Extract from the meeting of the editorial board of the Journal of European Economics from February 12, 2025 (11:00 a.m.)
Prof. Dr. Vice-Rector for International Affairs of WUNU Uliana Korutz: Good morning, distinguished partners, distinguished guests, distinguished members of the editorial board, honorable foreign partners. It is a great pleasure for me today to send the great greetings and warm wishes from our Rector, Professor Oksana Desyatnyuk and on behalf of all administration to greet you. It is a great pleasure to welcome you at West Ukrainian National University at this great meeting dedicated to the Journal of European Economy. I would like to mention that it is not only meeting, it is a crucial meeting for us, for the editorial board because I am sure it is a meeting of great ideas, great insights, great innovative ways to improve and to strengthen your journal. We are sure that the Journal of European Economy has a crucial role in our university and, I am sure, in our partners’ universities, foreign universities because it helps to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Our administration appreciates all efforts, all your support, all your assistance, suggestions, and proposals because all of you have great expertise and great experience. We appreciate your participation in our great team. So I would like to say that we all convene to discuss the future directions for the Journal of European Economy. I invite each of you to share your insights and propose your new ideas, and propose innovative ways to enhance our journal’s influence. Once again I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you not only for your participation today at this meeting, but also for all your efforts dedicated to the Journal of European Economy. Thank you once again and I wish you a fruitful discussion and fruitful meeting. Thanks.
Editor in Chief, Prof. Dr. Yevhen Savelyev: Thank you, Ms. Korutz, for your kind words, and we will continue our meeting according to our agenda. First of all, as the editor-in-chief, I must inform you about the work that we have carried out together during 2024 and what results we have obtained. It must be said that 2024 was a fruitful year for us. The journal was published systematically. We had a good geography of authors. Suffice it to say that our authors now span the geography from the Far East to the Far West regions of the world, including China, Indonesia, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Greece, Germany, etc. It is important that our journal was noticed everywhere, by the way, in the United States of America as well. We managed to open new directions. For example, we created a section on “Health Care Economics”, which is currently headed by Prof. Thielscher and Prof. Obermann from Germany. A new section was also opened by Prof. Maksymova and Prof. Borysiak, touching on the problems of “Climate Neutrality of the Economy”. In addition, we are now also separately publishing articles on the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. I hope that today we will think about how to further develop our work and the new things that we can offer our readers. Next, we managed to further develop our cooperation with the Scopus and Web of Science systems. We have taken into account the comments that were given to us by these indexing systems and now our journal is being considered for indexing in Scopus. We hope that we will discuss the areas in which the journal should be developed. To start the discussion, I think that it would be advisable for us to stimulate our authors to conduct research and publish articles on the problems of artificial intelligence and the issue of rare resources. A feature of rare resources is their dispersion around the world, therefore international cooperation in researching the economics of rare resources, the problems of using these resources could be an area on which our future authors could concentrate. I hope that we could discuss these issues and all members of the editorial board could suggest opportunities and ways to attract authors and scientists who are engaged in the research of such important problems. We are also pleased that the European Commission has recommended our journal for publication of the results of scientific research carried out under European grants and financed by the European Union. I invite all of you to discuss the issues of further development of the Journal of European Economy.
Prof. Dr. Laurent Guihery: Thank you very much for this presentation. Just some information from the European Union for the next journal and topics in the coming years. In the European Union, we are now moving more towards the issue of the competitiveness of the European economy and European companies in a very complicated world, as you know, and a little bit less of sustainability. So this is something changing at the top of the European Union. This idea of better competitiveness of our companies in France, for example, in Germany, and in the 27 member states of the European Union is really becoming more important over five to six to seven years in front of us. As for sustainability of greening the economy, greening the economy is still important, but the main topic now at the European Union is really the competitiveness of the European Economy. This is what is happening as we hear from discussions at the European Parliament today, and in France, and in Germany it's the same. So this is my opinion for the future topics of the journal for the next five or seven years. Thank you.
Prof. Dr. Christian Thielscher: Thank you very much for the nice introduction and congratulations to your successes. You mentioned that you span a large geographic area and I do like and support your idea of adding some kind of IT and artificial intelligence focus. Maybe we can combine these two. So, for example, I would find it quite interesting to have a cross-continental article on, say, you know if it was in my field, on the use of artificial intelligence in oncology, for example, comparing China, Europe, and the US, just as an example. It could be something different. For example, if it was more of an economic focus, it could be about what China, Europe, and the US doing in terms of using artificial intelligence for management purposes or whatsoever. So I just wanted to say that I think it's a great idea to move into this direction and to use the strengths of the journal.
