According to estimates by the Reform Index team, since early 2015 the Ukrainian authorities have adopted over 1,650 reform-oriented legal acts and nearly 40 anti-reform measures. While the number of adverse decisions is significantly smaller than of the positive ones, not all the reforms can be deemed successful. In some cases, reforms had to be relaunched several times.

The latest White Book focuses on reforms implemented over the past decade of Ukraine’s modern history, with the emphasis on those introduced since the publication of the previous White Book in 2019. As some areas — such as the reform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — were not covered in earlier editions, we describe the developments since 1991 in these chapters. The White Book of Reforms 2025 offers a concise yet comprehensive overview of key changes across 16 sectors, including governance, international trade, healthcare, and public finance.

Introduction

1. Chapter 1. Governance
2. Chapter 2. Decentralization

The authors are  extremely grateful to Kseniia Alekankina, Oleksandra Betliy, Andrii Darkovich, Vira Ivanchuk, Oleksandra Keudel, Pavlo Kovtoniuk, Valentyn Litvinov, Yulia Markuts, Nellie Stelmakh, and Dmytro Yablonovskyi for their expertise and comments, which greatly improved this text. We would like to express our deepest appreciation to Emilia Marshall and Erika Hornmark for editing the English version of this book, to Taras Omelchenko for the translation, and to Hanna Ilnytska for editing the Ukrainian version.

The White Book of Reforms 2025 is part of a broader ongoing initiative aimed at providing a comprehensive account of reforms in Ukraine. All previous editions of the White Book dating back to 2017 are available here.