Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn has an in-depth analysis should be made of a proposal for Ukraine to join the Customs Union, taking into account the possible consequences of such a decision.
Lytvyn noted in an interview with the Rada TV Channel on March 26 that Ukraine joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), while the countries that make up the Customs Union are not WTO members.
"If Ukraine, in the person of the government, declares it is ready to join the Customs Union on WTO principles then it is necessary to think over and say whether this will be welcomed…" the press service of the parliament reported.
According to the head of the Ukrainian parliament, economists have to analyze this issue and "clearly show the gains and losses for Ukraine after this or that action, including cooperation in the scope of the Customs Union." At the same time, Lytvyn said that the absence of any analytical approach led to the fact that when joining WTO Ukraine "simply lost out, and took on more obligations than it should have taken on."
Asked about the prospects for the creation of a gas transportation consortium, Lytvyn said: "I believe that explanation must be given to what we understand by word ‘consortium’… and what each side will receive – Russia as a producer, Ukraine as a transit country with a gas distribution network, and Europe, which consumes gas." According to him, "then the political component in this problem will be absolutely eliminated."
"As I see, everyone who is talking about this subject only has a rough idea what the [consortium] would be," he added.
