KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s state property fund picked ZAT Consulting Co. Ostrov to value national phone provider VAT Ukrtelecom, which the government wants to sell as soon as next month.
Ostrov, based in Kiev, was chosen from three bidders on Jan. 6, Nina Yavorska, the fund’s spokeswoman, said in a phone interview.
The consulting company has a month in which to carry out the valuation, she said.
Ukraine’s government, which owns almost 93 percent of Ukrtelecom, initially planned to sell the phone company in a Dec. 28 auction with the minimum price set at 10.5 billion hryvnia ($1.3 billion).
The auction was postponed after attracting only one bidder, Austria-based Epic Financial Consulting Gesellschaft’s Ukraine subsidiary.
The price cannot be lower than 10.5 billion hryvnia, Oleksandr Ryabchenko, who heads the property fund, told reporters on Dec. 21.
Ostrov was set up in 1992 and has valued more than 200 companies, including energy distributors such as VAT Luhanskoblenergo, according to its website.
Ostrov offered the best timing and price for valuing Ukrtelecom, Yavorska said.
Ukraine has put off the sale for more than a decade because of disputes between state agencies.
The government wants to raise 10 billion hryvnia from sales of state assets this year, according to the budget.
Showing posts with label Ukraine . economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ukraine . economy. Show all posts
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Serbia Says Talks With Ukraine On WTO Entry Are The Toughest
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia will try to win Ukraine’s consent early this year for membership in the World Trade Organization, deputy Prime Minister Mladjan Dinkic said.
Belgrade, which applied for WTO membership in 2005, expects to complete bilateral talks with five more countries, including Ukraine, and join the trade group by the end of 2011.
Membership would mark another step on its path to becoming a European Union member, Dinkic said in an e-mailed statement today from Brussels.
Dinkic and European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht signed a bilateral agreement on behalf of the Balkan nation and the EU earlier in the day, agreeing on tariffs for trade in goods and the opening of each other’s services markets.
The EU accounts for 60 percent of Serbia’s foreign trade.
Dinkic said Ukraine is not an easy negotiating partner and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic will visit the country in the coming months.
“Talks with Ukraine have not been smooth for any country, so Ukraine will remain the last country that we need to see how to reach the agreement.”
Serbia is negotiating an agreement with the U.S. and Dinkic said he expects “we will be able to reach agreement by the middle of the year.”
The government is still negotiating with Brazil, Switzerland and El Salvador, and expects to sign an agreement with Canada by the end of this month, according to the statement.
Belgrade, which applied for WTO membership in 2005, expects to complete bilateral talks with five more countries, including Ukraine, and join the trade group by the end of 2011.
Membership would mark another step on its path to becoming a European Union member, Dinkic said in an e-mailed statement today from Brussels.
Dinkic and European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht signed a bilateral agreement on behalf of the Balkan nation and the EU earlier in the day, agreeing on tariffs for trade in goods and the opening of each other’s services markets.
The EU accounts for 60 percent of Serbia’s foreign trade.
Dinkic said Ukraine is not an easy negotiating partner and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic will visit the country in the coming months.
“Talks with Ukraine have not been smooth for any country, so Ukraine will remain the last country that we need to see how to reach the agreement.”
Serbia is negotiating an agreement with the U.S. and Dinkic said he expects “we will be able to reach agreement by the middle of the year.”
The government is still negotiating with Brazil, Switzerland and El Salvador, and expects to sign an agreement with Canada by the end of this month, according to the statement.
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
New Highways Coming In Ukrai
KIEV, Ukraine -- Since the economic crisis struck, large investments in transport infrastructure have been sidetracked by the world's economies. Now that the skies begin to clear, some countries begin raising their heads from the dust and announce major development programs.
Ukraine Minister of Infrastructure Borys Kolesnikov announced that his country would begin a major overhaul of its road network, adorned with the build of high-speed motorways.
The most important of them all will be the trans-Ukrainian 1400 kilometers long primary road from Krakovets to Uspenka, which will become at one point part of a larger road which will link Berlin to Rostov.
The project, which also calls for the creation of a Trans-Dnieper highway, is an important tool in insuring the success of the European football championship which will take place in the country in 2012.
The new roads will also get a high usage rate because of the football World Cup 2018 in Russia and the Olympics in Sochi.
The major endeavor will be funded mostly from the country's budget, with all the work expected to be completed in five to seven years.
Some money will also come from the implementation of the highway tax into the price of the fuel, a system similar to the one in use in Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Switzerland. The paid roads system used in Italy, France and Spain has been deemed useless in Ukraine.
"Provided the tax on fuel, there will appear real high-speed motorways in Ukraine," the minister said in a statement. "There is no market for paid roads in Ukraine."
Ukraine Minister of Infrastructure Borys Kolesnikov announced that his country would begin a major overhaul of its road network, adorned with the build of high-speed motorways.
The most important of them all will be the trans-Ukrainian 1400 kilometers long primary road from Krakovets to Uspenka, which will become at one point part of a larger road which will link Berlin to Rostov.
The project, which also calls for the creation of a Trans-Dnieper highway, is an important tool in insuring the success of the European football championship which will take place in the country in 2012.
The new roads will also get a high usage rate because of the football World Cup 2018 in Russia and the Olympics in Sochi.
The major endeavor will be funded mostly from the country's budget, with all the work expected to be completed in five to seven years.
Some money will also come from the implementation of the highway tax into the price of the fuel, a system similar to the one in use in Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Switzerland. The paid roads system used in Italy, France and Spain has been deemed useless in Ukraine.
"Provided the tax on fuel, there will appear real high-speed motorways in Ukraine," the minister said in a statement. "There is no market for paid roads in Ukraine."
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Thailand Army Wants More APCs From Ukraine
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The Thailand army is seeking approval to buy an additional 121 armoured personnel carriers from the Ukraine even though it has yet to receive any of the vehicles it ordered three years ago.
A military source said army chief Anupong Paojinda has decided to spend his forces' leftover funds for this year on 121 APCs from the Ukraine, which has yet to deliver the 96 vehicles ordered in 2007.
The army will seek cabinet approval for a 4.6 billion baht ($143 million) budget to purchase the APCs next week, said the source.
Defence permanent secretary Apichart Penkitti yesterday confirmed the army had already received the ministry's approval for the APCs and that the army had enough of its budget remaining to make the purchase.
Gen Apichart dismissed criticisms that the purchase would cause budgeting problems.
"We're not rushing the deal through. We're working within the budget," he said.
Gen Apichart said the army had supplied the Auditor-General Office with a detailed explanation of the background of the company providing the armoured vehicles.
Three years ago, the army ordered 96 model BTR-3E1 APCs, worth about 4 billion baht ($124 million), from the Ukrainian manufacturer.
However, it has not yet delivered those 96 vehicles to the army due to problems with the vehicles' engines.That purchase was also criticised.
