Ukraine to send delegation to DC to prevent sanctions (08/12/01)

Ukraine to send delegation to DC to prevent sanctions

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - Ukraine plans to send a government delegation to Washington next week to try to prevent the implementation of trade sanctions due to its weak anti-piracy efforts, Economy Minister Oleksander Shlapak said on August 8.

Ukraine is considered Europe's largest producer of the pirated compact disks, and the U.S. administration announced on August 7 that it was suspending Ukraine's participation in a program that allows poor countries to ship certain products into the United States duty-free.

The Bush administration also released a target list of Ukrainian products, including steel, chemicals, minerals and clothing, that could face penalty tariffs in response to the lost sales claimed by U.S. producers of music, computer software and movies.

Mr. Shlapak said Ukraine "has about two months to settle the situation," according to the Interfax news agency. He explained that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick thus far had merely issued warnings and that Ukraine has a chance to ameliorate the conflict, because the sanctions' implementation may take several months.

He also added that the government will press the Verkhovna Rada to pass a bill regulating copyright protection during the next parliamentary session, which starts in September. Mr. Shlapak said the bill may solve the piracy problem "in a moment."

"In principle, in the worst situation, the United States wants to reduce trade volume by an amount that it estimates was lost due to low copyright protection in Ukraine," Mr. Shlapak said, according to Interfax. American companies claim they are losing more than $200 million annually in sales because of the huge output of pirated goods in Ukraine.

Ukraine has at least five illegal factories that produce more than 70 million pirated CDs each year, according to U.S. estimates.

Ukrainian government officials had long promised to solve the piracy problem in the country after numerous complaints and warnings where made by U.S. officials.

"The United States has been urging Ukraine to take measures to stop the production of pirated optical media products for over two years. Yet the problem persists," Mr. Zoellick said in a statement on August 7. "The United States is moving forcefully to protect our rights, and, if necessary, we will impose trade sanctions."

Last year, Ukrainian authorities reached an agreement with the Clinton administration to strengthen anti-piracy legislation and crack down on plants that produce pirated CDs and software. The Bush administration said Ukraine has not fulfilled its commitments.

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