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Over the last year the economic competitiveness of Ukraine and Russia has fallen sharply, according to the results of the global rating by the Swiss Institute for Management and Development published on May 27, Radio Liberty has reported.
According to this rating, Russia has dropped from 38th to 45th place among 61 countries. And Ukraine, losing 11 positions, took 60th place. Venezuela is in last spot.
Specialists of the Institute of Management and Development put the drop in the economies of these countries down to the military conflict in Ukraine.
Fighting in the Donbas has been continuing since April last year. According to the United Nations, more than 6,000 people have been killed there during this time.
Following Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and its role in destabilizing the situation in the east of Ukraine, the West introduced a number of sanctions against Moscow, which restrict Russia's access to foreign capital and technology. This was the main reason for the significant weakening of the Russian economy, the institute’s experts said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in April 2015 Russia saw a continuation of the fall in its real wages, private consumption and investment demand.