August 18, 06

NEWS / Ukraine not satisfied with observer status in EurAsEC

KIEV, August 18 (Itar-Tass) - Ukraine cannot be satisfied with the status of an observer in the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC). It will step up its advance towards Common Economic Space, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister Nikolai Azarov said in an interview with Itar-Tass.

On the decision of Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, Azarov will represent Ukraine in the High-Level Group on Common Economic Space (CES).

???Ukraine has found itself at the side of integration processes. It is not taking part either in the work for the creation of CES, or in the work of the Eurasian EC, while it is absolutely clear that the plan of integration in EU cannot be put into effect within the coming ten to fifteen years,??? Azarov said. ???Unfortunately, Ukraine attended the summit of the Eurasian EC in Sochi only as an observer, including during the discussion of the problem of stable supply of energy carriers. The observer status is our disadvantage, our mistake.???

In his opinion, ???this list should be overcome. Ukraine is interested in getting advantages from the integration with Russia, which accounts for 35 per cent in its trade turnover, with Belarus, with which trade turnover reached two billion dollars, and with Kazakhstan.??? He stressed that ???the document (Universal), signed by the president and the political parties represented in parliament, which put an end to the political crisis in Ukraine, makes it possible for the country to move towards the creation of Common Economic Space??? with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

???The CES project is the result of Ukraine??™s desire to achieve maximum integration with those countries, which are easy to understand and are close to it by the economic development level, by the degree of economic freedom and democracy,??? Azarov explained.

???Ukraine is now getting back to a reasonable, well-balanced policy. We believe the past two years have been lost for the country from the economic point of view, including from the point of view of integration processes. Unfortunately, the problem of CES and of membership in EurAsEC was politicised to the extreme in Ukraine,??? he added.

Azarov urged not to be afraid of the term of ???supranational body,??? which opponents of CES often use to intimidate the public. ???We discussed the problem during the drafting of the Universal, which mentions the completion of the work on CES. We had a long discussion. Some people believe that a ???supranational body??™ would be at variance with the Constitution and would infringe upon the sovereignty of Ukraine. The thing is that any supranational authority should exist by all means for the settlement of differences. Various names could be given to it, but there is no avoiding it. It could take the form of a four-party commission on the level of deputy prime ministers, actually a four-party intergovernmental commission, whose resolutions would be mandatory for all,??? Azarov said.

Azarov does not believe that the coming joining of the World Trade Organization (WTO) by Russia and Ukraine will become an insurmountable obstacle on the way to the creation of the Customs Union within the CES framework. ???Every country has its own level of customs protection within the WTO framework. On some goods it is higher for Ukraine, and on other goods ??“ for Russia. After we join WTO, we could put into effect a mechanism of compensation for the losses, which every country will sustain during the transportation of its commodities across the common contour of the customs border. The advantages of the WTO membership, which include unification of transport tariffs and of prices of products of natural monopolies, will outweigh the defects anyway,??? he said.

???The talks, held by Prime Ministers Mikhail Fradkov and Viktor Yanukovich during the EurAsEC summit in Sochi, have shown that Ukraine is getting back to a reasonable, well-balance policy, which was pursued in 2003-2004 (during the first term of Yanukovich on the post of prime minister). That time we did not give preference to any of the integration schemes. We realised that the creation of real, effective CES would create new opportunities for our economy. I said the same at a meeting with the U.S. ambassador. My opinion on the issue is clear and frank,??? Azarov stressed.

The EurAsEC rallies Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.


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