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Luca Léry Moffat photo

Luca Léry Moffat

Economics reporter

Luca is the economics reporter for the Kyiv Independent. He was previously a research analyst at Bruegel, a Brussels-based economics think tank, where he worked on Russia and Ukraine, trade, industrial policy, and environmental policy. Luca also worked as a data analyst at Work-in-Data, a Geneva-based research center focused on global inequality, and as a research assistant at the Economic Policy Research Center in Kampala, Uganda. He holds a BA honors degree in economics and Russian from McGill University. Luca is originally from the UK.

l.moffat@kyivindependent.com
For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Business

Iran war effect on oil prices hits Ukrainians at the pumps

by Luca Léry Moffat, Dominic Culverwell
The Iran war is hitting Ukrainians at the pump, as rising global energy prices ripple through the war-battered economy that is only just emerging from an energy crisis and significant bout of inflation. Diesel prices hit $1.64 a liter on March 9, according to Ukrainian fuel market analyst group A-95 Consulting, a 16% climb compared with one month prior. Petrol prices rose by 12% in the same period. "I’ve been working in this market for 25 years, and I don’t remember prices rising this fast," S
KSE ProfTech students attend welding training classes at the KSE ProfTech facility in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2026.
Business

'Tinder for the labor market' — How Ukraine is trying to fix a critical shortage

by Luca Léry Moffat, Dominic Culverwell
Since Dmytro Volynets studied mechanical engineering at university over a decade ago, he's worked in retail, call centers, and on a warehouse floor. Unable to join the army due to a spine injury, the 35-year-old has struggled to find a coherent career path related to his studies — even as several industries offering high paying jobs face labour shortages. In large part because of Russia's full-scale invasion, Volynets' story is typical right now in Ukraine — despite possessing some of the high
Russia lost more territory than it gained in February.
War

Chart of the week: Russia lost more territory than it gained for the first time since 2023

by Francis Farrell, Luca Léry Moffat
Russia lost more territory than it gained in February for the first time since Ukraine's failed counteroffensive in 2023, according to independent Finnish open-source intelligence collective Black Bird Group. Russia lost 37 km² on balance last month, causing the total area of Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia to modestly drop to 118,917 km², according to the group’s analysis. The independent assessment comes after Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi also claimed on March 2 that
An employee counts trays of bread at the bread factory near Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 25, 2022.
Business

Reporter's notebook: What a factory says about Ukraine’s economy

by Luca Léry Moffat
The western part of war-torn Ukraine lies in the space between normalcy and reality. More tourists, more construction, more skiing. Fewer air raids, fewer blackouts, fewer speeding khaki pickup trucks. But no part of the country is immune to the effects of war. A local library hangs photographs of young men and women killed in action. Graveyards fly blue and yellow. Brigades advertise jobs on large billboards lining the highway. Driving past a small, unremarkable two-story building, my guide
Damage and recovery needs in Ukraine.
Business

Chart of the week: Ukraine's reconstruction needs rise 12% to $588 billion

by Luca Léry Moffat
The total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine is $588 billion, the World Bank said in a new report published Feb. 23, as Russia's full-scale invasion enters its fifth year. Housing, transport, and energy sectors are most affected, with the total needs amounting to almost three times Ukraine's entire gross domestic product — $210 billion in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund. The sum needed for reconstruction in those sectors covers damage caused in the 46 months from
Business

Klaas Knot: Gloom and doom on Europe's future is overblown

by Luca Léry Moffat
Editor's note: Klaas Knot and Olaf Sleijpen visited Ukraine as part of a Dutch delegation invited by the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pishnyy. The gloom and doom on Europe's future is overblown, says the frontrunner to succeed Christine Lagarde as head of the European Central Bank — but still, says Klaas Knot, the continent has unfinished business if it wants to reach its potential. Speaking in Kyiv at the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in a double interview with the curren
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko attends a session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 17, 2025.
Politics

Exclusive: Mounting concern in Brussels over Ukraine’s reform backslide

by Luca Léry Moffat, Kateryna Denisova
As Ukraine pushes for a fast-tracked entry to the EU, senior European officials say they are worried about progress on key reforms needed to secure the country’s European aspirations. Ukraine failed to complete 11 reforms in the last three months of 2025 required to unlock European funds, according to RRR4U, a consortium of Ukrainian think tanks, and is on track to miss more reforms in the first three months of 2026 — putting a total of five billion euros ($5.8 billion) of EU funding at risk.

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