- Title: UKRAINE: UKRAINE PLEDGES TO CREATE CONDITIONS FOR INVESTMENT
- Date: 16th June 2005
- Summary: (BN15) KIEV, UKRAINE (JUNE 16, 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV OF EXTERIOR OF "EXTRAORDINARY UKRAINE ROUND TABLE" WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM VENUE 0.05 2. SV UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO AND WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN KLAUS SCHWAB ARRIVING AT FORUM 0.10 3. SLV GEORGIAN PRESIDENT MIKHAEIL SAAKASHVILI ARRIVING AT FORUM 0.13 4. LV OF PLENARY HALL WITH HEADS OF STATES 0.19 5. CU WEF LOGO 0.25 6. LV OF PLENARY HALL WITH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO GOING TO DELIVER SPEECH 0.32 7. MCU (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO, SAYING: "We are ready to open our doors as widely as possible to investors. The Ukrainian elephant has awakened. And once it gets its investment strength, there will be no stopping it." 0.44 8. LV OF THE HALL 0.50 9. MCU (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO, SAYING: "There will be no turning back with legislation on privatisation. There will be no reprivatisation in Ukraine." 0.59 10. LV VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO TAKES HIS SEAT 1.08 11. SV AUDIENCE AND MEDIA 1.12 12. PAN ROUND TABLE PARTICIPANTS PAN JOAQUIN ALMUNIA, COMMISSIONER, ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, BRUSSELS; ALEKSANDER KWASNIEWSKI, PRESIDENT OF POLAND; GEORGIAN PRESIDENT MIKHAEIL SAAKASHVILI; UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO; ILKHAM ALIYEV, PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN; ARNOLD RUUTEL, PRESIDENT OF ESTONIA; VLADIMIR VORONIN, PRESIDENT OF MOLDOVA; KLAUS SCHWAB WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN 1.29 13. LV OF PLENARY HALL 1.33 14. SV (English) ALEKSANDER KWASNIEWSKI, PRESIDENT OF POLAND, SAYING: "When I see the atmosphere in some European countries, especially among founders of the European Union, -- France, Germany, Holland, -- and the atmosphere in our countries, the new members of the European Union, the difference is such that the founders are like people after 50 years of marriage. And we are still in love with Europe, with some European values, with some European projects. And that is the crucial difference" 2.03 15. LV OF HALL WITH PARTICIPANTS STANDING UP 2.08 16. SV/LV OF HEADS OF STATES LEAVING THE HALL (2 SHOTS) 2.18 17. SLV/MCU OF CEREMONIAL HALL IN MARIINSKI PALACE IN KIEV, WITH UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER VOLODYMYR LYTVYN AND UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER YULIA TYMOSHENKO SIGNING MEMORANDUM ON PROTECTING PROPERTY RIGHTS (2 SHOTS) 2.30 18. SLV UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO SIGNING THE DOCUMENT 2.46 19. LV OF HALL 2.50 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st July 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KIEV, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Reuters ID: LVA9U7FXXD2AYGYPW5GZSQOXIHNJ
- Story Text: Ukraine pledges to create conditions for investment.
Ukraine's new leaders, under pressure to make good
on reforms promised during the "Orange Revolution", pledged
on Thursday to create proper conditions for investment and
allayed concerns about overturning privatisation.
President Viktor Yushchenko, standing alongside the
prime minister he has criticised in recent weeks, signed a
memorandum guaranteeing property rights, a move intended to
end uncertainty over privatisations inhibiting investment
in ex-Soviet Ukraine.
Addressing a World Economic Forum roundtable, he
pledged to speed up reforms later in the year so that every Ukrainian
m
ight feel the benefits pledged during weeks of
mass protests that helped win his election last December.
Analysts say rows over which privatisations are to be
subject to review are harming investment prospects. They
also express concern, as the government warily eyes a
parliamentary election next March, over slowing growth and
rising spending. "We set ourselves a task for 2005 for
every Ukrainian to feel progress. We want to see the
democratic revolution bringing fruits to every individual,"
said Yushchenko, flanked by six presidents of ex-Soviet and
Central European states.
"The task for the second half of the year is to
kick-start reforms. The next year will become the peak of
reforms."
He predicted healthy, but reduced, 2005 growth of seven
to eight percent and a positive trade balance, proof that
Ukraine had policies "able to guarantee conditions for
business, both domestic and foreign, to function properly".
Privatisation, the issue which has spooked most
investors, would "be continued and pursued more actively".
"The Ukrainian elephant has awakened," he said. "And
once it gets its investment strength, there will be no
stopping it."
Earlier, the president and Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko signed the memorandum enshrining post-Soviet
property rights. Tymoshenko said it ensured moves on
property would be undertaken "in accordance with the
constitution, laws and court rulings".
One of her deputy prime ministers said plans to publish
a hit-list of privatisations to go under review had been
dropped and the process would be taken out of politics and
put into the hands of the courts.
"How can you publish a list of enterprises if it is a
court's decision?," Oleh Rybachuk said. He described
uncertainty over sell-offs as "the question which concerns
most investors."
The most prominent case concerns the giant
Kryvorizhstal steel mill, sold last year to investors
linked to Kuchma's administration for less than rival
offers.
Ukraine's new leadership has repeatedly set apart the
case, describing it as "theft". Tymoshenko has called for a
tender for a new privatisation by the end of the year and
made clear that decision was not open to question.
"There is already a court ruling. This is a clear
ruling that the privatisation was illegal," she told
reporters. "There can be no out-of-court settlement. I know
of no other way than conducting a new, open privatisation
auction."
Also attending the forum were the presidents of
ex-Soviet Georgia and Moldova, both committed to European
integration, and the president of Poland, Ukraine's chief
ally in Brussels.
Yushchenko has linked virtually every policy decision
to whether it furthers a long-term plan to join the
European Union. The EU has backed an action plan calling
for an overhaul of legislation, but has given no promises
on membership.
Analysts say the economic outlook has deteriorated.
"Ukraine's economic performance is now far less rosy
than it was prior to the election-related instability in Q4
2004," Credit Suisse-First Boston said in a report this
week.
Yushchenko gave Tymoshenko a dressing down last month
after her attempts to cap fuel prices prompted Russian
companies to halt supplies and created long queues at the
petrol pump.
But polls show 80 percent backing for the premier,
whose moves have included big pension and public sector pay
rises.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
