Prof., Dr. hab. Evheniia Bulat
The statement of the problem. At the present stage, Ukraine has found itself in extremely difficult conditions due to the war that was unleashed by Russia. This war is still under way, and its consequences have not been slow to affect all spheres of life in Ukrainian society. The sustainable development of the national economy, its further prosperity and competitive performance in the market of innovations are ensured by intellectual and human potential. Ukraine has always had a competitive human resource capable of competing and creating the best scientific achievements and intellectual investments. At the same time, as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainian society and human potential have suffered the greatest losses. Therefore, one of the most crucial and important questions facing the State is the need to preserve human potential of Ukraine and determine the most effective mechanism for assessing reparations for the loss of intellectual potential in our country due to the full-scale Russian aggression.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The study of human potential in various aspects has been the object of thorough investigation conducted by the researchers such as Yu.S. Zaloznova, N.A. Azmuk, S.M. Bortnik, O.A. Hrishnova, O.Sh. Riabchuk, O.Yu. Samborska, Charles Shymanski, Michael I. Korte, Richard Buxbaum, Scott R. Anderson, Chimene Keitner, Won Kidane and others.
Emphasizing of previously unsolved part of the general problem. At the current stage, there are effective international mechanisms that are applied in terms of compensation for damages and reparations for infrastructure facilities, buildings and material objects that have suffered damage and, moreover, complete demolition. However, the mechanism for assessing and determining the size of reparations for lost scientific and intellectual potential remains uncertain today and requires further investigation.
Presentation of the main research material. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of June 21, 2023, 8,177,000 Ukrainian citizens were abroad. Compared to the data as of February 1, 2023, i.e. in less than 5 months, this number has increased by almost 188,000 people. This number continues to grow steadily.
The development of demographic changes and processes has always been relevant for Ukraine and has been discussed at various levels of government since gaining independence. In 1991, optimistic advertising slogans, which indicated that there were 52 million Ukrainians, even then were somewhat far from the reality. This was due to many factors, including not only difficult socio-economic situation in the country at that time, but also a low birth rate, mass emigration of the population, particularly young people, and an extremely high mortality rate. This continued for a long period of time, and it was not long before these processes prompted a demographic crisis in Ukraine. Today, our country is facing another disaster, namely a full-scale Russian invasion. According to the experts, the full-scale Russian invasion accelerated depopulation and caused a real demographic catastrophe: tens of thousands of dead and wounded, millions of internally displaced persons and emigrants 2.
According to the politician Musa Mahomedov: “There is no precedent in the world history for compensating the loss of human potential. Ukraine has lost the most of it in this regard: there are nearly 10 million people, who left the country due to the war, died because of attacks and so on. Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction will take from two to five years. However, it could take decades for the human potential of Ukraine to recover”.
Today, under conditions of ongoing war, Ukraine sustains terrible losses due to the devastated infrastructure. Thus, as of June 2023, the total amount of direct documented damage inflicted upon the infrastructure of Ukraine due to the full-scale invasion by Russia is estimated at 150.5 billion dollars. According to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), this figure also includes the damages to infrastructure caused by destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station by Russia in June of this year. Besides, according to the experts, the second highest sum of losses is attributed to the sphere of infrastructure, in particular, transportation infrastructure, railway infrastructure, road facilities, aviation industry and port industry, totaling 36.6 billion dollars.
Substantial losses of business assets are estimated at 11.4 billion dollars. It is emphasized that since the beginning of the war, at least 426 large and medium-sized private enterprises and state-owned companies have been damaged or destroyed. However, the number of destroyed enterprises may be significantly higher, because there is currently no information about facilities located in the temporarily occupied territories. Documented direct losses from the destruction of educational institutions amount to 9.7 billion dollars5. In total, as a result of hostilities, almost 3,400 educational institutions have already been damaged . And as the war continues, the damage will mount. In total, over 163 thousand residential buildings have been damaged. The total area of damaged or destroyed real estate objects is 87 million square meters, which is 8.6% of the total area6.
