Ways to Overcome the Economic Crisis in Ukraine were Discussed at the 5th Davos Ukrainian Lunch

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation and the international investment advisory group EastOne conducted the 5th Davos Ukrainian Lunch. This event organised since 2005 during the World Economic Forum gathers representatives from the world's business and political circles to discuss Ukraine's current issues and prospects of the country's development.

[for a full archive of information on the event - see project's page]

The overarching topic of the conference was finding the ways out from the present economic and political crisis in Ukraine. "Ukraine is in a critical situation today -, stated in his opening speech the conference organiser, public figure and businessman Victor Pinchuk. - Following their assessment, all economists agree that Ukraine suffered the most. We are going through the economic and political crisis. There might be serious social consequences."

At the same time, even in the given situation, as Victor Pinchuk highlighted, Ukraine still has some advantages and reasons to be optimistic as to its future prospects. "Ukraine has already been through the difficult times, it's not happening for the first time. The country had similar experience before. The priority questions for today are - when and how to go out of the crisis."

As a first step to fight the crisis, according to the conference attendees, was reaching an agreement among the variety of state institutions and power branches of Ukraine. "Crucial problems are internal problems, which need to be resolved, - underlined in his address businessman and public figure George Soros. - There must be a consensus between the State bodies. For now, the relations are chilly and this disappoints all other countries. No one feels happy about it."

A similar opinion was expressed by Hryhory Nemyrya who underlined the significance of resolving internal issues, joining efforts of those in power and the opposition to put an anti-crisis strategy into practice. As one of the items of the strategic plan, Nemyrya suggested establishing a national anti-crisis agency, following Great Britain's example.

However, ex-chairman of Ukrainian Parliament Arseniy Yatsenyuk was skeptical about the chances of an immediate withdrawal from political crisis in the country. "The system of political chaos is a problem that won't be worked out after the crisis. You have better actors here in Europe, but we keep perfecting ourselves", he commented ironically.

Background:

Davos Ukrainian Lunch held by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation since 2005 has already become a customary event in Davos. The objective of the conference is to promote Ukraine among Western elites and help better understand political and investment climate of the country. This year's conference "Crisis: In & Out" focuses on such issues as the impact of the economic crisis on Ukraine and the whole world, as well as feasible strategies for crisis tackling.

The key speakers at the Davos Ukrainian Lunch include Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine on European and International Integration Hryhory Nemyrya; Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Ex-speaker of Parliament of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk; financier, investor and philanthropist George Soros; famous columnist of The New York Times newspaper Thomas Friedman. The former European Commissioner for External Relations, Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Co-chairman of the International Crisis Group Chris Pattern will moderate the discussion.