Prof. Dr. Tetiana Oriekhova: Thank you, professor Savelyev. I would like to, first of all, to send my greetings to all members of our board, to send congratulations to our CEO of our board with our success. I would like to support my colleagues who suggest to make special emphasis on the green and digital transition because I am absolutely sure that green and digital transition are the red lines for the present European policy. Green Deal and these red lines will change all spheres of the economy. You know and we know about the new model of production cycle and circular economy, and of course, exactly, climate neutrality is the purpose of this greening transition policy. But there are a lot of different directions, which will be involved in this policy. And so I suggest to expand the category of some papers, which are devoted to climate neutrality, green transition and sustainable development because this topic will involve even modern strategy of companies. We know how EG strategy became important and reasonable for not just European companies but even for Ukrainian companies which try to be the participants of the European market. So I suggest to expand this topic for sustainable development and green transition. Thank you.
Prof. Dr. Michael Radin: Yes, I would like to expand on Tatiana’s comment. So perhaps also have more papers on circular economy, because I've seen that topic with from several of my European colleagues, And perhaps digital waste, because those are the frequent topics that a lot of my European colleagues have frequently commented.
Prof., Dr. Oleksandr Sharov: Thank you very much indeed. From my point of view of course important are such topics as AI or climate changes, and of course competitiveness of European Union, and not only EU but also for Ukrainian economy as well. But coming back to AI or climate changes, I don't think that in our journal we have to have a separate heading for such subject because, for example, artificial intelligence is used in all sectors of economy, for example, in the financial sector, which I do research now. Everybody tells about the importance of AI and I think we need to welcome any articles which analyze AI and digital economy and digital technology in any sector of the economy. But if we come back to European competitiveness and European integration, I think that the heading such as “European integration” or “European Union and Ukraine” should be maybe the most important in our journal, because, as it was mentioned, there are some very important and significant events, changes, and trends in the European economy. It was mentioned about integration and disintegration and so on. And on another hand, we do not need to treat Ukraine as something separate from the European economy. First of all, we are Europe. And secondly, we are looking for fast European integration, I hope. And from this point of view, it will be useful to try to combine these topics. I mean, to look at the European economy, and at the same time, to look at Ukraine -- how we can help Europe, which we would like to join, and on the other hand, how the European Union can assist us in our struggle in war and in the post-war economic recovery, to be a part of our Euro integration processes and move in the same direction. So I think about we have to think about the heading and the preference for such kind of articles. As for non-European integration, as professor Savelyev mentioned about some countries, which have economic ties with Russia and so on, about BRICs countries, for example. Just a week ago I had a good conversation with one of my Brazilian partners, who told me some interesting things about events inside of BRICs. Because BRICs is not a monolithic group, and different countries have different interests, sometimes not the same as Russia has. And it doesn't matter whether we like or not like BRICs integration, let me say, but we have to analyze it and keep our eyes on such processes. This is my suggestion. Thanks.
Prof. Dr. Eckhart Freyer: Thank you very much. I want to especially support the last comments. As you know, I am now involved and 30 years ago I was at a conference in Foros, the first conference on the integration of Ukraine into the European Union. And our good friend knows how difficult it was. Nowadays it goes faster than we ever expected due to this horrible war in your country. And therefore, I think, of all the topics we have here for publication in our journal, it is first priority to focus on European integration and European interests as you are now part of it. BRICS and everything are important, as are geopolitics and artificial intelligence, but our articles and our concentration should be on the integration of Ukraine into the European Union, because this is such a big job we have to do. I myself was involved in the integration of Eastern Germany, former GDR, into West Germany, which was very small compared to the big country Ukraine is. And there were a lot of publications and those were on currency and economic problems. As for our topics, there are many many topics we can concentrate on. I mean, not about climate change, although it’s also an aspect, but I also think about the policy and resources in Europe and in Ukraine. As you know now, this suggestion from Donald Trump on how to exchange resources from Ukraine for assistance sets a very important topic we should discuss because we all combine our resources and our management of what we have to find a good way for the future. As you know, we had many conferences, and in the beginning it was quite complicated to find out about this and many of these results we found out during this time are still to find a way for the integration of Ukraine into the European Union. I wish you all the best and I hope we can continue on this way. Best for you all. Slava Ukraini!
Prof. Dr. Mariusz Sokolowicz: Polish presidency in the EU (lasting till 30th of June 2025) is about SECURITY broadly defined. There are 7 dimesions: 1. Defence and security, 2. Protection of people and borders, 3. Resistance to foreign interference and disinformation, 4. Ensuring security and freedom of business, 5. Energy transition, 6. Competitive and resilient agriculture, 7. Health security. I recommend the JEE can refer also to these dimensions in the publishing policy.
