In the second quarter of this year the Ukrainian economy grew by 1.3%, year-on-year; retail-sales numbers out today are expected to be strong too. Some growth was inevitable following the country’s war-induced slump in 2015, when the economy shrivelled by a tenth. Still, Ukrainians will be pleased that growth is stronger than in Russia, where second-quarter GDP shrank by 0.6%. The worry is that macroeconomic stability will ease pressure on the government to reform Ukraine’s horribly corrupt economy. The government has delayed an “e-declaration” system for state officials, designed to expose kickbacks. Ukraine is still formally in an IMF bail-out programme, but has not received a disbursement from the fund for more than a year. The risk that the country will lose Western institutional support, coupled with Russia’s ongoing antics in Crimea, has caused the hryvnia to slide against the dollar in recent days. Ukraine’s economic woes are likely to continue.