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Ukraine's economic freedom score is 46.8, making its economy the 162nd freest in the Index of Economic Freedom calculated by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation.
Russia's economy was deemed "mostly unfree" and was ranked at 153rd out of 178 countries in the 2016 Index. Belarus was included in the group of countries with "repressed economy," moving down from 153rd to 157th position.
The world's three freest economies are Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand. Venezuela (ranked 176th), Cuba (177th) and North Korea (178th) were classified as the least free economies in the world. The United States was ranked 11th in the world economic freedom.
Read alsoUkraine one of world's most innovative economies – BloombergLaunched in 1995, the Index evaluates countries in four broad policy areas that affect economic freedom: rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency, and open markets. There are ten specific categories: property rights, freedom from corruption, fiscal freedom, government spending, business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom, trade freedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom.
Read alsoCabinet outlines measures to improve Ukraine's Doing Business rankingFor the seventh year in a row, Ukraine has registered Europe’s lowest levels of economic freedom. Respect for the rule of law has not been established, and the lack of investment freedom has hurt productivity, including in the important agricultural sector, according to the report.