Editing Oligarchy (section)

=== Ukraine ===
{{Main|Ukrainian oligarchs}}

Since Ukraine's independence in 1991, a powerful class of business elites, known as [[Ukrainian oligarchs]], have played a significant role in the country's politics and economy. These oligarchs gained control of state assets during the rapid privatization that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.<ref name=Chern2018>{{cite journal |last1=Chernenko |first1=Demid |title=Capital structure and oligarch ownership |journal=Economic Change and Restructuring |date=2018 |pages=383–411 |doi=10.1007/S10644-018-9226-9 |volume=52 |issue=4 |s2cid=56232563 |url=https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/83641/1/MPRA_paper_83641.pdf}}</ref> President [[Leonid Kuchma]]'s [[multi-vector policy]], which favored close relations with both the West and Russia, was seen as appeasing both groups' oligarchical business interests.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Riabchuk |first=Mykola |date=2012 |title=Ukraine's 'muddling through': National identity and postcommunist transition |journal=Communist and Post-Communist Studies |volume=45|issue=3–4 |pages=439–446 |doi=10.1016/j.postcomstud.2012.06.007 }}</ref> In 2021, Ukraine passed a law aimed at curbing oligarchic influence on politics and the economy.<ref name="USAToday" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Zelensky's battle against oligarchs: What does the new law mean? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/23/ukraine-passes-controversial-anti-oligarch-bill |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=2023-09-28}}</ref>