The
Ukrainian businesses' representative office which opened in Brussels on April
21 has joined the process of searching for business partners, investors, and
markets for domestic entrepreneurs. This is extremely important as it is being
carried out before the establishment of a free trade area between Ukraine and
the European Union (EU), which will become effective as of January 1, 2016. The
creation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU is
the peak of the Ukrainian economy's approach to Europe. The implementation of
this procedure will in many aspects influence further economic development and,
possibly, even the country's future.
"Ukraine should fulfill its 'home task' with more
responsibility to streamline its economy with the conditions of the Association
Agreement with the EU, and increase the influence of civil society on the
quality and dynamics of structural reforms in the country. We will suggest
focusing on the development of the industrial sphere as well as small- and medium-sized
businesses, which are the backbone of the economy, create jobs, and generate
tax revenues for the national budget. It's of paramount importance under the
conditions of economic crisis and before the changes Ukrainian enterprises will
face following the full inauguration of the DCFTA between Ukraine and the EU
next year," ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh said.
Today, Ukraine has to speed up the adaptation of its
legislation to free trade conditions with the EU. Some tasks have been realized
in this direction – three bills (on standardization, metrology, and technical
regulations) were adopted to overcome technical barriers, and two more (on food
safety and animal identification) were passed to eliminate biosecurity
obstacles. However, Ukraine should speed up the introduction of EU technical
and sanitary standards, mutual recognition of certificates of conformity for
products, and the harmonization of tax legislation with EU norms and
regulations. Also, Ukraine continues to have very complicated and long
standardization and certification procedures.
Complicated preparations of the economy for DCFTA
conditions and European integration in general require clearly organized
infrastructure and good management. However, Ukraine is still without a deputy
prime minister for European integration to whom a relevant government office
should be subordinated.
The ULIE Office is developing cooperation with all of
the EU institutions – the European Parliament (EP), the European Commission
(EC), the External Action Service, etc. – in order to intensify the European
integration process. Its relations with BUSINESSEUROPE – the leading EU
organization of entrepreneurs and employers including more than 40 national
entrepreneurs' associations of the Old World, are also very important.
The ULIE Office is planning to include the Ukrainian
side in talks on the possible revision of the EU Neighborhood Policy concerning
Ukraine, especially its businesses. Eastern Partnership programs for business
development, crediting, and training of representatives of the real sector of
economy have made a noticeable contribution to the reconstruction of the
economies of new EU members, namely Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. They received
and continue to obtain funds for the structural modernization of enterprises
and increased economic competitiveness. Similar programs for Ukraine exist,
which envisage the allocation of around EUR 11 billion until 2020, three
quarters of which are loans and the rest are grants. However, merely 3%
(between EUR 250 million and EUR 350 million) of these funds are designed for
supporting small- and medium-sized businesses, and it is still difficult to
receive these funds.
"European support is almost unavailable for
Ukrainian businesses, first of all, because of unrealistic conditions of
crediting. We will raise this issue when communicating with our European
colleagues in order to change the situation, streamline cooperation mechanisms
with nowadays reality, and bring specific results," Kinakh said.
The ULIE Office in Brussels will carry out a very
important information function – giving Ukrainian businesses an opportunity to
learn about various EU institutions' programs, select the ones that could give
our entrepreneurs modernization prospects in line with the DCFTA requirements.
Many EP members, EC representatives, diplomats,
businessmen and public activists, including the ULIE management, and clergy
attended the Office's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Interfax-Ukraine News Agency is the media partner
of the ULIE Office opening in Brussels.
It has set up a specific information product – Ukraine Open for Business – containing Ukrainian business news
for Europeans, which will help European partners better understand Ukrainian
economic trends and prospects.
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