KSE Institute

KSE Institute is a policy and research centre at the Kyiv School of Economics. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its teams have produced sanctions analysis, corporate trackers, macroeconomic data and war-damage estimates. It is not a Ukrainian government agency or sanctions authority, and its classifications have no independent legal effect.

Institutional and project boundaries

KSE Institute is organisationally distinct from the Kyiv School of Economics as a whole, the Government of Ukraine and external expert groups. Its staff contribute research and advice to public-policy processes, including work associated with the Yermak-McFaul Group. That relationship does not make the institute the author of every group paper or the implementing authority for a recommendation.

The KSE Sanctions project assembles analysis and data products related to sanctions on Russia. Current team composition, governance, sponsorship and advisory relationships require a publication-day check. Living researchers' claims should be attributed to the named paper or project.

Trackers and methods

The Leave Russia database classifies companies according to announced and observed activity in Russia. Its categories depend on the project's methodology, evidence links and update process. A KSE classification is not a court finding, sanctions determination or proof that a company completed a sale, exit or divestment.

Russia Chartbook provides macroeconomic and sectoral analysis using official and alternative data. Releases must be identified by version and vintage. Estimates of oil revenues, war damage or sanctions effects depend on assumptions, missing data and revisions. Descriptive changes do not establish causal effects without an appropriate design.

Statecraft significance and limits

KSE Institute belongs in context because research organisations can improve coalition information, identify implementation gaps and shape public debate. Its work can support resilience and denial strategies by translating data into policy recommendations.

Comprehensiveness, independence, policy influence and sanctions effectiveness remain qualified. Company labels require the database definition, date and supporting link, with a material response where available. Dynamic records should be exported at the time of citation. Legal sanctions status must be verified against the competent government's list.

See also

International Working Group on Russian Sanctions (Yermak-McFaul Group) · Russian oil-trade shadow fleet under post-2022 price-cap controls (2022-present) · G7 oil price cap and EU embargo on Russian oil (2022-present) · Oil price cap · Corporate withdrawal and private self-sanctioning in Russia (2022-2023) · Economic Kill Chain (EKC)

Sources

• Kyiv School of Economics, 'KSE Institute', current institutional description and team, checked 29 July 2026.
• KSE Institute, 'KSE Sanctions: About the Project', current role and products.
• KSE Institute, 'Leave Russia', live database, methodology and feedback process, checked 29 July 2026.
• KSE Institute, 'Russia Chartbook', current releases and methods.
• KSE Institute, 2024 Annual Report (2025).
• Oleg Itskhoki and Elina Ribakova, 'The Economics of Sanctions: From Theory into Practice', Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2024).