Kuchma-Gore committees meet in D.C. (07/19/98)

Kuchma-Gore committees meet in D.C.

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - Two high-level Ukrainian government delegations held talks here on July 8-10 with their American counterparts in preparation for the second meeting of the Kuchma-Gore Binational Commission to be held in Kyiv on July 22-23.

They were participating in the executive sessions of two of the commission's committees, one dealing with sustainable economic cooperation and the other with trade and investment.

The economic committee was chaired by Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister for Economic reforms Serhii Tyhypko and U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary David Lipton. The trade and investment committee was headed by Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Serhii Osyka of Ukraine, and U.S. Commerce Department Counselor Yan Kalicki.

Both committees worked to narrow the gap between the two countries on a number of issues - some long-standing and some new. Neither side would say how they fared, but sources say the overall impression among the participants was positive.

High on the agenda was the need to improve Ukraine's investment climate by resolving remaining investment disputes with American businessmen. This issue found itself in an amendment to this year's U.S. foreign assistance legislation, requiring Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright to "certify" that Ukraine was making progress in these disputes before releasing some $200 million in aid for Ukraine.

The secretary announced her certification earlier this year, stating that "significant progress" was made. But she held back some $25 million as an incentive for Ukraine to resolve the remaining disputes. Otherwise these funds, earmarked for Ukrainian government reform programs, would be redirected to private-sector programs in Ukraine.

The committees also addressed the need for reforming Ukraine's energy sector, especially in getting consumers to pay for the energy they use.

Privatization and reform in agriculture were on the agenda, particularly the need for Ukraine to rid itself of agricultural monopolies and privatize Khlib Ukraiiny and grain elevators, and to stop the government practice of buying up the grain harvest.

Among the new items on the agenda was a Ukrainian proposal to have the huge deposits of Caspian oil and gas traverse to Central and Western Europe through Ukraine. This places Ukraine in a high-stakes competition with other proposed pipeline routes, among them through Turkey, Iran and Russia.

The Ukrainian delegation included Finance Minister Ihor Mityukov, Economics Minister Vasyl Rohovyi, National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko, and Roman Shpek, who heads the National Agency for Development and European Integration.

The delegation arrived in Washington as Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk was concluding his series of talks with U.S. officials, covering political, security and economic issues.

His schedule included meetings with Secretary of State Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican chairman of an appropriations subcommittee that earmarks much of the U.S. aid for Ukraine.