Prime Minister Chrétien arrives for state visit to Ukraine (01/31/99)

Prime Minister Chrétien arrives for state visit to Ukraine

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and a coterie of Canadian diplomats and politicians, along with some 100 businessmen, descended on Kyiv on January 27-28 for a 24-hour state visit - the first by a Canadian head of government to independent Ukraine.

In a hectic two days of ceremony and meetings, the Canadian prime minister met with President Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and university students. He also attended a state dinner and laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The prime minister also stopped at the Famine Memorial to honor victims of the Great Famine of 1932-1933. His wife, Aline, placed a memorial wreath at the monument located at the foot of the newly rebuilt bell tower of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Sobor.

Canada and Ukraine signed seven bilateral agreements during the two-day visit, among them a bilateral transport agreement and memoranda of understanding on cooperation in education, on climate change issues and on destruction of Ukraine's anti-personnel land mines.

The two sides announced further cooperation in criminal matters, on controlling corruption in the public sector and on land privatization and farm reorganization as well.

"Our visit to Ukraine has helped broaden our bilateral relationship and has served as a timely forum to discuss key issues of common concern," said Prime Minister Chrétien.

In a singular accomplishment, Mr. Chrétien convinced Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma to begin the destruction of its anti-personnel mine stockpiles, on which Ukraine had been stalling.

Although the two sides agreed on a memorandum of understanding on the elimination of Ukraine's mines, Mr. Kuchma did not state that Ukraine was ready to join the Ottawa Convention and the ranks of countries banning the mines. "We welcome the efforts taken by the Canadian government to eliminate anti-personnel mines," is all Mr. Kuchma would say at a press conference with Mr. Chrétien at the Mariinsky Palace on January 27.

Afterwards, the president's press secretary, Oleksander Martynenko, clarified the president's position and explained that Mr. Kuchma will instruct the Cabinet of Ministers to develop a framework for joining the Ottawa Convention, to which Ukraine will formally accede.

The next day Canadian International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi and Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk signed the memorandum of understanding that calls for Ukraine and Canada to work together to destroy the anti-personnel mines still in Ukraine's stockpiles, in return for Ukraine's eventual signature on the Ottawa land mine ban.

The 1994 Ottawa convention, which calls for the banning of anti-personnel land mines and the destruction of stockpiles, has been signed by nearly 130 countries. Ukraine, along with Russia and the United States, has been a major hold-out because it says it cannot afford the cost of eliminating the 7 million devices believed to be in its military arsenal. Canada will now help finance that effort.

Business, as well as politics, was at the center of the flurry of activity that surrounded the Chrétien visit. As part of what was dubbed the "Business Mission to Ukraine," Canadian businessmen signed 18 agreements with Ukrainian partners to start up projects with a total value of $163 million (Canadian). A press spokesman for the Canadian delegation explained that the monetary value includes only the Canadian content in the agreements. The deals, which include five contracts, six memoranda of understanding and seven letters of intent, cover the agricultural, energy, construction and manufacturing business sectors.

In the first nine months of 1998 trade between Ukraine and Canada grew by 18 percent over the previous period, mostly in the area of Ukrainian exports, which more than doubled during that time. Ukraine exports steel and metal, locomotive and railroad parts, clothing and general machinery to Canada, while it imports textile machinery, machine parts, telephone components and agricultural machinery.

Canadian businessmen have invested more than $47 million (U.S.) of a total of $2.46 billion in foreign investment into Ukraine as of mid-1998.

International Trade Minister Marchi said that although Canada would continue to invest in Ukraine, Kyiv needs to continue reforms. "The number and value of the agreements signed today send a strong message that Canada and Ukraine can do business," said Mr. Marchi. "It is only through a determined path of political and economic reform, however, that Ukraine can realize its full potential as an economic partner with Canada and other nations."

At a meeting with some 300 students and faculty of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Prime Minister Chrétien echoed Mr. Marchi's remarks and urged the Ukrainian government to make Ukraine a business-friendly country. "Without a strong sense of entrepreneurship, a country cannot prosper," said the prime minister.

He exhorted Ukraine to work to minimize graft, corruption and to make laws to protect investors and their investments. "There is such a thing as the security of investment," explained Mr. Chrétien. "You have to be sure that you will not lose your investment because there is no protection by the law."

Commenting on a student's question on how Ukraine can develop strong democratic traditions, Mr. Chrétien said, "It is the responsibility of every citizen to be preoccupied with the political process."

The prime minister also addressed a remark by a student on the need for the Chrétien government to apologize to Canadian Ukrainians for the incarceration of some of its community in internment camps during World War I by stating that he does not believe a government must apologize for every mistake it or its predecessors have made in history. "Yes, I am sorry, but we can't formally apologize for everything," said Mr. Chrétien.

He also lauded the more than 1-million-strong Ukrainian Canadian community for its major contributions to the building of the Canadian nation. He recognized the many Ukrainian Canadians who have served in Parliament, two of whom, Walt Lastewka and Lou Sekora, were with Mr. Chrétien during his visit, as well as the numerous judges and provincial governors of Ukrainian origin, and two governor generals, the latest of which, Ray Hnatyshyn, recently completed his term of service.

At an evening reception at the Canadian Embassy for businessmen from both countries, Minister Marchi continued the theme when he dedicated a room at the Embassy in honor of a longtime Canadian foreign diplomat of Ukrainian origin, Roman Lishchynsky, who died in Ukraine in an automobile accident in early 1998. The late foreign service officer worked in the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv for six years. "He not only believed in the Canadian-Ukrainian partnership, but his work came to epitomize the emotion of that partnership," said Mr. Marchi.

Mr. Chrétien and his entourage, which arrived in Ukraine after a visit to Poland and Auschwitz, site of a Nazi concentration camp, traveled to Switzerland after their Kyiv stay for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.

Interfax-Ukraine reported on January 28 that Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and President Kuchma, who will also attend the forum, would meet again with the Canadian prime minister in Davos for tripartite discussions on mutual matters and projects.

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