You're reading: Khoroshkovsky: Ukraine initiating creation of bilateral commission with Customs Union

Yalta – The creation of a bilateral commission for cooperation between Ukraine and the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus will accelerate the resolution of problematic issues and will increase the efficiency of cooperation between the sides, according to Fist Vice Premier of Ukraine Valeriy Khoroshkovsky. 

“Now we have to work as a part of bilateral commissions with each country of the Customs Union, which delays and complicates the settling of issues,” he said during the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled “Ukraine and the World: Addressing Tomorrow’s Challenges Together.”

He said that there are situations in which Kyiv tries to solve a certain problem in cooperation with one of the three countries, and the country says that it is necessary to agree the issue with the Customs Union, which means the that problem has to be discussed at the level of bilateral commissions with the other two countries.

Khoroshkovsky added that there are cases when the Customs Union refers to the necessity to agree issues discussed with Ukraine at the bilateral level with Custom Union members.

He said that the Customs Union was created recently, and its rules and procedures have not yet been worked out, so Ukraine hopes that effectiveness of cooperation with the Customs Union will improve over the course of time. He said that this would involve the creation of a 3+1 mechanism, which Kyiv proposed to work out before the launch of the Customs Union.

During the forum, representatives of Russia and Kazakhstan again said that Ukraine’s joining the Customs Union is more in line with the country’s interests than attempts to join the European Union via the association agreement and the creation of a free trade zone with the EU.

“Do you think that your economy is so powerful to be competitive in Europe?” Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov said. He said that Ukraine today is not a top priority for the European Union, while Kyiv is a top priority candidate for the Customs Union.

“Is Europe ready to accept new members if it is hardly ready to cope with problems of Greece, Spain and Portugal?” VTB Bank Board Chairman Andrei Kostin asked. He pointed to the financial crisis, stagnation and the problem of state debts in the European Union countries.

“What does Ukraine gain from joining? From the point of view of Russia, it would be useful for the two countries if Ukraine turn its face to the East,” Kostin said.

Khroshkovsky and Vice Premier and Social Policy Minister Sergiy Tigipko again said that Ukraine remains an adherent of joining the European Union, and this choice is stipulated in Ukrainian law and supported by the majority of population. They, as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, earlier said that democratic holding of closest parliamentary election will allow Ukraine to resume talks with the EU on the signing of the initiated association agreement and an agreement on the free trade zone.