Yalta European Strategy: NEWS
Pascal Lamy, Sergey Glazyev, Petro Poroshenko, Nouriel Roubini at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Yalta European Strategy, UKReative: A Suggestion on Economic Perspectives
Ukraine needs to choose between two trade policy models – WTO’s ex-Director General
Ukraine has to make a choice between the two world’s major trade policy models. Whatever choice it makes, Ukraine’s development will depend on the situation inside the country and its capability to resist external pressure and external challenges. This was the opinion voiced by former Director General of the World Trade Organisation, President of Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute, Pascal Lamy, during a discussion at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Yalta European Strategy ongoing in Livadia Palace, Yalta.
“Ukraine has to choose between two major trade models. The first is what EU and Eurasian communities have chosen to follow. This is a system in which you transfer the trade sovereignty of your country to a supra-national body. The second is what countries such as Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Canada and other countries have chosen to follow. In this model you preserve trade sovereignty in your own country and makes a series of free trade agreements with many other countries, said Pascal Lamy.
In his opinion, the second model is optimum for Ukraine. His arrived at this opinion for a number of reasons. Firstly, Ukraine has a specific mix of economical dominance that is unlike other EU/Eurasian Community countries, secondly, the commodity turnover of Ukraine is divided in approximately equal proportions between the EU and Eurasia. Finally, out-of-tariff barriers influence trade in Ukraine.
“Ukraine is situated in a good position between the two unions where differing standards are in operation. However, it is my opinion that the standards will converge at some point in the future.”
Therefore, the best scenario for Ukraine is to follow the example set by Mexico, which is now a party to free trade area agreements both with the USA and the EU and develops analogous agreements with the Asian countries.
“Whatever strategy Ukraine chooses, the main point is what is inside the country. The matter of real importance is whether economic policy is adaptable to economic pressures and challenges of the modern world”, he said.
Signing the Association Agreement with the EU could lead to a deterioration in the Ukraine’s balance of trade - Sergey Glazyev
Signing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which is scheduled for late November, could lead to Ukraine defaulting, said Advisor to the Russian President, Sergey Glazyev, on Saturday in Yalta, during the YES 10th Annual Meeting “Changing Ukraine in a Changing World: Factors of Success “.
"If Ukraine signs the Association Agreement, and that results in a deterioration of its trade balance, the question arises, “who will pay for Ukraine’s default?”, which we believe is inevitable? If Ukraine defaults, the country’s foreign exchange reserves will only last for six months. The overall costs of overcoming the consequences of a default in Ukraine will run to 25 or even 35 billion euros. Is Europe ready to take on this burden of financial responsibility?” said Putin’s advisor.
At the same time, Glazyev reminded the audience that Russia is not against free trade areas. “The President has mentioned many times that he supports the creation of a large area for cooperation, stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok”, he finished.
European integration is the future of Ukraine – Petro Poroshenko
Over half of Ukrainians support the European ambitions of Ukraine, stated Ukrainian Member of Parliament and businessman, Petro Poroshenko at the 10th Annual Meeting of YES “Changing Ukraine in a Changing World: Factors of Success” on Saturday in Yalta.
“We asked Ukrainians, via an opinion poll, whether they support the Customs Union or integration with Europe. And we found that the proportions have changed dramatically. For the first time in our history, over 50% of people support European integration. Less than 30% support the Customs Union”, said Mr. Poroshenko.
According to the research, the older population is for the CU, whilst the young are supporters of European integration. “Who are this 50% who support European integration, and who are the 30% who support ?? These are very interesting statistics. The 30% is made up of people from the older generation, less well educated people. The 50% is made up of the younger generation, well-educated people. This means that European integration is our future,”, the politician said.
He also stated that the so-called trade war is inconsistent with the rules of the World Trade Organisation. “I hate the term “trade wars”and I hate the trade wars between Russia and Ukraine. Once Russia and Ukraine became WTO members they were obligated to comply with the terms of the WTO. The trade wars contradict these terms”, Poroshenko finished.
The 10th Yalta Annual Meeting is streamed live at korrespondent.net and
yes-ukraine.org in English and Ukrainian on September 20th and 21st.
Live Webcasts will also be available on the websites of ICTV (ictv.ua), Channel 5 (5.ua), «Kommersant» newspaper (kommersant.ua), as well as the online edition of "Ukrainska Pravda» (pravda.com.ua).
The official Twitter of the 10th Yalta Annual Meeting: @yes_ukraine, hashtag: #yalta2013
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Partners of the 10th Yalta Annual Meeting are:
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Yalta European Strategy (YES) is the largest social institution of public diplomacy in Eastern Europe, providing an open and equal dialogue on global issues affecting the European Union, Ukraine, Russia and other countries. This non-partisan organisation was established in 2004 by the Ukrainian businessman and public figure Victor Pinchuk.
The YES Annual Meetings held in Yalta’s Livadia Palace have become an open platform to discuss and look for new ideas and views on paths to European, Ukrainian and global development. Every year these meetings bring together over 200 politicians, diplomats, statesmen, journalists, analysts and business leaders from more than 20 countries. The dialogue on global challenges broadens the vision on the situation inside Ukraine and the prospects for the country’s development in the modern world. It is also an incentive to find common ground between countries, common interests and values.
At the YES Annual Meetings the world's top opinion leaders present their visions of current and future trends which impact all spheres of life of society. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 the events were opened by Presidents Viktor Yanukovych, Bronislaw Komorowski, Shimon Peres and Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. YES Annual Meetings key speakers have included Mykola Azarov, Kofi Annan, Egemen Bagis, Carl Bildt, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Richard Branson, James Wolfensohn, Newt Gingrich, Herman Gref, Arkadiy Dvorkovich, Robert Zoellick, Bill Clinton, Paul Krugman, Alexei Kudrin, Leonid Kuchma, Yuri Milner, Condoleezza Rice, Lawrence Summers, Radoslaw Sikorski, Javier Solana, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Shashi Tharoor, Strobe Talbott, Niall Ferguson, Vladimir Filat, Joschka Fischer, Stefan Fule, Gerhard Schroeder, Muhammad Yunus and many others.
Official website: www.yes-ukraine.org
Victor Pinchuk Foundation is an international, private and non-partisan philanthropic foundation based in Ukraine. It was established in 2006 by businessman and public figure Victor Pinchuk. Its goal is to empower future generations to become the change-makers of tomorrow. To achieve this, projects are developed and partnerships are built in Ukraine and worldwide.
in people, to boost human capital;
in society, to promote social responsibility;
in the world, to foster a more integrated world.
The projects of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation include, among others: the network of neonatal centers Cradles of Hope, the largest private scholarship programme in Ukraine, Zavtra.UA, the WorldWideStudies scholarship programme for Ukrainian students studying abroad, the centre for contemporary art PinchukArtCentre with its biannual prizes Future Generation Art Prize and PinchukArtCentre Prize. The foundation also hosts the Davos Philanthropic Roundtable and Davos Ukrainian Lunch organized each year at the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum and supports the international network YES (Yalta European Strategy) to foster Ukraine’s European and global integration, as well as a startup online platform for fostering philanthropy in Ukraine, the Philanthropic Marketplace. The Foundation is a member of the European Foundation Centre and the Ukrainian Grantmakers Forum. It cooperates with the Clinton Global Initiative, the Brookings Institution, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Peres Center for Peace, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, and other nongovernmental organizations.
Official website: pinchukfund.org
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