The deal to purchase the APCs was done while Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, head of the coup government's Council for National Security, was the Army chief.
The manufacturer had initially planned to use German engines in the assembly of the vehicles, however the maker of the engines refused to sell them to the Ukrainian company.
The Ukrainian APC manufacturer was forced to switch to US-made engines and therefore still has to complete the assembly of the 96 APCs ordered by the Thai army, said the source.
The source said Gen Anupong wanted to push through the purchase of the additional 121 APCs before he retires in September.
The Office of the Auditor-General had asked the Defence Ministry to reconsider the initial deal.
The Ukranian company that won the bid had allegedly not submitted its documents on time, the office argued, saying also that the APCs were not suitable for combat.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Clinton Credited With Securing IMF Loan
KIEV, Ukraine -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Ukraine played the key role in the International Monetary Fund’s decision to agree on a $14.9 billion loan, Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said Tuesday.
Tyhypko unsuccessfully held talks with the IMF for more than four months, until the Washington-based lender suddenly indicated Friday it was ready to resume the lending.
Tyhypko said Clinton’s visit to Ukraine and her meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday had played the “greatest role.”
Clinton “confirmed strategic level of partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. and that had become an important signal for the IMF to finish difficult many-month talks over resuming cooperation with Ukraine,” Tyhypko said.
The IMF loan announcement came hours after Clinton’s meeting with Yanukovych and came as a surprise to many analysts because the government had been lagging far behind in many reforms.
Tyhypko’s comments suggest the IMF decision may be politically motivated rather than being justified by the progress toward economic reforms.
Since the election of Yanukovych to the presidency in February, Ukraine has been swiftly drifting towards close political and economic partnership with Russia, slowing down its pro-Western course.
With its budget facing a major deficit, Ukraine resorted to borrowing $4 billion from Russia in June under terms that have never been disclosed by government officials, signaling possible political concessions.
The resumption of lending by the IMF makes Ukraine’s borrowing more transparent and does not require foreign policy concessions compared with similar deals with Moscow, analysts said.
Clinton made clear to Yanukovych that the Obama administration is not troubled provided his intent is simply to come up with a more "balanced" foreign policy, involving Russia as well as the European Union and the United States.
But Clinton expressed concern about a string of incidents in which Ukrainian journalists and civic activists have complained of facing harassment or censorship.
"I've discussed the importance of defending these rights with your president," Clinton told students at the 19th-century Kiev Polytechnic Institute on Friday evening. "He has made a commitment to uphold Ukraine's democracy, to uphold the rule of law, to maintain respect for human rights."
The IMF Board of Directors is expected to meet late July to finally approve the 2.5-year loan to Ukraine, and Ukraine will have to implement a number of reforms, such as hiking domestic gas prices, by then.
Tyhypko said that the IMF lending will let the government and private companies ease access to borrowing from international capital markets, and will also open lending from the World Bank, the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“The agreement with the IMF will become a signal to foreign creditors that the economy of Ukraine is ready for properly using foreign investments,” Tyhypko said.
Tyhypko unsuccessfully held talks with the IMF for more than four months, until the Washington-based lender suddenly indicated Friday it was ready to resume the lending.
Tyhypko said Clinton’s visit to Ukraine and her meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday had played the “greatest role.”
Clinton “confirmed strategic level of partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. and that had become an important signal for the IMF to finish difficult many-month talks over resuming cooperation with Ukraine,” Tyhypko said.
The IMF loan announcement came hours after Clinton’s meeting with Yanukovych and came as a surprise to many analysts because the government had been lagging far behind in many reforms.
Tyhypko’s comments suggest the IMF decision may be politically motivated rather than being justified by the progress toward economic reforms.
Since the election of Yanukovych to the presidency in February, Ukraine has been swiftly drifting towards close political and economic partnership with Russia, slowing down its pro-Western course.
With its budget facing a major deficit, Ukraine resorted to borrowing $4 billion from Russia in June under terms that have never been disclosed by government officials, signaling possible political concessions.
The resumption of lending by the IMF makes Ukraine’s borrowing more transparent and does not require foreign policy concessions compared with similar deals with Moscow, analysts said.
Clinton made clear to Yanukovych that the Obama administration is not troubled provided his intent is simply to come up with a more "balanced" foreign policy, involving Russia as well as the European Union and the United States.
But Clinton expressed concern about a string of incidents in which Ukrainian journalists and civic activists have complained of facing harassment or censorship.
"I've discussed the importance of defending these rights with your president," Clinton told students at the 19th-century Kiev Polytechnic Institute on Friday evening. "He has made a commitment to uphold Ukraine's democracy, to uphold the rule of law, to maintain respect for human rights."
The IMF Board of Directors is expected to meet late July to finally approve the 2.5-year loan to Ukraine, and Ukraine will have to implement a number of reforms, such as hiking domestic gas prices, by then.
Tyhypko said that the IMF lending will let the government and private companies ease access to borrowing from international capital markets, and will also open lending from the World Bank, the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“The agreement with the IMF will become a signal to foreign creditors that the economy of Ukraine is ready for properly using foreign investments,” Tyhypko said.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Azarov: Investment In Ukraine's Economy Will Rise After Passing Tax Code
KIEV, Ukraine -- Prime Minister Mykola Azarov expects substantial increase on investments in Ukraine's economy as soon as the Verkhovna Rada passes the Tax Code drafted by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Azarov said this while attending the Examination for Power Program broadcast on the First National Channel.
The Tax Code envisages a stage-by-stage reduction in profits and value-added tax at 1% during five years, and a considerable decline in number of existing national and local taxes, the prime minister noted.
"Will investments flow to this country? Surely, they will. This is the key benefit for investors. The attracted funds will help build new manufactures, profitable factories and plants; create new jobs, as well as to compensate a fall in revenues we'll incur through tax cut," according to the prime minister.
After approving the Tax Code the Ukrainian economic system will gain real stimuli, while the external economic environment will be signaled that Ukraine has a stable political system, stable power and the government that comprehensively lays foundations for tax reduction for years to come, Azarov emphasized.
As Ukrainian News reported, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft Tax Code on June 9.
The Tax Code provides a stage-by-stage reduction of businesses' profits tax from the current 25% to 20% in 2011 and a further annual tax cut at 1 percentage point to reach 17% in 2014.
The draft Tax Code introduces tax holidays for small and mid-sized businesses from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2015.
The government expects a new Tax Code and a new Budget Code to be adopted during the current parliamentary session (by July 10) to form basis for planning a national budget-2011.
Azarov said this while attending the Examination for Power Program broadcast on the First National Channel.
The Tax Code envisages a stage-by-stage reduction in profits and value-added tax at 1% during five years, and a considerable decline in number of existing national and local taxes, the prime minister noted.
"Will investments flow to this country? Surely, they will. This is the key benefit for investors. The attracted funds will help build new manufactures, profitable factories and plants; create new jobs, as well as to compensate a fall in revenues we'll incur through tax cut," according to the prime minister.
