Sustaining Business-State Symbiosis in Times of Political Turmoil: the Case of Ukraine 2007-2018

Abstract

Abstract How was the business-state symbiosis in Ukraine sustained throughout the political turbulences of the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity? Using the method of social network analysis (SNA), we demonstrate how the political – formal and informal – ties of Ukrainian big business to the different branches of state power evolved and what models of state-business relations developed during each presidency. The analysis covers the period of 2007-2018 and focuses on the comparison of the relational structures between political and business elites in Ukraine over a decade. We trace the visibility of various business cliques within political institutions during the last 10 years, and track changes in business-state relations through influential persons, positions, groups and network structures.