An independent Ukraine: Sustainable or unsustainable development?

In this paper the current problems of socio-economic development, such as population loss, public health, and others, in independent Ukraine are presented and analyzed. Their main causes are identified as follows: extensive type of economic development, absence of the clear, sustainable goals and appropriate programs, high level of corruption, general socio-cultural (moral) crisis, passive civil position of society, lack of democracy, and inadequacy of institutions, for example, the higher education system. The contemporary problems of social capital development and inefficiency of science and higher education institutions in Ukraine are examined.