Our General Secretary, Yevghen Shulga

We were honored that our General Secretary, Yevghen Shulgha, was invited to address the 2025 Europe Liberty Forum, hosted by Atlas Network in Brussels on May 22-23.

Atlas Network, a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation that supports the development and success of pro-freedom organizations throughout the world, connects with almost 500 think tanks in over 100 countries that drive change in ideas, culture, and policy; remove barriers to opportunities; and empower individuals to live a life of choice.

This major gathering brought together economists, policymakers, and leaders committed to advancing economic freedom, individual liberty, and open markets across Europe.

Yevghen Shulgha shared key insights from Ukraine’s Price of the State project, an initiative aimed at making economic policy accessible to everyday citizens. He emphasized the core challenge that even many policymakers struggle to understand basic economic concepts. His proposed rule was simple: always explain economics as if your audience were “a grandma from a village,” avoiding jargon, abstract statistics, and complex logic.

He presented several successful communication tools from the project: visual aids like the Price of the State Calculator and Sankey charts, relatable analogies such as the “$1,500 sandwich” to explain trade, and interactive tools like the Customs Meter Game. These approaches work because they simplify, visualize, and humanize abstract data—translating macroeconomic indicators into real-life impact, such as days of labor or years of development lost. By using surprise, humor, and intuitive comparisons, economic literacy can become not only achievable, but engaging for all.

At a time when Europe confronts new economic and geopolitical pressures, his perspective contribute vital ideas on how to foster growth, innovation and freedom in challenging environments in line with the 500+ member organizations’ commitment to build a freer and more prosperous future for all.