the Founder of the Social Democratic Platform of Ukraine has provided participants with the analysis of where the Social Democracy in Ukraine came from, where it stands now and what the prospects for its future are.

As sustainable economic development of the country is always discussed taking into the account political, social and ecological transformations that are taking place in the country, during the Second Academy the topic of Eastern Europe’s economic development and its modern industrial policy were discussed together with the overview of the political occurrences. Namely, the participants had an opportunity to talk to WOLFGANG BINDSEIL, Deputy Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine about 25-years of German-Ukrainian Cooperation and the possibilities to support new economic growth in Ukraine. And listen to the Member of the Ukrainian Parliament OKSANA YURYNETS and her speech about the vision of the future Ukraine the Ukrainian Government has.

Thanks to the presentation by MAREK SIWIEC, former member of the European Parliament and Former Deputy Speaker of the European Parliament (member of the Democratic Left Alliance-Labour Union and Your Movement, part of the Socialist Group) on Polish social democratic experience during the transition period, there was a possibility to compare the ongoing situation in the Eastern Partnership and Russia with the situation Poland had after 1991 and  see what transformations and reforms were beneficial or damaging for the countries and their citizens.

The second part of the Academy took part in the Carpathian Mountains (Lviv Region) and has combined two activities: a) discussion with prominent Norwegian economist prof. ERIK REINERT („How Rich Countries Got Rich- and why Poor Countries Stay Poor“); and b) the workshop on the conflict management.

Prof. Erik S. Reinert have shared his evaluation of the national strategies for EU neighbours in the time of Donald Trump and Brexit. His presentation caused a hot debates and was followed by the fruitful discussion.

After the lecture and discussion with prof. E. S. REINERT participants have worked in groups and have examined the current industrial policy of their homeland offering own vision of the modern social-democratic industrial policy for their countries.

Based on the knowledge and the experience the participants have gained during the Second Academy for Social Democracy they have written articles on the topic of re-industrialization in their countries. All these articles were gathered in the publication “Reindustrialise Eastern Europe?”, which provides the answers to the top W-questions:

• Why did the policy of using new technologies and knowledge-based industries for the development of sectors with export potential in Armenia and Azerbaijan fail?

• What products with added value can Georgia and Ukraine produce to eliminate their dependency on the export of agricultural raw material?

• When, if at all, will Belarus resign from the state subsidies that are one of the reasons of the technological backwardness of the country?

• Where else, if not only in Moldova, should such institutional changes as the creation of an industrial fund, a special export agency, a development bank and the usage of biofuel and recycling technologies be on the top agenda in the medium term?

• Why cooperation with the EU is from enormous importance for the industrial policy of Russian border regions like the Republic of Karelia?

• Who became the driving force for modern industrial policy on the verge of the machine age in Germany and how the country struggles between the risks and opportunities of “Industry 4.0”?

The publication is published in two languages: English and Russian and is available in FES digital library.

Generally, The Second Regional Academy for Social Democracy gave a possibility to bring up different point of view on the neoliberitarian and social-democratic approaches to countries’ modern economic development.