Foreign Direct Investment: Can it Save Ukraine?
For good reasons and bad, Ukraine is loathe to make the hard choice of selling (i.e., privatizing) its key assets, mainly agricultural land to foreign interests. This is the quickest way out of the crisis for Ukraine, which is only starting to hit the country. Perhaps in a few months once things get worse, politicians will have the political will to do the right thing. News that the parliament implemented budget guidelines required by IMF is encouraging. Government reform would obviously raise the value of public assets. However, if Mrs. Tymoshenko wants a flood of new capital, she would be wise to push harder for privatization and sale of government assets. Gains in overall economic efficiency will come almost immediatly from new management of its capital, pushing Ukraine’s economy ahead and limiting the duration of the current recession. General political perception maintains that foreign influence will reduce the country’s independence, but to the contrary will bolster Ukraine’s position between Europe and Russia, allowing it to fend off a predatory Russia desperate to expand its manufacturing and agricultural base and imperialistic Europe looking to fend off low-cost competition from the East. Diversity from foreign investors would also help to break up oligopolies that continue to stymie Ukraine’s progress. Forza Ukraine!
Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko hopes to draw French investments
04.03.2009 | 19:30 | Office of mass media relations of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Secretariat
Yulia Tymoshenko, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, expects investments of powerful French companies into Ukraine’s economy. She announced to media people during her working visit to France.
The Head of Government stressed in the course of her visit she had held meetings with representatives of leading companies of France, in particular Areva Corporation and MEDEF union and achieved understandings concerning their visit to Ukraine with an aim to maintain fruitful cooperation.
Yulia Tymoshenko informed for Ukraine a desirable and effective partner will be a French company, Areva, representatives of which have expressed their readiness to intensify the work in the direction of development of mineral resources, notably uranium ores in order to facilitate energy independence Ukraine. According to the Prime Minister, under conditions of the world financial crisis Ukraine and France should strengthen cooperation in this direction.
In addition, Yulia Tymoshenko noted along every direction of such cooperation with French investors the Government will set up a special workgroup. “We will plan all necessary steps in order to make joint investment programs a reality for Ukraine, as I believe the way out of this crisis means drawing maximal amount of investments into Ukraine, application of these resources and building joint partnership on this basis,” she emphasized.
