Ukraine greeted 2017 with cautious optimism, as its GDP ticked up and a banking sector shake-up proved successful. Now a blockade of the separatist east threatens to stall economic recovery, while political complications could slow the reforms crucial to attracting investment. Stefanie Linhardt reports.

Recent years have seen a shake-up of Ukraine’s banking sector that has halved the number of institutions in the country  and culminated in the nationalisation of its largest lender, Privatbank. Yet challenges remain, with more casualties likely as small and Russian state-owned banks come under scrutiny. Stefanie Linhardt reports.

Valeria Gontareva, who will leave her post as the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine in May 2017, tells Stefanie Linhardt how foreign exchange intervention and a floating exchange rate are helping the bank meet its ambitious targets.

Oleksandr Hrytsenko, chairman of the board of Ukreximbank JSC, explains how the bank is supporting both domestic and foreign businesses in Ukraine as they reposition away from traditional markets. 

Former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko has his eyes on a new prize. While, as mayor of Kiev, his reforms to boost transparency are local, he hopes they also boost the national perception of Ukraine as a safe place to invest. Courtney Fingar reports.

Lviv has both close proximity to and a fondness for Europe. Together with a wealth of talent and favourable labour costs, the city is rapidly becoming a popular location within the EU supply chain, as Natasha Turak reports.

Known primarily as a holiday destination, Odessa is fast becoming a magnet for tech start-ups. Boasting highly skilled graduates and an entrepreneurial spirit, the port city has an ambition to become Ukraine’s San Francisco. Natasha Turak reports.

A rust-belt Soviet past, a geography that makes transporting goods expensive and the ongoing conflict with Russia are all hampering eastern Ukraine’s efforts to attract FDI. But cities such as Dnipro and Zaporizhia are committed to dispelling the old perceptions and attracting foreign investment to this resource-rich region, as Yuri Bender reports. 

For Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, life goes on despite its proximity to the conflict in the country's east. The city’s priorities include changing energy supply to save money, a move enabled by the government’s decentralisation drive. Mayor Ruslan Trebushkin tells Yuri Bender why budgetary importance is so important to the city.