After approving the Tax Code the Ukrainian economic system will gain real stimuli, while the external economic environment will be signaled that Ukraine has a stable political system, stable power and the government that comprehensively lays foundations for tax reduction for years to come, Azarov emphasized.
As Ukrainian News reported, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft Tax Code on June 9.
The Tax Code provides a stage-by-stage reduction of businesses' profits tax from the current 25% to 20% in 2011 and a further annual tax cut at 1 percentage point to reach 17% in 2014.
The draft Tax Code introduces tax holidays for small and mid-sized businesses from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2015.
The government expects a new Tax Code and a new Budget Code to be adopted during the current parliamentary session (by July 10) to form basis for planning a national budget-2011.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Latest bank bailout plan gets bad marks from foreign lenders
Ukraine’s foreign lenders have sent a strong signal to Kyiv’s government, urging it not to revive one of the nation’s most troubled banks in collaboration with Dmytro Firtash, the controversial natural gas trading billionaire and supporter of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Experts say concerns from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank rest largely on Firtash’s role in the 2008 bailout of Nadra Bank. Back then, he pledged to buy and salvage the financially collapsing bank, thereby opening the door to more than $1 billion in central bank assistance that critics insist was largely stolen or misused.
Much of the $1 billion in central bank aid issued in late 2008 after Firtash gave a guarantee to buy and salvage the bank went missing, as did the bank’s chief executive officer, Igor Gilenko, leaving the state with the bank’s still large debt obligations to their depositors.
It is estimated that Nadra owes more than $3 billion overall to government, individual depositors and commercial entities.
Under the new bailout proposal, Ukraine’s government would receive a controlling 50 percent plus one share stake in Nadra in exchange for a $613 million cash infusion. An additional $613 million would be provided by Firtash’s Group DF in return for the rest of the shares in the bank, which was put under central bank control soon after the global financial crisis struck in late 2008.
Purported excerpts from a joint letter from the IMF and World Bank warning against the move began leaking onto the Internet on May 26 – the day after the government’s bank recapitalization committee endorsed the proposal.
“Absent a satisfactory analysis supporting a different decision, our recommendation has been to minimize public costs by resolving Nadra through liquidation,” the World Bank said on June 1.
“International financial institutions and investors don’t like the look of the deal or the fact that Firtash is involved,” said Oleksandr Zholud, a banking specialist for the Kyiv-based International Center of Policy Studies. “They don’t think it would be fair for Firtash to have a role in managing the affairs of the bank.”
Once ranked as one of Ukraine’s top 10 banks, Nadra collapsed like a house of cards when the global financial crisis swept across the globe in hurricane fashion. Its ownership before the crisis remains hazy, and no high level officials have been brought to justice for alleged wrongdoing or mismanagement of the bank.
While prime minister last year, Yulia Tymoshenko nationalized three other troubled banks, but stopped short of nationalizing Nadra, calling instead for an investigation into massive abuses.
In December 2009, Tymoshenko said Firtash misused funds provided by the central bank to recapitalize Nadra and Rodovid Bank, one of the nationalized banks. She also suggested that Yanukovych, whose presidential candidacy was backed by Firtash, could have benefitted.
“You know that Firtash, who destroyed Rodovid Bank, is the right-hand man of [Viktor] Yanukovych, [the leader of the Party of Regions], and today he finances Yanukovych’s election campaign... The same people control Nadra Bank,” the former premier said in December 2009. She earlier called for the resignation of then President Viktor Yushchenko and National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Volodymyr Stelmakh for botching the central bank’s $10 billion bank recapitalization program.
Gilenko, the former Nadra Bank chief executive officer and a Russian citizen, as well as several top bank executives, disappeared from Kyiv in early 2009.
State prosecutors say they are looking for the bank officials in connection with alleged misuse of the recapitalization funds. But no investigation has focused on Firtash, who claims Tymoshenko has waged a politically-motivated campaign against him by cutting him out of the lucrative Russia-Ukraine gas trade and destroying the reputation of Nadra through a smear campaign.
Experts say concerns from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank rest largely on Firtash’s role in the 2008 bailout of Nadra Bank. Back then, he pledged to buy and salvage the financially collapsing bank, thereby opening the door to more than $1 billion in central bank assistance that critics insist was largely stolen or misused.
Much of the $1 billion in central bank aid issued in late 2008 after Firtash gave a guarantee to buy and salvage the bank went missing, as did the bank’s chief executive officer, Igor Gilenko, leaving the state with the bank’s still large debt obligations to their depositors.
It is estimated that Nadra owes more than $3 billion overall to government, individual depositors and commercial entities.
Under the new bailout proposal, Ukraine’s government would receive a controlling 50 percent plus one share stake in Nadra in exchange for a $613 million cash infusion. An additional $613 million would be provided by Firtash’s Group DF in return for the rest of the shares in the bank, which was put under central bank control soon after the global financial crisis struck in late 2008.
Purported excerpts from a joint letter from the IMF and World Bank warning against the move began leaking onto the Internet on May 26 – the day after the government’s bank recapitalization committee endorsed the proposal.
“Absent a satisfactory analysis supporting a different decision, our recommendation has been to minimize public costs by resolving Nadra through liquidation,” the World Bank said on June 1.
“International financial institutions and investors don’t like the look of the deal or the fact that Firtash is involved,” said Oleksandr Zholud, a banking specialist for the Kyiv-based International Center of Policy Studies. “They don’t think it would be fair for Firtash to have a role in managing the affairs of the bank.”
Once ranked as one of Ukraine’s top 10 banks, Nadra collapsed like a house of cards when the global financial crisis swept across the globe in hurricane fashion. Its ownership before the crisis remains hazy, and no high level officials have been brought to justice for alleged wrongdoing or mismanagement of the bank.
While prime minister last year, Yulia Tymoshenko nationalized three other troubled banks, but stopped short of nationalizing Nadra, calling instead for an investigation into massive abuses.
In December 2009, Tymoshenko said Firtash misused funds provided by the central bank to recapitalize Nadra and Rodovid Bank, one of the nationalized banks. She also suggested that Yanukovych, whose presidential candidacy was backed by Firtash, could have benefitted.
“You know that Firtash, who destroyed Rodovid Bank, is the right-hand man of [Viktor] Yanukovych, [the leader of the Party of Regions], and today he finances Yanukovych’s election campaign... The same people control Nadra Bank,” the former premier said in December 2009. She earlier called for the resignation of then President Viktor Yushchenko and National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Volodymyr Stelmakh for botching the central bank’s $10 billion bank recapitalization program.
Gilenko, the former Nadra Bank chief executive officer and a Russian citizen, as well as several top bank executives, disappeared from Kyiv in early 2009.
