Ukraine to join the WTO in 2004

[Ulysses]

ForUm
Kyiv is aiming at entering the World Trade Organization [WTO] as soon as in 2004, according to Ukraine▓s Economics Minister Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, who heads the Ukrainian delegation to Geneva at the session of the European workgroup considering Ukraine▓s joining the WTO.

Ukraine finished the bilateral negotiations with some European countries, members of the WTO, by signing a corresponding agreement with Hungary on Monday. Moreover, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have confirmed their intentions to sign such bilateral agreements with Ukraine, too. ⌠A number of countries are ready to sign the protocols on international cooperation with Ukraine,■ said Khoroshkovsky.

According to the minister, representatives of 21 out of 23 countries present at the session endorsed the initiative of Ukraine▓s joining the WTO, and the final decision will be made very soon.

He said the EU confirmed its willingness to sign the protocol on Ukraine▓s joining the WTO in the next couple of years, and the Ukrainian delegation with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych at the head is expected to visit Brussels for this purpose on March 18.

⌠In the course of the negotiations we could feel support on the part of the European Union,■ said Khoroshkovsky. ⌠Even those issues that are not settled completely seem less complicated now. We have made progress practically in all the issues, especially as far as our entering the European services▓ market is concerned.■

The minister said that during the past two months Ukraine and Europe reached a consensus on many problems that could not be resolved for years.

In addition, Khoroshkovsky said that by this yearend the Ukrainian government intends to take a set of measures to speed up Ukraine▓s admission to the WTO. ⌠We have requested the workgroup to hold regular consultations and meetings with us on the expert level,■ said Khoroshkovsky.

[Freedom1]

Cool! I think I'm in the minority here but, my feeling is the quicker Ukraine establishes solid economic ties to the West , the better. Better than that " big sucking sound" that eminates from the East anyway.

[Volodya987]

Sorry to contradict you Freedom1, but, according to U.N.
statistics, the biggest sucking sound, by an enormous amount, comes from Us#A. The second biggest sucking sound,
per capita, comes from AuStraLiar. I'm not sure where you live, but obviously, we don't read the same press, and we don't watch the same documentaries.
Volodya987

[Freedom1]

Excuse me, Volodya, the "big sucking sound" I refer to ( that, btw, was a phrase of H. Ross Perot's when he ran for President here), is the sound of Russia sucking resources, culture, and anything else they could out of Ukraine.

I wish that narodni Ukrainchi would attempt to generate a "big sucking sound" from the USA. Not much foreign investment happening right now, BUT, with the right reforms money can flow into Ukraine.

Suck up them dollars! Please! Build good plant and equiptment, communciations infrastructure, etc etc.

[Volodya987]

I notice that the armed wing, of "the Burning Bush that gives the world the commandments according to the cabal which controls Laundryton", now "needs a very long time to pacify the Iraqis." The traditional saying re such bloodsucking parasites as UK, Us#A, USSR etc was/is, "Don't let the bastards in. You'll never get rid of them." I doubt whether Ookrayina needs to replace one
lik with another.
Volodya987

[Freedom1]

Pacifying the Iraquis? Dont worry, satellite TV will do that. ( i.e. FREEDOM!) More importantly, these guys pop shooting US troops are likley NOT all Iraquis. Just your usual ragtag foreign muhajideen. Looking for a trip to heaven and their seven virgins....we should be MORE willing to oblige them. One way ticket to paradise - 5.56 ball ammo.

Sorry, sometimes my latent fascism shows though. Friggin Ukes do make some high speed, hard core soliders , don't they!?

[candle]

Oops, third thret and again the same fight in between Volodya and Eugene. Guys. Hey whatever it takes, ⌠lush bu zutu dobre ludyam bulo■.

All jokes aside, if it would help the Ukrainian economy, then what▓s wrong with it? Just I▓m worry about one thing, as long as I remember, when the money appears right away private pockets waiting for them. And it wouldn▓t be all that bad if these private pockets would spend them on internal economy, but they just spending them to finance luxury life overseas. Or maybe I▓m missing something?

PS: To Freedom1, are you the ⌠Eugeniush■ whose posts I was reading a wile ago in Russian and Ukrainian groups on the Outlook Express? I used to really enjoy this guy political discussions, he has very sharp tongue and with a great sense of humor. But the cake taker was when he talked about French women; just killed the guys who were saying all this nonsense about France.

[Edited by candle on 29th June 2003 at 09:42]