FELLOWS 2015

ABSTRACT
The dissertation aims at understanding the relationship between state and powerful economic actors in hybrid regimes. More specifically it is interested in how Ukrainian oligarchs defend and maximize their wealth under the conditions of the absence of the rule of law, which factors have shaped their ‘strategies of wealth defense’ and which political implications different strategies have. Although the dissertation highlights the similarities among Ukrainian oligarchs, it does not treat them as a unitary actor: It differentiates among strategies of wealth defense of different oligarchs, suggesting that those might have different implications for state transformation.

BIOGRAPHY
Iryna Solonenko has been working on her research project since October 2012, funded by DAAD/OSF. Between 2000 and 2012 she worked with the Open Society Foundations in Ukraine as the Director of the European Programme and with the EastWest Institute in Kyiv as a project manager. Solonenko holds degrees in International Relations, European Studies, Public Administration and History from the Central European University, Budapest; National Academy of Public Administration, Kyiv; National University 'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy', Kyiv and the University of Birmingham, UK. She is the author of a number of academic, policy and media publications.

PUBLICATIONS
Solonenko I. (2015) 'Ukraine’s EU-Russia Dilemma: the Essence of the Choice’, Shirinyan, A. and Slavkova, L. (eds.), ‘Unrewarding Crossroads: The Black Sea Region between the EU and Russia’. Sofia Platform. http://sofiaplatform.org/unrewarding-crossroads-the-black-sea-region-amidst-the-european-union-and-russia/

Solonenko I. (2015) ‘Ukrainian Civil Society from the Orange Revolution to Euromaidan: Striving for a New Social Contract’, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg/IFSH (ed.), OSCE Yearbook 2014, Baden-Baden 2015.

Solonenko, I. (2014) ‘Interessengeflecht und Machtstrategien. Die Oligarchen und der Umbruch in der Ukraine’, Osteuropa. Zerreißprobe. Ukraine: Konflikt, Krise, Krieg. Heft 5-6/2014.

Solonenko I. (2014), ‘The EU's Democratization Efforts in the Black Sea Region: The Challenge of ‘Domesticating’ Democracy’’, Acikmese, S.A. and Triantaphyllou, D. (eds.), The European Union and the Black Sea: The State of Play. Special Issue of the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. Volume 16, Issue 3, 2014.

Solonenko, I. (2012), ‘European Neighbourhood Policy Implementation in Ukraine. Local Context Matters’, in Lanon, E. (ed.), The European Neighbourhood Policy’s Challenges (College of Europe Studies Vol. 14); Peter Lang: Bruxelles, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford, Wien, pp. 345-380. http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=65211&cid=448&concordeid=21779

Solonenko, I. (2009), ‘External Democracy Promotion in Ukraine: the Role of the European Union’, in Stewart, S. (ed.), Democracy Promotion Before and After the ‘Colour Revolutions’. Special Issue of Democratization. Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 709-731. http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fdem20/16/4#.UeVOe1Iyhu8

Solonenko, I. (2009), ‘A Ukrainian Perspective on the EU-Russia Relationship’, in Duleba, A. (ed.), Searching for New Momentum in EU-Russia Relations (Bratislava: Slovak Foreign Policy Association). http://www.sfpa.sk/dokumenty/publikacie/253