State prosecutors say they are looking for the bank officials in connection with alleged misuse of the recapitalization funds. But no investigation has focused on Firtash, who claims Tymoshenko has waged a politically-motivated campaign against him by cutting him out of the lucrative Russia-Ukraine gas trade and destroying the reputation of Nadra through a smear campaign.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Tigipko ‘Hopes’ To Persuade IMF To Make Delayed Ukraine Visit
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tigipko said the International Monetary Fund has delayed a visit to Ukraine because the government has yet to show it can meet the fund’s budgetary conditions.
Tigipko, who on April 29 said the mission would arrive at the beginning of this week, told reporters in Kiev today the government “still has to prove its budgetary sources.
The international organizations do not believe that the government can raise enough revenue. But the dynamics we have now show that we will be able to get the revenue.” He said he hopes to persuade the IMF team to come.
Ukraine has agreed a loan with the Washington-based fund to replace its two-year $16.4 billion credit approved in late 2008, Tigipko said last month. The IMF may lend Ukraine $19 billion in a 2 1/2-year program, according to Tigipko.
The fund says the government has yet to fulfill budgetary and financial terms of its existing program and hasn’t confirmed the new loan.
The former Soviet state has received $10.6 billion of the IMF’s current arrangement.
Ukraine wants a tranche in June and is working to obtain as much as $4 billion, Iryna Akimova, the first deputy of President Viktor Yanukovych’s staff, said on May 15.
Tigipko, who on April 29 said the mission would arrive at the beginning of this week, told reporters in Kiev today the government “still has to prove its budgetary sources.
The international organizations do not believe that the government can raise enough revenue. But the dynamics we have now show that we will be able to get the revenue.” He said he hopes to persuade the IMF team to come.
Ukraine has agreed a loan with the Washington-based fund to replace its two-year $16.4 billion credit approved in late 2008, Tigipko said last month. The IMF may lend Ukraine $19 billion in a 2 1/2-year program, according to Tigipko.
The fund says the government has yet to fulfill budgetary and financial terms of its existing program and hasn’t confirmed the new loan.
The former Soviet state has received $10.6 billion of the IMF’s current arrangement.
Ukraine wants a tranche in June and is working to obtain as much as $4 billion, Iryna Akimova, the first deputy of President Viktor Yanukovych’s staff, said on May 15.
Monday, 12 April 2010
Deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in goods in first two months shrinks by 7.8%
he deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in commodities January through February 2010 was estimated at $656.3 million, which was 7.8% down on the same period of 2009, the State Statistics Committee reported on Monday. The export of goods from Ukraine in the first two months grew by 24.7%, to $6.396 billion, while the import of goods rose by 20.7%, to $7.053 billion.
The committee said that the ratio of the coverage of imports by exports over the period under review increased to 0.91 compared to 0.88 in the same period last year.
The committee said that the export of goods from Ukraine in February 2010 alone rose by 25.7% from February 2009, to $3.385 billion, while the import of goods fell by 1.9%, to $3.727 billion, which is connected with the fact that gas payments last year varied widely.
In the end, the deficit of foreign trade in commodities in February plunged by 3.2 times, to $341.3 million.
As the committee said, the largest consignments of goods January through February were exported to Russia (24.1% of overall exports), Turkey (6.4%), Italy (3.8%), Germany, Belarus, and India (3.4% each), and Poland (3%).
The largest consignments of goods in the first two months were imported from Russia (39.7%), China (7.6%), Germany (6.9%), Poland (3.9%), Belarus (3%), Italy (2.8%), and Azerbaijan (2.6%).
The committee said that the ratio of the coverage of imports by exports over the period under review increased to 0.91 compared to 0.88 in the same period last year.
The committee said that the export of goods from Ukraine in February 2010 alone rose by 25.7% from February 2009, to $3.385 billion, while the import of goods fell by 1.9%, to $3.727 billion, which is connected with the fact that gas payments last year varied widely.
In the end, the deficit of foreign trade in commodities in February plunged by 3.2 times, to $341.3 million.
As the committee said, the largest consignments of goods January through February were exported to Russia (24.1% of overall exports), Turkey (6.4%), Italy (3.8%), Germany, Belarus, and India (3.4% each), and Poland (3%).
The largest consignments of goods in the first two months were imported from Russia (39.7%), China (7.6%), Germany (6.9%), Poland (3.9%), Belarus (3%), Italy (2.8%), and Azerbaijan (2.6%).
Friday, 2 April 2010
Russia Says Ukraine Can Ask EVRAZES Fund For Cash
MOSCOW, Russia -- Cash-strapped Ukraine is welcome to join the anti-crisis fund organised by ex-Soviet countries and apply for money, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Thursday.
The EVRAZES group of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have created a $10 billion fund to help them and their neighbours weather the global financial crisis.
"I have today confirmed that ... all CIS countries are invited to join the EVRAZES anti-crisis fund, and that includes Ukraine," Kudrin told reporters after meeting with his CIS peers.
"After that Ukraine will be able to receive money from that fund."
He added that Ukraine was the only country in the CIS to experience problems with economic growth in the first quarter of the year.
Ukraine's economy shrank 15 percent last year and its banking sector was rocked in 2008 after the hryvnia currency lost almost half of its value to the dollar, following a plunge in vital steel and chemical exports.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund is pressing Ukraine's government to justify its 2010 budget deficit estimate of 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) before it would be ready to resume a $16.4 billion bailout programme that was suspended last year.
Prior to the creation of the EVRAZES fund, Russia - the holder of the world's third largest reserves worth around $440 billion - had helped out some of the friendly former Soviet republics such as Belarus with loans.
But until recently, relations with Ukraine had been strained. The election of the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich as Ukrainian president in February, however, raised hopes in Moscow that ties could be rebuilt.
Kudrin also welcomed CIS countries placing their sovereign bonds and syndicated loans on the Russian debt market, taking advantage of its good liquidity.
CIS finance ministers and central bankers also discussed the possibility of greater use of Russian rouble and other national currencies in bilateral trade and transactions.
Their regulators are currently looking at ways of simplifying the process, including the publication of cross-rates for the currencies involved, Kudrin said.
Most of Russia's trade with Belarus is already settled in Russian roubles, he added.
The EVRAZES group of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have created a $10 billion fund to help them and their neighbours weather the global financial crisis.
"I have today confirmed that ... all CIS countries are invited to join the EVRAZES anti-crisis fund, and that includes Ukraine," Kudrin told reporters after meeting with his CIS peers.
"After that Ukraine will be able to receive money from that fund."
He added that Ukraine was the only country in the CIS to experience problems with economic growth in the first quarter of the year.
Ukraine's economy shrank 15 percent last year and its banking sector was rocked in 2008 after the hryvnia currency lost almost half of its value to the dollar, following a plunge in vital steel and chemical exports.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund is pressing Ukraine's government to justify its 2010 budget deficit estimate of 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) before it would be ready to resume a $16.4 billion bailout programme that was suspended last year.
