Purpose: To determine the impact of changes in tax burden in Ukraine on the country’s economic freedom. Methodology: The study applies qualitative methods for historical analysis, periodization of reforms, and classification of their key priorities and influences. Quantitative methods are applied to compare tax burden (tax-to-GDP ratio) in Ukraine and OECD countries. The overall success and failure of tax reforms was measured by the index of economic freedom, including its component, the index of tax burden (fiscal freedom). The first hypothesis suggested that a reduction in tax burden positively impacted the level of economic freedom in Ukraine; the second hypothesis stated that a reduction in tax burden positively affected the fiscal freedom of Ukraine. Regressions in average tax burden and the index of economic freedom, including the index of tax burden, were built in R software. Findings: Regression analysis did not confirm the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis was confirmed. Reduced tax burden does not affect the level of economic freedom of Ukraine. This is explained by the slow progress of institutional reforms in Ukraine. The reduction of tax burden has a significant positive impact on the level of fiscal freedom. Practical Implications: The results obtained have practical relevance for the elaboration of fiscal policies in developing countries, in accordance with the country’s economic and political development priorities. Research Limitations/Implications: Future research will include a more in-depth comparative analysis of tax reforms in Ukraine, focusing on the key taxes.

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Government bureaucracy efficiency, and its attending cost for society, is one of the gravest issues currently facing Ukraine. The low efficiency of Ukrainian government bureaucracy is caused by a merger of bureaucracy, political power, and large, manipulating business interests. As a result, Ukraine faces a significantly depressed economy, a high level of corruption, low property rights protection, and a pervasive lack of trust in the government in general. In order to understand the true costs and benefits of government bureaucracy for the Ukrainian society, a methodology of calculating bureaucracy specifically for Ukraine was developed. Previously unused indicators were added to provide greater accuracy. The inefficiency of Ukrainian government bureaucracy was determined categorically. Paths to the improvement of Ukrainian government bureaucracy efficiency were suggested.

The development of higher education is characterized by new priorities, which necessitates the adjustment of higher education funding mechanisms in response to new challenges. The purpose of this article is to identify these key challenges in Ukraine and justify the possibilities to face them. The analysis of funding of higher education was conducted based on macroeconomic indicators for 2005 to 2020. It is also reviewed that financing of higher education in Ukraine is characterized by decentralization and diversification, which are characterized by an increase in the share of local budgets in the structure of higher education funding in Ukraine and the use of extra-budgetary sources of funding, in the form of tuition fees. The analysis has revealed the following key challenges of financing higher education: massification of higher education, which is characterized by the triad of "high availability - low price - low quality"; change in approaches to educational activities and decrease in the number of students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; inefficient model of financing higher education, which results in producing specialists with higher education that do not meet the needs and demands of the labor market. Overcoming the identified challenges can be achieved through reforming higher education models by aligning the structure, scope and quality of training with the needs of the economy and labour market, and its financing, through changing the cost-based approach to financing by results. This, in turn, would help align budget funding with institutional efficiency and curriculum effectiveness, and reduce the number of unclaimed specialists with higher education.