Along with such spheres of life as the economy, industry, agriculture, healthcare and trade, the field of science has also experienced significant and devastating changes.
The full-scale war turned out to be a cruel blow and challenge for the Ukrainian science. It is largely related to the inability of Ukrainian researchers to continue their scientific researches within Ukraine in full measure.
Since the beginning of the war up until the present day, many scientists have fled abroad to escape from the war. Statistical data show that currently, about 6,000 scientists stay outside Ukraine. In particular, according to an online survey conducted by the Science Park of the Kyiv Academic University of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, almost half of the scientists, namely 38.1% stay in Ukraine, but they have changed their place of residence. Currently, 14.6% of scientists stay abroad. Among those who are abroad, a significant portion is in Germany (26.8%) and in Poland (25.1%).
Young people were also forced to leave the country because of the war. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Education and Science, out of the total number of those who were forced to leave abroad, 2.5 million people are school-age children and students . The level of outflow of young people is evidenced by the following data: in 2020-2021, the number of university students amounted to 1.1 million, the number of students in vocational education amounted to 0.17 million, including students of vocational and technical institutions totaling 0.25 million. The submitted data suggest a threat of potential loss of about 40% of the students and school-age children, which represent the intellectual and labor potential of the country .
Based on expert estimates, not less than 10% of active scientists, who were working until February 24, will not return to Ukraine. Moreover, this figure could be significantly higher in the final analysis. Among the scientists who chose to fight on the front lines, some have not returned, and a certain number have lost their homes and families. Another part was forced to evacuate abroad due to inability to work, because their workplaces were damaged, destroyed or rendered inoperable.
According to the data from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, as of the end of May 2023, 3,267 institutions in Ukraine were partially damaged due to bombing and shelling by Russian forces. Among them, 261 were completely destroyed. The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has even introduced a specific term “scienticide” to describe the consequences of the aggressor’s actions and accused Russia of the “willful destruction of science in Ukraine” 7.
Ukraine has always been rich in talented, gifted and intellectually brilliant human capital. In 2022, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) jointly with Cornell University and INSEAD, a leading global business school, published the annual report and Global Innovation
Index titled “What is the future of innovation-driven growth?” The report ranks 132 countries based on their innovation performance and capabilities using 80 indicators across 7 domains. In 2021, Ukraine was ranked 49th among 132 countries and 32nd among 39 European countries. In 2021, 19 economies showed the best innovation results (knowledge, technological results and creative output) compared to their innovation resources (infrastructure, institutions, market sophistication, business complexity, human capital and research) – these are the so-called countries of innovation success. Ukraine was included in this group as well.
The intellectual property serves as a clear indicator of future economic development and is one of the links on the way from research and development to the creation of innovations.
Intellectual property is also a social and legal component that ensures successful functioning of the innovation policy of any State and defines the main directions of its further development. All over the world, intellectual property is a subject of civil circulation. The demand for intellectual property, due to its significant importance and especially results of intellectual activity for the socio-economic development of any society, is constantly growing. The issues of proper protection and use of the results of intellectual activity play a crucial role in the scientific, entrepreneurial and other activities of enterprises and institutions in our country. After all, the economic advantages in the most highly developed countries in the world are formed precisely through effective and efficient legal protection of intellectual property.
Rapid economic development and prosperity can be observed among the countries that have chosen the innovation-based development and have identified the proper development and support of results of intellectual activity as one of top-priority goals. In Ukraine, there has also been a tendency towards comprehensive protection and defense of the results of intellectual activity and intellectual property objects created by scientists and researchers in Ukraine. For example, on the eve of the war, in 2020, 46,000 applications were submitted, and 30,300 intellectual property objects were registered. In 2022, due to active military actions, the number of applications for the issuance of protection documents based on the results of the research and development work performed at the expense of the general fund decreased by 33.9% compared to 2021, accounting for 78.6% of the total number of submitted applications for protection documents.