Prior to the creation of the EVRAZES fund, Russia - the holder of the world's third largest reserves worth around $440 billion - had helped out some of the friendly former Soviet republics such as Belarus with loans.
But until recently, relations with Ukraine had been strained. The election of the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich as Ukrainian president in February, however, raised hopes in Moscow that ties could be rebuilt.
Kudrin also welcomed CIS countries placing their sovereign bonds and syndicated loans on the Russian debt market, taking advantage of its good liquidity.
CIS finance ministers and central bankers also discussed the possibility of greater use of Russian rouble and other national currencies in bilateral trade and transactions.
Their regulators are currently looking at ways of simplifying the process, including the publication of cross-rates for the currencies involved, Kudrin said.
Most of Russia's trade with Belarus is already settled in Russian roubles, he added.
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Azarov: construction of projects with over 70% readiness in Kyiv should be finished by late 2010
Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov has instructed Regional Development and Construction Minister Volodymyr Yatsuba to take the issue of completion of construction of projects with the readiness of over 70% under his control.
The cabinet's department for public relations reported that Azarov gave the instructions at a meeting with the leadership of Kyiv city administration and heads of central executive power bodies devoted to the settling of urgent problems of Kyiv's development and provision for the city's vital needs.
"Volodymyr Hryhorievych [Yatsuba], take under control mainly projects with the readiness of 80%, maybe, 70% and more - those that could be finished this year in case of allocation of funds, or at the worst, in Q1-Q2, 2011," the prime minister said.
Azarov added that a rational approach to the solving of top-priority tasks is important today in the construction sphere.
The cabinet's department for public relations reported that Azarov gave the instructions at a meeting with the leadership of Kyiv city administration and heads of central executive power bodies devoted to the settling of urgent problems of Kyiv's development and provision for the city's vital needs.
"Volodymyr Hryhorievych [Yatsuba], take under control mainly projects with the readiness of 80%, maybe, 70% and more - those that could be finished this year in case of allocation of funds, or at the worst, in Q1-Q2, 2011," the prime minister said.
Azarov added that a rational approach to the solving of top-priority tasks is important today in the construction sphere.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Cabinet of Ministers will not raise taxes In 2010
The Cabinet of Ministers does not intend to raise taxes in 2010.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov announced this during a visit to Donetsk.
"Various measures connected with tax increases will not be taken this year. That is definite. We have no need for this and, most importantly, it is not economically expedient to continue the policy that was implemented last year. There should be no further increases in taxes. Therefore, we will approach these issues very carefully," he said.
According to him, the main task facing the Cabinet of Ministers is revival of the domestic market.
"We will support everything that will revive the domestic market," Azarov said.
According to him, Ukraine also needs to create a large middle class, thus reducing the gap between the poor and the rich sections of the pollution.
"That is an economic requirement. If we want the economy to be stable, our task is to ensure that most of the people are prosperous. We will do everything that will lead to realization of this task," Azarov said.
According to him, economic reforms will be implemented in a way that will ensure that the interests of the most vulnerable sections of the population are only marginally affected.
"The rich should share with the poor. That is definite. What is the mechanism for that? I have already proposed that our colleagues in the Economy Ministry calculate the number of expensive automobiles that are imported into Ukraine. If anyone cannot do without them, well, let the person pay five times the cost, for example," Azarov said.
He added that the Cabinet of Ministers was drafting other methods for reducing the social gap.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Azarov has forecast that a new Tax Code will come into effect on January 1, 2011.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov announced this during a visit to Donetsk.
"Various measures connected with tax increases will not be taken this year. That is definite. We have no need for this and, most importantly, it is not economically expedient to continue the policy that was implemented last year. There should be no further increases in taxes. Therefore, we will approach these issues very carefully," he said.
According to him, the main task facing the Cabinet of Ministers is revival of the domestic market.
"We will support everything that will revive the domestic market," Azarov said.
According to him, Ukraine also needs to create a large middle class, thus reducing the gap between the poor and the rich sections of the pollution.
"That is an economic requirement. If we want the economy to be stable, our task is to ensure that most of the people are prosperous. We will do everything that will lead to realization of this task," Azarov said.
According to him, economic reforms will be implemented in a way that will ensure that the interests of the most vulnerable sections of the population are only marginally affected.
"The rich should share with the poor. That is definite. What is the mechanism for that? I have already proposed that our colleagues in the Economy Ministry calculate the number of expensive automobiles that are imported into Ukraine. If anyone cannot do without them, well, let the person pay five times the cost, for example," Azarov said.
He added that the Cabinet of Ministers was drafting other methods for reducing the social gap.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Azarov has forecast that a new Tax Code will come into effect on January 1, 2011.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Lviv expects Hr 363 million from government for construction of airport
The Cabinet of Ministers intends to assign Hr 363 million to construction of a terminal of the Lviv international airport.
Ukrainian News has learned this from a representative of Lviv city council.
According to the representative, Acting Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasiunyk promised to allocate the funds.
Chairman of the city council added that the Cabinet intents to finance construction of the terminal until the investor is found.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on March 2, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed Lviv regional state administration to purchase works over the construction of a terminal of the Lviv international airport via tenders with one bidder and without preliminary agreement with the Economy Ministry.
Ukrainian News has learned this from a representative of Lviv city council.
According to the representative, Acting Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasiunyk promised to allocate the funds.
Chairman of the city council added that the Cabinet intents to finance construction of the terminal until the investor is found.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on March 2, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed Lviv regional state administration to purchase works over the construction of a terminal of the Lviv international airport via tenders with one bidder and without preliminary agreement with the Economy Ministry.
Ukraine May Join Unified Economic Space On WTO Terms - Yanukovych
MOSCOW, Russia -- Ukraine will join the Unified Economic Space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan only on the conditions of the World Trade Organization, President Viktor Yanukovych said on Saturday.
"We have fallen far behind in this process [the creation of the economic space]," Yanukovych said in an interview with Russia's Vesti TV channel.
In December 2009, the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan agreed to create a single economic space by January 1, 2012. The Customs Union of the three countries started working on January 1, 2010.
"Moreover, Ukraine joined the WTO [in 2008] and now may join this space only on the WTO conditions. We wish our partners to join the WTO as soon as possible," Yanukovych said adding that Ukraine's entry to the Unified Economic Space remains relevant.
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan intended to establish the Unified Economic Space back in 2003. The process stalled due to Ukraine's position that favored the creation of a free trade zone within the single space but did not want to join the Customs Union. When Viktor Yushchenko took office in 2005, the negotiations were suspended.
"We have fallen far behind in this process [the creation of the economic space]," Yanukovych said in an interview with Russia's Vesti TV channel.
In December 2009, the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan agreed to create a single economic space by January 1, 2012. The Customs Union of the three countries started working on January 1, 2010.
