AMERICA MAY HELP UKRAINE LOSE FACE

There was a peculiar coincidence between (a) Richard Morningstar, US Coordinator of Aid to the Newly Independent States, and Carlos Pascuale, NSC Deputy Secretary, visiting Kyiv; (b) several US companies in Ukraine complaining on the impossibility of doing business normally in this country; and (c) the US Congress deliberating the possibility of annual financial aid to Ukraine.

The ranking US guests make no secret that they will also discuss the situation with US business in Ukraine when meeting with Ukrainian leaders, especially after the Gala Radio scandal was again heard in Congress.

Madeline Albright is to testify in Congress April 30, although the Secretary of State does not seem to have decided whether she will support the Ukrainian administration. Meanwhile, US congressmen say Kyiv will receive half the amount promised ($225 million worth of technologies, equipment, etc.) unless it presents convincing evidence of improving the investment climate in Ukraine generally and the conditions for US business in particular.

Harry Litman, head of the US Chamber of Commerce task force for contacts with Ukraine, told The Day that, apart from purely commercial transactions, US business interest in Ukraine is rather weak. The reason is simple enough: the government cannot ensure stability or firmly determine the rules of the game which seem to change on a daily basis. However, even in such conditions companies like Westinghouse and Procter & Gamble operated quite effectively until suddenly faced with problems certifying their products and when bidding at tenders. It also happens quite often that US stockholders lose their part of the revenues from joint ventures, wholly or partially, once they start making profit.

Of course, Ukraine will survive even without US investment. Just as Gala Radio thing went big the Swedish company Erikson announced its intention to invest $100 million in Ukrainian mobile communications and Henkel (Germany) said it would build one of its head offices in Vyshhorod to supervise the manufacture of detergents and building materials. It is also true, however, that Ukraine has so far received less investment from Europe than from across the ocean. And investment is as badly needed as ever.