One of the key issues today is the question of reparations and the size of such reparations for the damages inflicted on Ukraine due to the Russian aggression. The amount of direct damages from the aggression is determined and precisely known. However, the thumping damages from the loss of intellectual potential and renowned academic institutions, as well as the loss of scientists, scientific elite and talented youth, remain unaddressed.
For many years, Ukraine has invested huge amounts of resources in creating a powerful scientific foundation, including academic institutions, doctors and candidates of sciences, talented young researchers, who enriched Ukrainian science and the entire scientific community with their achievements.
In the future, the outflow of scientific and intellectual potential abroad may complicate the post-war reconstruction of the country in the context of scientific achievements. The issue of losing human and intellectual potential remains quite serious, particularly in terms of applicants, entrepreneurs, inventors and authors of scientific discoveries, who were capable of proposing new technical and technological solutions that constituted a significant portion of innovations and intangible assets in Ukraine. Moreover, there are also significant indirect losses incurred by the country due to the loss of intellectual property, in particular, receiving less business earnings than due by entrepreneurs and startup creators, because a certain portion of business found itself in a situation of partial or complete loss of demand for goods and services because of changing values. As a consequence, it is impossible to fully utilize the intellectual and creative potential of human capital due to the military activities in the territory of Ukraine.
The given analysis indicates that the amount of damages caused by the loss of intellectual and human potential due to the military actions may even exceed the amount of damages due to the loss of industrial and social infrastructure. Therefore, the amount of damages related to intangible
assets and the value of title in intellectual property, should be included as a component of indirect losses when calculating reparations.
Summaries. Thus, the current state of the problem was determined indicating the need to develop a mechanism for assessing and determining the amount of reparations for the lost scientific and intellectual potential, which takes on particular significance during the war. At the same time, the assessment of the scale of Ukraine’s lost scientific and intellectual potential remains uncertain today. In the future, it will be necessary to develop a mechanism for determining the amount of damages from the loss of intellectual potential, as well as the legal aspects of its determination when calculating the amount of reparations.
References:
1. Civic support network. The number of Ukrainians and their migration abroad due to the war. URL: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-ato/3732355-kilkist-ukrainciv-ta-ih-migracia-za-kordon-cerez-vijnu.html. Date of access: September, 07, 2023.
2. Musa Mahomedov. Reparations, Compensation and Satisfaction: What will be the aggressor’s responsibility for the war in Ukraine. URL: https://interfax.com.ua/news/blog/885884.html. Date of access: August 31, 2023.
3. Demolition of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station: a tragedy that will impact the agriculture in the south and throughout Ukraine. Ukrinform. URL: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-economy/3721075-pidriv-kahovskoi-ges-tragedia-aka-zminit-silske-gospodarstvo-pivdna-ta-vsiei-ukraini.html. Date of access: August 03, 2023.
4. The total amount of damages to Ukraine exceeded USD 150 billion (KSE Institute). Ukrinform. URL: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-economy/3743725-zagalna-suma-zbitkiv-infrastrukturi-ukraini-vid-vijni-perevisila-150-milardiv-kse.html. Date of access: July 10, 2023.
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Abstract
The article is concerned with the question of necessity of determining the mechanism for assessing reparations for the loss of intellectual potential of Ukraine. It has been established that during the full-scale Russian invasion, our State suffered significant losses. As a result of the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian society and human potential have incurred the greatest losses. Thus, one of the key issues today is the question of proper determination of the amount of such losses. The amount of direct damages from the military actions is determined and precisely known. However, the thumping damages from the loss of intellectual potential and renowned academic institutions, as well as the loss of scientists, scientific elite and talented youth, remain unaddressed. For many years, Ukraine invested huge amounts of resources in creating a powerful scientific foundation, including academic institutions, doctors and candidates of sciences, talented young researchers and scientists, who enriched Ukrainian science and the entire scientific community with their achievements. Therefore, the outflow of scientific and intellectual potential abroad in the future will complicate the post-war reconstruction of the country in the context of scientific achievements.