"Moreover, Ukraine joined the WTO [in 2008] and now may join this space only on the WTO conditions. We wish our partners to join the WTO as soon as possible," Yanukovych said adding that Ukraine's entry to the Unified Economic Space remains relevant.
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan intended to establish the Unified Economic Space back in 2003. The process stalled due to Ukraine's position that favored the creation of a free trade zone within the single space but did not want to join the Customs Union. When Viktor Yushchenko took office in 2005, the negotiations were suspended.
Saturday, 27 February 2010
Ukraine may become world's sixth biggest arms trader
The output of Ukrainian defense plants grew by 58% in 2009, which would unable Ukraine to rank as the world's sixth largest arms trader, the Ukrainian Industrial Policy Ministry's Defense Sector Agency said.
The largest growth was reported by aircraft builders (77%), shipbuilders (71%) and producers of armaments and military hardware (16%).
Ukraine signed a record number of large contracts last year, representatives of the Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies Center said in an interview published by the Saturday issue of the Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly) newspaper.
"The portfolio of orders of Ukrspetsexport and subsidiaries ensures a substantial growth of annual arms exports for the next two or three years. There are contracts to modernize Antonov An-32 military cargo planes for India [with the cost exceeding $400 million], to deliver a batch of Zubr small air-cushion landing ships to China [$315 million], to supply six Antonov An-32 [about $100 million) and 420 BTR-4 armored personnel carriers to Iraq, and to bring a large number of armored personnel carriers to Thailand," the experts said.
"There are large deliveries of Zorya Mashproyekt gas-turbines to the Indian Navy [for Russian-made frigates and national destroyers of Projects R15A and R15B supplied earlier] and the delivery of 100 AI-20 5 engines to the Indian Air Force [about $110 million]," the experts said.
The contracts upgraded the Ukrainian position. It may become the world's sixth biggest arms seller after the United States, Russia, France, Germany and Israel.
The largest growth was reported by aircraft builders (77%), shipbuilders (71%) and producers of armaments and military hardware (16%).
Ukraine signed a record number of large contracts last year, representatives of the Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies Center said in an interview published by the Saturday issue of the Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly) newspaper.
"The portfolio of orders of Ukrspetsexport and subsidiaries ensures a substantial growth of annual arms exports for the next two or three years. There are contracts to modernize Antonov An-32 military cargo planes for India [with the cost exceeding $400 million], to deliver a batch of Zubr small air-cushion landing ships to China [$315 million], to supply six Antonov An-32 [about $100 million) and 420 BTR-4 armored personnel carriers to Iraq, and to bring a large number of armored personnel carriers to Thailand," the experts said.
"There are large deliveries of Zorya Mashproyekt gas-turbines to the Indian Navy [for Russian-made frigates and national destroyers of Projects R15A and R15B supplied earlier] and the delivery of 100 AI-20 5 engines to the Indian Air Force [about $110 million]," the experts said.
The contracts upgraded the Ukrainian position. It may become the world's sixth biggest arms seller after the United States, Russia, France, Germany and Israel.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Ukraine could avoid default
Ukraine's public finances will continue to be under pressure during 2010 in the absence of more rigorous reforms to both the energy sector and the pension system, according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. "However, even though the budget for 2010 is still undecided and the second round of presidential elections has yet to take place, Standard & Poor's remains of the opinion that default is far from inevitable," reads a company review.
Monday, 25 January 2010
Fuel ministry proposes TVEL and Westinghouse participate in tender to construct nuclear fuel plant
The tender commission at the Fuel and Energy Ministry of Ukraine to select a technology supplier and partner for the construction of a nuclear fuel plant has directed proposals to participate in a tender to Russia's TVEL and U.S. Westinghouse, Fuel Minister Yuriy Prodan told journalists during his working trip to Zhytomyr region on January 25. "The commission has developed tender proposals and sent them to the companies dealing with the technology of fuel element production for our reactors," he said.Earlier, Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko by his order put into effect a decision of the National Security and Defence Council, due to which the fuel ministry was obliged to conduct a tender to select technology and partners for the construction of a nuclear fuel plant in Ukraine. The National Security and Defence Council in its decision partially the defined criteria for selecting a potential partner for the plant's construction.Prodan in November 2009 said that a tender to select the technology supplier for the nuclear fuel plant construction is to be conducted by April 1, 2010.As reported, Ukraine announced plans to launch a plant to produce nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants in 2015. Currently Energoatom is discussing two proposals on the building of the plant: one from Russia's TVEL and the other from Westinghouse (the United States).
Monday, 11 January 2010
Hryvnia exchange rate at Hr 6/$1 is unrealistic
An exchange rate of the national currency against the U.S. dollar at Hr 6/$1 is unrealistic, finance minister of the shadow government and Regions Party MP Mykola Azarov has said. "When somebody speaks about a rate of Hr 6 [per U.S. dollar], it's the same as [saying you can] fly to the moon without a rocket," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Jan. 11.Azarov said such claims by government officials were not in line with the country's real economic situation.As reported, incumbent Ukrainian Prime Minister and candidate for the presidency Yulia Tymoshenko has repeatedly said that if she wins the presidential election, the exchange rate of the national currency will not exceed UAH 6.50/$1.
Friday, 1 January 2010
2009: Ukraine Becomes World's Third Largest Grain Exporter
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's grain harvest will exceed 49 million tonnes in 2009, country's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said.
To date, the harvest is about 48.5 million tonnes, she said at a news conference yesterday, adding, "I think that it will be slightly more than 49 million tonnes."Timoshenko associated the aforesaid achievements amid the economic crisis with the governmental funding of the agricultural sector."We created an agrarian fund, as banks had stopped crediting farmers," the Ukrainian prime minister said."In 2009, Ukraine first ever became the world's third grain exporter after the United States and the European Union, outstripping Russia and Canada," Timoshenko stressed.She also reported about the increase of the state grain reserves to 1.416 million tonnes in 2009 from 724,000 tonnes in 2008.In 2008, Ukraine's grain harvest amounted to 53.3 million tonnes and was the biggest for the years of its independence.
To date, the harvest is about 48.5 million tonnes, she said at a news conference yesterday, adding, "I think that it will be slightly more than 49 million tonnes."Timoshenko associated the aforesaid achievements amid the economic crisis with the governmental funding of the agricultural sector."We created an agrarian fund, as banks had stopped crediting farmers," the Ukrainian prime minister said."In 2009, Ukraine first ever became the world's third grain exporter after the United States and the European Union, outstripping Russia and Canada," Timoshenko stressed.She also reported about the increase of the state grain reserves to 1.416 million tonnes in 2009 from 724,000 tonnes in 2008.In 2008, Ukraine's grain harvest amounted to 53.3 million tonnes and was the biggest for the years of its independence.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Ukraine's Orange Revolution Sours
KIEV, Ukraine -- Five years after Victor Yushchenko became the disfigured face of the Orange Revolution, it is tempting to believe the conspiracy theories that he was never actually poisoned at all.
