Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov blasted the European Union today for failing to support Ukraine financially to offset the effect of Russia's trade wars.
Azarov said it became the main reason for his
government’s Nov. 21 decision to halt preparations for the signing of an
association agreement this week at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius,
Lithuania. He also said a financial deal with Russia is still in the works.
“As of early December, we will sit at negotiations
table and plan a road map of restoring our relationship, primarily in trade and
economic relations,” Azarov, speaking with journalists, said on Nov. 26.
He said that Russia’s escalating trade sanctions since
the beginning of the year have caused a lot of damage to the economy, which has
been in recession for a year now. Exports to Russia dropped by $6.5 billion
this year, Azarov said.
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But the European Centre for Modern Ukraine, a public
relations organization in Brussels, on the same day cited the Statistics
Committee saying that Ukraine’s export losses were less than the figures Azarov
cited – only 14.6 percent of exports to Russia in the past six quarters, or $4.2
billion.
“These losses, of course, were irreparable for us,”
Azarov said.
Azarov said that Ukraine had repeatedly asked its
European partners for financial support
“We did not get support during the very hardest and
most important period,” he said. “There wasn’t a single meeting when I would
not raise this issue.”
But EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood
Policy Stefan Fuele said on Nov. 25 through a video link from Brussels that in
the past few weeks and days he was “confronted with stretched figures” about
Ukraine’s losses and financial requirements for adopting European standards. “It’s
nonsense. I do not recognize these figures and i don’t know where they come
from,” Fuele said.
He also said that the EU offered financial assistance,
as well technical assistance, and a way in with the International Monetary
Fund. He said the EU was pushing for extending deadlines for implementing tough
reforms required by the IMF and finding other compromises. The EU’s financial
assistance would depend on reaching the deal with the IMF.
“There has been a package that has been discussed with
IMF how to overcome the signs of current economic problems. Were talking about
billions and billions of euros,” Fuele said. “We made it always very clear to
our friends in Ukraine – the association agreement is a measure to strengthen
financial assistance, not weaken it.”
Alexander Kwasniewski, the former Polish president and
a special European Parliament’s envoy to Ukraine, told the Polish Radio ZET
that the EU is trying to come up with an economic aid package.
“But it will be too late,” he said.
But Azarov said IMF’s tough requirements were one of
the reasons for pausing the European integration. He said, two days before the
decision, the fund sent a letter to the government that seemed to toughen the
requirements.
“When I read this, I’ve got an impression that
International Monetary Fund either doesn’t understand the economic situation in
Ukraine, or gives us conditions that cannot be accepted by definition,” Azarov
said.
He said that, at the same time, Russia asked Ukraine
to halt preparations for the EU deal until all problematic issues are solved.
“Russian government made it clear to us that signing of agreement means that
after it will be impossible to discuss trade and economic relations,” Azarov
said.
“We took the only decision that’s right in these
circumstances – to postpone this agreement until we solve our problems,” he
says.
However, Russia has not offered anything concrete to
Ukraine, either, except a prospect for restarting trade relations and
continuing joint projects, the prime minister said. There is not even a clear
agreement on revising the Russian gas prices, which the government has been
trying to negotiate for 3.5 years.
“But we talked to the president of Russian Federation
and there is an understanding that the contract needs to be revised,” Azarov
said.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied any such discussions with President Viktor Yanukovych. “Gazprom and Ukraine have a contract, I think, until 2019 signed, and we have not discussed revision of the actual contract,” Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
There are signs that Russia was starting to relax its
trade sanctions. The nation’s consumer protection watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor,
told Interfax news agency that Ukrainian confectionery Roshen is about to be
cleared to export candy and chocolates to Russia. Exports were banned in July
under the pretext of violations of safety standards.
Rospotrebnadzor on Nov. 26 received a delegation of
Ukrainian state consumer rights inspectors. “Under the agreements reached,
measures will be taken to bring the current standards into line with modern
requirements and to guarantee laboratory control over each batch at accredited
laboratories, which will help start the procedure of gradual resumption of
Roshen products’ deliveries to the Russian market,” Rospotrebnadzor said.
Azarov said that Ukraine can potentially sign the association
agreement in spring, when the next Ukraine-EU summit will be held. But all of
the outstanding issues need to be settled by then, he warned, through
consultations of three parties, which include Russia.
“I hope our president will conduct these types of
consultations in Vilnius – this is why he is going there,” he said.
The government’s decision to postpone the signing had
brought tens of thousands of people onto the street for protests that have
continued for six days. On Nov. 26, students across the nation joined the
protests.
Azarov welcomed the protesters as “our people” who
support the government’s strategic course for European integration, and said
the authorities will make attempts to reach out to the protesters.
“The law enforcers were given an order to go soft on
the protesters because we understand that 90 percent of those are the ones who
have supported our course for 3.5 years,” Azarov said. He
warned, however, that provocations will not be tolerated.
Kyiv
Post deputy chief editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at [email protected]
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko contributed to this story. She can be reached at [email protected].