Prof. Dr. Olena Sokhatska: There is an interesting post in the chat by Prof. Mariusz Sokolowicz, our Polish colleague. He wrote “SECURITY” in capital letters. In principle, we are talking about everything, but we are not talking about security. Because the war is going on and will go on for a long time, and I don't quite believe that Putin will agree to Trump's proposals, and we can see for ourselves that these proposals are constantly changing, therefore, the Journal of European Economy should probably also attract authors who look at the formation of European security and the economic levers for achieving this security, even the militarization of the European economy. In principle, during all three years we have been losing the entire European Union to Russia in the production of weapons and new technologies. Moreover, we, and I mean European countries, have so much integrated into Russia and China that we have transferred dual-use technologies to them. That is why there will be a danger of using artificial intelligence in this regard. And so I think that I will support my Polish colleague that this topic should be one of the important topics that we should consider today. We study this aspect very little, although at the Davos Forum 2024, Christiane Lagarde, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, noted that we (that is, the UN and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) allocated resources based on economic efficiency, overlooking security aspects. That is why we have a situation today where the whole axis of evil -- China, Russia, the North Korea, not to mention Iran -- have technologies that they received from countries, including from the EU and the United States. Thus, how can we work with authoritarian regimes today, how can we integrate with them, is also a very serious issue that needs to be studied. And there is very little research in this regard. We think that our journal should, in principle, use this aspect.
Prof. Dr. Christian Thielscher: I just wanted to do a little comment on what you just said and what I couldn’t mention earlier about the speed of the integration. You see, the German unification, the total cost of German unification was of the size of 1.5 to 2.0 trillion euros. And just the capital that flew from the Western part to Eastern Germany was in the size of hundreds of billions of euros. And Ukraine won’t have that amount of cash inflow when it comes to the integration. And that will probably impact the competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy. So what I am trying to say is that the European integration is a great chance for the Ukraine, but is also comes with some risks. And the Polish colleagues here are probably even better to comment on this because they have done integration without being heavily supported by other European countries. So the problem is that whether Ukraine will do the same experience as for example Poland did in the past. So this might be a part of the explanation why it takes so long with integration because you know the European Union sees that there will be some problems for the Ukraine that need to be discussed and mitigated.
Prof. Dr. Eckhart Freyer: On the problem of difficult integration. As you know, Ukraine was integrated for decades in the system of Soviet Union. That is what makes this problem so difficult. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia they disrupted just two days ago from the old energy system. Which is also an aspect of security. Security is not only the aspect of military, and this is now also a main topic in Western Europe, especially the leading German military constructing company Rheinmetal is now working in cooperation with Ukraine because you are also advanced in certain aspects. And I hope we can continue, but we need resistance to overcome all these difficulties. As you mentioned the Duma will decide in two hours for integrating Ukraine into the Russian Federation. And the military coup was a miscalculation. In economic terms it is quite more difficult. That is what I told my friends from the Bundeswehr, from the military, that the economic sanctions will take time. And you see it nowadays in Russia how economic sanctions worked for Soviet normal people in their lives. Therefore, we must be cautious and think in the future. This can take in years and decades discussing on the integration. And I think it will take decades more for complete integration. But I am very convinced, especially because of you and what I have seen, all these talented people, and all the results, I think we can overcome these all, and even these very difficult times. At the moment I hope this war will end soon, and we will assist you in every aspect. What we can do is very limited, but we will do it also. All the best for you!
Meeting participant:
Uliana Korutz, Prof. Dr. Vice-Rector for International Affairs of West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Editor-in-chief:
Yevhen Savelyev, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
First deputy editor:
Mariia Lyzun, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Deputy Editor-in chief:
Vitalina Kurylyak, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., West Ukrainian National University, (Ukraine)
Oleksandr Sharov, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., Institute for economics and forecasting of National Academy of Science of Ukraine, (Ukraine)
Mariusz E. Sokołowicz, Doctor, Assoc. Prof., University of Lodz (Poland)
International scientific council:
Eckhart Freyer, Dr. rer. pol., Prof., Merseburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
Evangelos Siskos, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., Western Macedonia University (Greece)
Members of the editorial board:
Olena Borysiak, D.Sc. (Econ.), Senior lecturer, West Ukrainian National University, (Ukraine)
Olena Bulatova, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., Mariupol State University (Ukraine)
Iryna Chyrak, Ph.D., Associate Professor, West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Laurent Guihery, PhD, Prof., University of Cergy-Pontoise (France)
Ihor Lishchynskyi, D. Sc. (Econ.), Prof., West Ukrainian National University, (Ukraine)
Konrad Obermann, Prof. Dr. med. Dr. rer. pol., Heidelberg University (Germany)
Tetiana Oriekhova, D. Sc. (Econ.), Prof., Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University (Ukraine)
Michael Radin, PhD, Prof., Rochester Institute of Technology (USA)
Olena Sokhatska, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Christian Thielscher, Prof. Dr. med. Dr. rer. pol., FOM University (Germany)
Oksana Tulai, D.Sc. (Econ.), Prof., West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Editorial team:
Tetiana Shpak – translator of JEE, West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Andrii Stravskyy – translator of JEE, West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Olha Humenyuk – manager of JEE, West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
Nataliia Kostetska - manager of JEE, West Ukrainian National University (Ukraine)