The skin that was once hideously pockmarked is gradually recovering, and with the help of make-up, there is little sign of the attack that nearly killed him back in 2004. Indeed, were it not for the blood tests that confirmed the presence of lethal dioxin poisons, the wear and tear on his cheeks might be simply the strains of steering Ukraine away from Russia's grasp and towards the West.To this day, though, the Ukrainian president remains "vigilant" about his personal security - not that he thinks there was anything particularly personal about the original attack, which was blamed on pro-Kremlin political rivals. Whoever wins next month's presidential elections will find themselves in the firing line, he says, if they try to take Ukraine down the same path he has done."It was not about me, Yushchenko," he said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last week. "Ukraine was proving a bad example for Russia, and a good example for Europe, and that was the problem. Irrespective of the name of the next president, if he or she is a democrat, a pro-European politician, they will have similar problems."One other thing, however, also looks certain - that new president is unlikely to be Mr Yushchenko. The man once hailed as democracy's battle-scarred posterboy is trailing far behind in the contest, scraping just single figures in some polls. After personifying the hopes of the Orange Revolution five years ago, he now symbolises the way its glow has faded, having failed to secure either European Union or Nato membership.It marks a sour end to what began as a Christmas political fairy tale five years ago, when Mr Yushchenko and his glamorous blonde ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, formed a kind of "Beauty and the Beast" alliance against the Moscow-favoured Viktor Yanukovych.When Mr Yanukovych triumphed in what was seen as a rigged presidential election, Kiev's Independence Square filled with half a million protestors, who camped out night after night in sub-zero temperatures.People power finally triumphed when Ukraine's supreme court ordered the vote to be re-run on Boxing Day, ushering in Mr Yushchenko as president and Ms Tymoshenko as prime minister.Last week, though, the unusually early cold snap that covered the square's Stalinist-era architecture with thick snow was the only reminder of those euphoric days. Mr Yushchenko and Mrs Tymoshenko, once iconised in Time and Elle magazines respectively, have proved unable to get along, leading the government into paralysis.That, in turn, has stymied efforts at economic and political reform, and convinced Brussels bureaucrats - already suffering from enlargement fatigue - that Kiev's government is far from ready for EU membership. To complete the drift back to square one, Mr Yanukovych - the man painted as the pro-Kremlin villain from the last elections - is favourite to win again this time, with or without fraud.Moscow, which viewed 2004's turmoil as a Western-inspired coup d'etat in its backyard, looks on gleefully.If it is dispiriting for the Orange Revolution's figureheads, it is even more so for its student-based grassroots support, who were originally denounced as CIA-backed subversives when they threw their weight behind Mr Yushchenko's moderate Our Ukraine party. Nazar Pervak recalls how he was shown on government television as an aggressive young rabble-rouser, causing a rift with his father, a judge."It was extremely cold, like it is out there now," said Mr Pervak, 27, sipping coffee in an Independence Square cafe. "But it was very exciting - shopkeepers gave free food and clothes, businessmen even paid for hotels for protesters who came in from outside Kiev."Today, though, I feel very disillusioned, because we didn't use the great chance we had properly. Integration with Europe did not come true either. Now Western Europe simply accepts that Ukraine is now under Russia's influence."So what went wrong? Critics pin some blame on Mr Yushchenko, who failed to use his momentum to give the Augean stables of Ukrainian politics the Herculean spring clean it needed. Parliament remains full of corrupt, criminal MPs, whose punch-ups in the chamber rival those of Ukraine's legendary boxing duo, Klitschko brothers.Thanks to constitutional wrangling and a problem with "electoral tourism", whereby politicians switch allegiances in exchange for favours, it is also hard to get much done.The Yushchenko-Tymoshenko alliance was also forged more on a mutual dislike of Moscow than on any common policies, and over time, they have even parted company on that. Ms Tymoshenko now favours patching things up with Russia, a move seen as a betrayal by Mr Yushchenko, whose relations with the Kremlin are worse than ever.In August, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev withdrew Moscow's ambassador to Kiev, accusing Mr Yushchenko of being "anti-Russian". In an echo of the Litvinenko case in Britain, Moscow also refuses to extradite a suspect in the poisoning plot who moved to Russia.Many Ukrainians also question whether Ms Tymoshenko or Mr Yushchenko really merited their Orange halos in the first place. Ms Tymoshenko, despite her pretty face, is seen as a quarrelsome opportunist, while Mr Yushchenko, although viewed as competent and honest, comes across as slightly plodding.Certainly, interviewing him is not like meeting some Eastern European Tony Blair - he is prone to monologues rather than soundbites, and reluctant to concede fault.Asked why his popularity has slipped so badly, he responds firstly by insisting that he is still going to win, and then by reciting economic growth statistics at length. When The Sunday Telegraph tries to interrupt after five minutes, he tuts and continuing regardless."Last year 23 million tourist visited Ukraine. This figure was 21 million for Turkey. One million Ukrainians travelled to Europe last year, two times more than 2007..." The list goes on and on, reminiscent - to Western ears at least - of Communist-era reports on annual tractor production.Mr Yuschchenko is also under fire for campaigns to demolish all Soviet-era monuments, and to get the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, when up ten million Ukrainians died, recognised internationally as a Stalin-sponsored genocide. Not only does it seem like a diversion from more immediate problems, it alienates some of the 20 per cent of Ukrainians who are ethnic Russians, who do not share his anomisity to Moscow anyway."The nationalist Ukrainians are trying to divide people into Ukrainian and Russian," said Viktor Knyazev, 31, an adviser in an import-export firm. "Other people died in that famine too, not just Ukrainians.""Both Stalin and Lenin were negative figures, but at least they managed to keep order," added his wife Larisa, 28, who, like her husband, wants Mr Yanukovic back in power. "Why can't we have good relations with Russia?"As things stand, the vote on January 17 is expected to end in a run-off between Mr Yanukovych and Ms Tymoshenko, heralding a gradual thaw with Moscow. Yet despite having the same old faces to vote for, the youthful Orange Revolutionaries are not entirely despondent."There is a total disbelief in these candidates," admitted former activist Dmitry Yurchenko, 27. "But the Orange Revolution did at least change attitudes to politicians - there is a free media now, and people realise they can demand things if they want."What is really needed, they argue, is for a new post-Orange Revolution generation of voters, devoid of the "Post-Soviet" mentality that does not readily question political leaders, and expects them to be omnipotent. "Once Yushchenko was in power, Ukrainians thought everything would simply change," said Mr Pervak. "They don't take responsibility themselves."Mr Yushchenko, meanwhile, may have more time to spend beekeeping, a hobby he has enjoyed since childhood. Compared with running the affairs of 47 million Ukrainians, managing the industrious populations of his hives is a relaxing task. Yet for a man who detests Stalin, it is perhaps a strange choice - after all, with their armies of loyal workers, are bees not natural communists?"No," he replies firmly. "Communists lose their ideals, they are people who bring injustice, who killed tens of millions of my people."With that, the world's only apiarist-president is off, pausing only to show an advice note from one of his junior civil servants on constitutional reform. It probably won't solve his electoral ills, but that isn't the point. In the old days, he says, no lowly functionary would dare tell the president how to do his job. "That's the Orange Revolution for you."
