Policy brief: There are great expectations that vaccinations will enable a return to normality from COVID-19. However, there is massive variation in vaccination efforts, vaccine access, and attitudes to vaccination in the population across countries. This policy brief compares the situation in a number of countries in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, the Caucasus region, and Sweden. The brief is based on the insights shared at a recent webinar “Addressing the COVID-19 pandemic: Vaccination efforts in FREE Network countries” organized by the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.

After having been relatively mildly affected in the first wave, Eastern Europe is currently in the midst of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with much higher levels of infected and dead compared to the spring. This health crisis not only has economic consequences, but also has contributed to political instability in parts of the region. Learn more on the presentations and discussions held at the SITE Development Day conference 2020!

Policy brief: Today’s political crisis in Belarus has given a rise to the phenomenon classified in political science as political illegitimacy. However, this is not a pure political phenomenon. It causes adverse and severe economic adjustments. In a short-term perspective, it gives a rise to numerous risks of financial destabilization. Moreover, it is likely to deepen the current recession and make it protracted. In the long-term, political illegitimacy causes adverse institutional adjustments and erosion of human capital, which is likely to lead a country into a long-standing depression.

What are the developments of gender gaps in the labour market and social norms related to labour market activity? Authors from BEROC, BICEPS, CenEA, CEFIR, ISET PI and SITE discuss change of labour markets in the latest FROGEE brief.

Last year marked an important milestone as the world celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first post-communist election in Poland. Despite the latest developments, there is still a large democratic gap between transition countries that became EU members and other transition countries.

What do we really know about Putin’s Russia? How far will the Russian economy, military prowess and international ambitions go? Torbjörn Becker together with other distinguish researchers and authors provides a basis for assessing Russia's prospects without the distortions caused by fake news and disinformation wars in the new book “Putin’s Russia - Economy, Defence and Foreign Policy” edited by Professor Steven Rosefielde of University of North Carolina.

SvD Näringsliv recently interviewed Torbjörn Becker – Director of Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics – sharing his impression about the current situation in Belarus and what potential role Russia have in all of this.

Six months after the corona virus first appeared, the world economy is entering a deep economic crisis that could result in political power shifts at global level. The absence of leadership in the US and the EU gives China and Russia increased confidence and leeway, according to Torbjörn Becker and co-author Martin Kragh in their latest chronicle published at Utrikesmagasinet.

Russia’s oil dependence will once again contribute to an economic downturn that most certainly will follow the Covid-19 outbreak in Russia as in other countries. The decline in oil prices alone could lead to a drop in GDP of more than 8 percent. Will Russia face difficult trade-offs in dealing with the crisis at a time?

In a joint collaboration, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics together with members of the FREE Network initiative are now providing coverage on the COVID-19 situation in the Eastern European region. What is the current situation in Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine?