In Memoriam: Oleksandr Kravchuk

Our colleague Oleksandr Kravchuk, left-wing economist, author, and lead editor of the Ukrainian media platform Commons died in the night of 21 July, unexpectedly and far too young.  His professional career took him from a simple train conductor to a doctor of economics. To his comrades, he was an optimist with a firm belief in a better future, and who did everything in his power to make that future a reality. He was the soul of the Commons, they write.

His scholarly and journalistic contributions on Ukraine’s post-2014 economic reforms were a rarity on the Ukrainian Left in terms of their analytical precision as well as clarity of criticism. He analysed the EU’s Association Agreement with Ukraine and criticized his country’s trade liberalization and deregulation policies, along with Ukraine’s high level of debt and dependence on foreign financial institutions.

The results of this economic development, he argued, were widespread legal opportunities for large corporations to maximize their profits in offshore zones and thereby exacerbate social injustice. In pieces written for the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Kravchuk dealt with the dangers of land reform at the expense of the environment and to the benefit of international agro-corporations, and developed alternative strategies for a more just economic development of Ukraine together with his colleagues.

His numerous publications can be found on his Commons author page. Together with many Ukrainian leftists, he publicly campaigned for the cancellation of his country’s foreign debt and for a just post-war reconstruction.

Oleksandr had worked closely with us since the founding of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s office in Ukraine and became a mainstay of our organization’s educational work. We will miss him dearly, and extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.