Team
Dominic Culverwell photo

Dominic Culverwell

Business Reporter

Dominic is the business reporter for the Kyiv Independent, reporting on Ukrainian companies, investment, energy, corruption, and reforms. Based in Kyiv, Dominic joined the Kyiv Independent team in 2023, having previously worked as a freelancer. He has written articles for a number of publications, including the Financial Times, bne IntelliNews, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, Euronews and New Eastern Europe. Previously, Dominic worked with StopFake as a disinformation expert, debunking Russian fake news in Europe.

For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Exclusive: Inside the years-long scheme to turn a nationalized bank into Zelensky allies’ 'piggy bank'

by Dominic Culverwell
Key findings: * A Ukrainian state-owned bank, seized from a Russian owner in 2023, was allegedly turned into a tool for insider corruption. * A senior aide to President  Volodymyr Zelensky, Iryna Mudra, pressed to install a favored, conflicted candidate on the bank's oversight board. * Two officials who vetted him warned he had ties to a previous bank failure and a conflict of interest, but he was appointed anyway. * The bank's rushed, low-scrutiny nationalization made it easier to quietly

Ukraine wants foreign investors to buy its state assets. So far, they’re not biting

by Dominic Culverwell
Subscribe to the Newsletter Ukraine Business Roundup Subscribe Ukraine's government wants to sell thousands of state-owned assets that are overwhelmingly unprofitable, inefficient, or nonoperational — sometimes all three. But it's facing a problem. Low prices aren’t enough to attract the foreign investors Ukraine wants most, particularly those from Europe. As Ukraine positions itself as an investment opportunity rather than a charity case to foreign partners, the country's State P

Ukraine faces race against time as Russia chokes Black Sea ports

by Dominic Culverwell
Smoke billowing over the Black Sea is now an everyday sight in Odesa Oblast as Russia continues to strike ports and vessels in Ukrainian waters. But it’s on land that the impact of Russia’s campaign is most keenly felt, with Ukraine facing an economic crisis unless the country finds a solution soon. The biggest victims are Ukraine’s agricultural and steel firms — both key economic drivers — which are cut off from crucial trading routes via the Black Sea. Ukraine could lose 1%-1.5% of its gross