It is also determined that there are significant indirect losses incurred by the country due to the loss of intellectual property, because the economic advantages in the most highly developed countries in the world are formed precisely through effective and efficient legal protection of intellectual property. Rapid economic development and prosperity can be observed among the countries that have chosen the innovation-based development and have identified the proper development and support of results of intellectual activity as one of top-priority goals.
In Ukraine, there has also been a tendency towards comprehensive protection and defense of the results of intellectual activity and intellectual property objects created by scientists and researchers in Ukraine before the war. However, today this positive trend is disrupted due to the war, and entrepreneurs and startup creators are receiving less business earnings than due, because a certain portion of business found itself in a situation of partial or complete loss of demand for goods and services because of changing values. As a consequence, it is impossible to fully utilize the intellectual and creative potential due to the military activities in the territory of Ukraine.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop a mechanism for determining the amount of damages from the loss of intellectual potential, as well as the legal aspects of its determination when calculating the amount of reparations.
Keywords: reparations, intellectual potential, mechanism for payment of reparations, intellectual property, human resources, scientific achievements, intellectual investments.
Streszczenie
Artykuł dotyczy kwestii konieczności ustalenia oceny mechanizmu reparacyjnego z powodu utraconego potencjału intelektualnego Ukrainy. Ustalono, że w trakcie pełnowymiarowej rosyjskiej inwazji nasze państwo poniosło znaczne straty. W wyniku pełnowymiarowej agresji Rosji przeciwko Ukrainie samo społeczeństwo ukraińskie, jego potencjał ludzki poniósł największe straty. Jednym z kluczowych pytań dzisiaj jest kwestia należytego ustalenia wielkości takich szkód. Wielkość bezpośrednich strat wskutek działań wojennych jest ustalana i znana. Jednak poza oceną pozostają kolosalne straty w związku z utratą potencjału intelektualnego, znanych szkół naukowych, naukowców, elity naukowej oraz utalentowanej młodzieży. Przez wiele lat Ukraina dokonywała ogromnych inwestycji w celu tworzenia potężnej warstwy naukowej, szkół naukowych, promowania doktorów habilitowanych i doktorów nauk, utalentowanej młodej kadry naukowej, badaczy, którzy swoim dorobkiem wzbogacili ukraińską naukę i cały świat naukowy. Dlatego odpływ potencjału naukowego i intelektualnego za granice w przyszłości skomplikuje powojenny rozwój kraju w kontekście osiągnięć naukowych. Ustalono, że ogromne straty pośrednie ponosi także państwo w wyniku utraty własności intelektualnej, przecież korzyści gospodarcze w większości wysoko rozwiniętych krajów świata powstają właśnie kosztem efektywnej i sprawnej ochrony prawnej własności intelektualnej. Wśród krajów, które wybrały innowacyjny kierunek rozwoju, określając jako jeden z priorytetów należyty rozwój i wsparcie dla wyników własności intelektualnej, można zaobserwować szybki rozwój gospodarczy i dobrobyt. W Ukrainie też istniała tendencja kompleksowej ochrony wyników działalności intelektualnej oraz podmiotów własności intelektualnej utworzonych przed wojna przez naukowców i badaczy w Ukrainie.
Obecnie w wyniku wojny wymieniona pozytywna tendencja została naruszona i w tym obszarze ma miejsce brak dochodów z działalności przedsiębiorców i start-upów, ponieważ istotna część biznesu wskutek zmiany wartości znalazła się w sytuacji częściowej lub całkowitej utraty popytu na swoje towary i usługi. Skutkiem stała się niemożliwość pełnego wykorzystania intelektualnego i twórczego potencjału w wyniku działań wojennych na terytorium Ukrainy.
Dlatego konieczne jest opracowanie mechanizmu ustalania wysokości odszkodowania z tytułu poniesionych strat potencjału intelektualnego, a także jego zasad prawnych w trakcie obliczeń wysokości odszkodowań.
Słowa kluczowe: reparacje, potencjał intelektualny, mechanizm wypłaty reparacji, własność intelektualna, zasoby ludzkie, osiągnięcia naukowe, inwestycje intelektualne.
