Dotting the I’s

President Leonid Kuchma’s first press conference of the new political season was held to a full house: the press center meeting hall was crammed with journalists. Small wonder, since plenty has happened during the last two months both in Ukraine and as abroad.

MONEY

Yet again, the economy became the central issue in the head of state’s talks with journalists. “Finally the time has come when economy is developing irrespective of who occupies government offices,” Pres. Kuchma said, quoting a series of figures that, in his view, are evidence of the positive dynamics in the economic sphere. Thus, in his words, from the beginning of the year the GDP has grown by 5.3%, including industrial GDP by 14.6%, which is twice as much as last year. The volume of foreign investment is also growing: in the first six months of 2003 it was twice as big as for the same period of 2002, with domestic investment increasing by almost 25% and real wages by over 15%. In general, one might be satisfied with the government’s work, the president stated. Though the head of state has “neither the intention nor desire” to dismiss the cabinet, he made a number of criticisms of it. Ukraine has lost its first place among CIS countries in terms of GDP growth; innovative technologies are being implemented too slowly; energy consumption is growing twice as fast as the GDP; administrative methods in managing the economy, in particular agriculture, prevail over market ones; the complicated situation surrounding developing business, etc. All this constitutes a far from complete list of the president’s claims on those at the helm of Ukraine’s economic processes.

Speaking about next year’s budget, the president mentioned that the document prepared by the government is aimed at economic growth and strengthening social protection but simultaneously has a number of serious shortcomings. The major one, in the president’s view, is the low rate of economic growth in general (up to 5%) and to a lesser extent wages and salaries (11.6%) envisaged by the draft. Pres. Kuchma believes the GDP growth rate should be 6-8%. Touching on the Odesa-Brody pipeline, he stressed that the decision on which way to exploit it should be made basing on economic, not political considerations.

WASHINGTON AND BRUSSELS

The president considers a major achievement the warming in the Ukraine-US relations that was felt, in part, during his visit to the Fifty-Eighth Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. “The fact that a political dialog has started and that they have started listening to us is our major achievement,” he said. While stressing Ukraine’s unchanged commitment to the US as its strategic partner, he simultaneously expressed his perplexity about the European Union’s policy toward Ukraine. In his words, he agrees with First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleksandr Chaly’s statement on Ukraine being tired of waiting for a EU signal on the prospects for its integration. “None of the [EU —Ed.] officials ever said that they want to see Ukraine in the EU,” he added. According to the head of state, the fact that Ukraine has not been granted the status of a market economy country is a political decision. At the same time he opined that at present Ukraine is unprepared to enter the European Union.

“If they invited me to join the EU today I would refuse. Does anybody in Europe need Ukrainian planes, its machine building, or coal industry? We wouldn’t stand the competition for even a month,” Leonid Kuchma is convinced. He stressed that Ukraine must concentrate primarily on reaching European living standards inside the country. Answering journalists’ questions, Leonid Kuchma said that the GUUAM union (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) is a promising institution, which, among other things, will play its role in organizing a new oil and gas transport routes to Europe.

THE SES

Commenting on signing the Single Economic Space Treaty with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, Leonid Kuchma stressed again the fact that it was based on purely economic considerations and the need for removing barriers in the way of Ukrainian exports. In the president’s opinion, the SES Agreement doesn’t require a Constitutional Court decision. He also stressed that it is simply a framework document. “A separate international agreement ratified by parliaments is required for every step in the agreement’s implementation. If a country doesn’t want [something], nobody is going to force it,” he said. He also expressed his perplexity about the statements from certain political forces on initiating impeachment in connection with signing the SES agreement. In his view, Ukraine’s participation in forming the Single Economic Space does not run counter to Ukraine’s intention to integrate into World Trade Organization, while creating the SES “answers the global practice of regional integration.” Simultaneously, he stated that all the SES participants are adjusting their legislation to WTO standards and international law. “Ukraine’s European choice and the decision on entering the WTO are reflected in presidential orders and, believe me, I’m not going to change them,” he said.

Asked about his attitude toward Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mitrofanova’s statement on the need to award official status to the Russian language throughout the post-Soviet space, Leonid Kuchma was unambiguous. “I will prompt our Foreign Ministry that they should react to such things,” he said.

THE ELECTIONS

The president also dotted some i’s on the political reform issue. “I am for nationwide presidential elections. I am also for holding them in 2004... I’m not going to run for president or play any other games,” he stressed. Commenting on the process of implementing Constitutional reform in Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma said that he adheres his project “with a strong president, strong parliament, and strong government.” At the same time, he demonstrated his preparedness to support any version of the political reform if it contains an effective mechanism for forming a government by a parliamentary coalition, balanced with the president’s right to dissolve the parliament. In this connection, he stated that there is a consensus in the parliament on the Constitutional reform, evidenced by the support of one draft by 292 people’s deputies. “I also agree with the offer upheld by 292 deputies,” he said.