On November 12, SITE with financial support from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be organizing the annual Development Day 2019 conference at the Stockholm School of Economics. The topic of this year’s conference is the Long Shadow of Transition: the State of Democracy in Eastern Europe. Please read the brochure for more info!

1. THE LONG
SHADOW OF TRANSITION:
THE STATE OF DEMOCRACY
IN EASTERN EUROPE
DEVELOPMENT DAY
In association with:
PROGRAM
9:00–9:05 WELCOME:
• ANDERS OLOFSGÅRD
9:05–9:30 INTRODUCTION FROM THE SWEDISH
GOVERNMENT:
• PER OLSSON FRIDH
9:30–11:00 THE STATES OF TRANSITION IN THE
REGION:
Economic Development and Governance:
• ALEXANDER PLEKHANOV
Political Development:
• TORBJÖRN BECKER
Energy Security:
• CHLOÉ LE COQ
• ELENA PALTSEVA
11:00–11:20 COFFEE BREAK
11:20–12:00 TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP
BACK IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS:
• THOMAS DE WAAL
12:00–12:40 POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE:
• NATALIIA SHAPOVAL
12:40–13:30 LUNCH
13:30–14:30 DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN
PRACTICE:
• ILONA SOLOGUB
• KETEVAN VASHAKIDZE
• MARIA BISTER
• HENRIK NORBERG
14:30–15:30 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT:
• YLVA BERG
• LARS ANELL
• ERIK BERGLÖF
• KATERYNA BORNUKOVA
15:30–15:50 COFFEE BREAK
15:50–16:45 PUTIN’S CHILDREN: WHO WILL RULE
RUSSIA AFTER 2024?
• ANDREI KOLESNIKOV
16:45–17:00 END OF CONFERENCE
18:30–21:00 DINNER (by invitation only)
ABOUT
WHERE RESEARCH MEETS POLICY
The Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) is
an independent research institute at the Stockholm School
of Economics. Established in 1989, SITE has become
a leading research and policy centre on economic
development in low- and middle-income countries, with
a particular emphasis on transition in the former Soviet
Union and Central and Eastern Europe. Beyond research
we have a strong policy component, serving as a bridge
between the academic community and policy makers and
we are also engaged in institutional development of local
research capacity in the transition countries. As part of
that we are members of the FREE network, a network of
research institutions in Eastern Europe.
THE FREE NETWORK INITIATIVE
The Forum for Research on Eastern Europe and
Emerging Economies (FREE Network) and the Forum
for Research on Gender Economics (FROGEE) are joint
initiatives by SITE (Stockholm), BEROC (Minsk), BICEPS
(Riga), CEFIR/NES (Moscow), CenEA (Szczecin), ISET
(Tbilisi) and KSE (Kiev). Together, these research institutes
form an extensive network of leading academic experts
on economic issues in Central and Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union.
@SITEStockholm
@SITEStockholm
site@hhs.se +46 (0) 8 736 9670
@Stockholm Institute of
Transition Economics
hhs.se/site
freepolicybriefs.org
CONTACTS SOCIAL MEDIA

2. WELCOME TO
DEVELOPMENT DAY 2019
SPEAKERS SPEAKERS
For most countries in Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union, the main building blocks of the economic
transition from a command economy to a market
economy took around 10 years to accomplish. In terms
of political institutions and social norms, change has
been much slower and more uneven. Weak political
checks and balances, corruption and authoritarianism
threaten not only economic and social development
within many of these countries, but also peace and
cooperation in Europe more generally.
Consequently, the Swedish government has identified
democracy promotion in Eastern Europe as a priority
area for its foreign policy looking forward.
This raises some key questions: What are the main
challenges towards progress in this area in Russia, and
in the Eastern Partnership countries? What would be the
most efficient ways for Sweden to support democratic
consolidation, a process that in the end has to have
domestic ownership? And what are the implications
for the economy and businesses within Sweden and
the European Union from operating in a global world
with close neighbors in which business and political risk
is high?
ALEXANDER PLEKHANOV
Mr. Plekhanov is the Director for Transition
Impact and Global Economics at the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
CHLOÉ LE COQ
Ms. Le Coq is an Associate Professor at
Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.
MARIA BISTER
Ms. Bister is a Senior Policy Specialist at the
Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency.
ELENA PALTSEVA
Ms. Paltseva is an Assistant Professor at
Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics and
a visiting Professor in Economics at the New
Economic School, Russia.
NATALIIA SHAPOVAL
Ms. Shapoval is the Vice President for Policy
Research at Kyiv School of Economics.
ERIK BERGLÖF
Mr. Berglöf is a Professor in Practice and
Director of the Institute of Global Affairs at
the London School of Economics and Political
Science.
PER OLSSON FRIDH
Mr. Olsson Fridh is the State Secretary to
the Minister for International Development
Cooperation, Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
HENRIK NORBERG
Mr. Norberg is Deputy Director at Ministry for
Foreign Affairs.
THOMAS DE WAAL
Mr. de Waal is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.
ILONA SOLOGUB
Ms. Sologub is the Editor at VoxUkraine and
Director for Policy Research Kiev School of
Economics.
TORBJÖRN BECKER
Mr. Becker is the Director of Stockholm Institute
of Transition Economics.
KATERYNA BORNUKOVA
Ms. Bornukova is the Academic Director at
Belarus Economic Research and Outreach
Center (BEROC) in Minsk.
YLVA BERG
Ms. Berg is the CEO and President at Business
Sweden.
KETEVAN VASHAKIDZE
Ms. Vashakidze is the President at Europe
Foundation, Georgia.
ANDREI KOLESNIKOV
Mr. Kolesnikov is a Senior Fellow and the chair
of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political
Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow
Center.
LARS ANELL
Mr. Anell is Ambassador and formerly Volvo’s
Senior Vice President.
(In alphabetical order) (In alphabetical order)
Photo: Magdalena Roeseler| License: CC BY 2.0