Ukraine should develop within the bounds of a democratic model - panelists of the 8th Davos Ukrainian Lunch

The future development of Ukraine depends on how it can develop its economy within a democratic model of government. This was the topic of the panel discussion during the 8th Davos Ukrainian Lunch "Options for the Future" held  by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.

In particular, Carl Bildt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, has said that Ukraine goes through the same stages of EU relations development as Turkey did in its day. There can be ups and downs, and the current period is far from being an easy one. The Prime Minister believes that today in these relations very little depends on Europe. "The big question is whether Ukraine is able to return to the path of European integration", stated Carl Bildt.

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator of Turkey Egemen Bagis believes that the key issue in today’s relations between the EU and Ukraine is a problem of trust. "In order to overcome the distrust, both sides must work", he said. According to the Turkish minister, "Europe should not be a "nutritionist" who only writes prescriptions for other countries. It too must follow the given advices.”

Alexei Kudrin, former deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation drew attention to the economic dimension of relations between Ukraine, Russia and Europe. According to him, "In the nearest future Russia and Ukraine will go for strengthening their cooperation with the EU. But they will move at different speeds." Russia, according to Alexei Kudrin, before joining the WTO, has spent a long but very important period of time harmonizing trade and tariff policies with other nations. But as an outcome of this long process Russia managed to achieve better conditions of accession than Ukraine. Talking about the future of Ukraine, Alexei Kudrin said that Ukraine must "build up its economy, while remaining within the bounds of a democratic model of development."

The 8th Davos Ukrainian Lunch was attended by over 300 top Ukrainian and international representatives  from political and business circles, including Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Renova" Viktor Vekselberg, president  of "Lukoil" Vagit Alekperov, chairman of the board of directors of AFK "System" Vladimir Evtushenkov, the owner and president of DCH Group Alexander Yaroslavsky, chairman of the board of directors of  “Industrial Union of Donbass” Sergey Taruta, Head of Council of the National Bank of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, founder and president of "Kyivstar" Igor Litovchenko, president and CEO "Alfa Bank Ukraine" Alexander Lukanov and co-founder of Horizon Capital Natalie Jaresko.

The Davos Ukrainian Lunch is the most preeminent international gathering dedicated to Ukraine, held annually in Davos at the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. It is dedicated to giving world leaders an opportunity to learn about and discuss Ukraine’s political and economic situation and challenge. The Victor Pinchuk Foundation and international investment advisory group EastOne have been hosting the Davos Ukrainian Lunch since 2005. Since then the Ukrainian Lunch featured, among others, Viktor Yanukovych, Carl Bildt,
Aleksander Kwasniewski, Bronislaw Komorowski, Chris Patten, George Soros, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Thomas Friedman, and Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The 8th Davos Ukrainian Lunch is supported by:

Special partner - Alfa-Bank
Partner – Mriya
Partner - Horizon Capital