The skin that was once hideously pockmarked is gradually recovering, and with the help of make-up, there is little sign of the attack that nearly killed him back in 2004. Indeed, were it not for the blood tests that confirmed the presence of lethal dioxin poisons, the wear and tear on his cheeks might be simply the strains of steering Ukraine away from Russia's grasp and towards the West.To this day, though, the Ukrainian president remains "vigilant" about his personal security - not that he thinks there was anything particularly personal about the original attack, which was blamed on pro-Kremlin political rivals. Whoever wins next month's presidential elections will find themselves in the firing line, he says, if they try to take Ukraine down the same path he has done."It was not about me, Yushchenko," he said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last week. "Ukraine was proving a bad example for Russia, and a good example for Europe, and that was the problem. Irrespective of the name of the next president, if he or she is a democrat, a pro-European politician, they will have similar problems."One other thing, however, also looks certain - that new president is unlikely to be Mr Yushchenko. The man once hailed as democracy's battle-scarred posterboy is trailing far behind in the contest, scraping just single figures in some polls. After personifying the hopes of the Orange Revolution five years ago, he now symbolises the way its glow has faded, having failed to secure either European Union or Nato membership.It marks a sour end to what began as a Christmas political fairy tale five years ago, when Mr Yushchenko and his glamorous blonde ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, formed a kind of "Beauty and the Beast" alliance against the Moscow-favoured Viktor Yanukovych.When Mr Yanukovych triumphed in what was seen as a rigged presidential election, Kiev's Independence Square filled with half a million protestors, who camped out night after night in sub-zero temperatures.People power finally triumphed when Ukraine's supreme court ordered the vote to be re-run on Boxing Day, ushering in Mr Yushchenko as president and Ms Tymoshenko as prime minister.Last week, though, the unusually early cold snap that covered the square's Stalinist-era architecture with thick snow was the only reminder of those euphoric days. Mr Yushchenko and Mrs Tymoshenko, once iconised in Time and Elle magazines respectively, have proved unable to get along, leading the government into paralysis.That, in turn, has stymied efforts at economic and political reform, and convinced Brussels bureaucrats - already suffering from enlargement fatigue - that Kiev's government is far from ready for EU membership. To complete the drift back to square one, Mr Yanukovych - the man painted as the pro-Kremlin villain from the last elections - is favourite to win again this time, with or without fraud.Moscow, which viewed 2004's turmoil as a Western-inspired coup d'etat in its backyard, looks on gleefully.If it is dispiriting for the Orange Revolution's figureheads, it is even more so for its student-based grassroots support, who were originally denounced as CIA-backed subversives when they threw their weight behind Mr Yushchenko's moderate Our Ukraine party. Nazar Pervak recalls how he was shown on government television as an aggressive young rabble-rouser, causing a rift with his father, a judge."It was extremely cold, like it is out there now," said Mr Pervak, 27, sipping coffee in an Independence Square cafe. "But it was very exciting - shopkeepers gave free food and clothes, businessmen even paid for hotels for protesters who came in from outside Kiev."Today, though, I feel very disillusioned, because we didn't use the great chance we had properly. Integration with Europe did not come true either. Now Western Europe simply accepts that Ukraine is now under Russia's influence."So what went wrong? Critics pin some blame on Mr Yushchenko, who failed to use his momentum to give the Augean stables of Ukrainian politics the Herculean spring clean it needed. Parliament remains full of corrupt, criminal MPs, whose punch-ups in the chamber rival those of Ukraine's legendary boxing duo, Klitschko brothers.Thanks to constitutional wrangling and a problem with "electoral tourism", whereby politicians switch allegiances in exchange for favours, it is also hard to get much done.The Yushchenko-Tymoshenko alliance was also forged more on a mutual dislike of Moscow than on any common policies, and over time, they have even parted company on that. Ms Tymoshenko now favours patching things up with Russia, a move seen as a betrayal by Mr Yushchenko, whose relations with the Kremlin are worse than ever.In August, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev withdrew Moscow's ambassador to Kiev, accusing Mr Yushchenko of being "anti-Russian". In an echo of the Litvinenko case in Britain, Moscow also refuses to extradite a suspect in the poisoning plot who moved to Russia.Many Ukrainians also question whether Ms Tymoshenko or Mr Yushchenko really merited their Orange halos in the first place. Ms Tymoshenko, despite her pretty face, is seen as a quarrelsome opportunist, while Mr Yushchenko, although viewed as competent and honest, comes across as slightly plodding.Certainly, interviewing him is not like meeting some Eastern European Tony Blair - he is prone to monologues rather than soundbites, and reluctant to concede fault.Asked why his popularity has slipped so badly, he responds firstly by insisting that he is still going to win, and then by reciting economic growth statistics at length. When The Sunday Telegraph tries to interrupt after five minutes, he tuts and continuing regardless."Last year 23 million tourist visited Ukraine. This figure was 21 million for Turkey. One million Ukrainians travelled to Europe last year, two times more than 2007..." The list goes on and on, reminiscent - to Western ears at least - of Communist-era reports on annual tractor production.Mr Yuschchenko is also under fire for campaigns to demolish all Soviet-era monuments, and to get the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, when up ten million Ukrainians died, recognised internationally as a Stalin-sponsored genocide. Not only does it seem like a diversion from more immediate problems, it alienates some of the 20 per cent of Ukrainians who are ethnic Russians, who do not share his anomisity to Moscow anyway."The nationalist Ukrainians are trying to divide people into Ukrainian and Russian," said Viktor Knyazev, 31, an adviser in an import-export firm. "Other people died in that famine too, not just Ukrainians.""Both Stalin and Lenin were negative figures, but at least they managed to keep order," added his wife Larisa, 28, who, like her husband, wants Mr Yanukovic back in power. "Why can't we have good relations with Russia?"As things stand, the vote on January 17 is expected to end in a run-off between Mr Yanukovych and Ms Tymoshenko, heralding a gradual thaw with Moscow. Yet despite having the same old faces to vote for, the youthful Orange Revolutionaries are not entirely despondent."There is a total disbelief in these candidates," admitted former activist Dmitry Yurchenko, 27. "But the Orange Revolution did at least change attitudes to politicians - there is a free media now, and people realise they can demand things if they want."What is really needed, they argue, is for a new post-Orange Revolution generation of voters, devoid of the "Post-Soviet" mentality that does not readily question political leaders, and expects them to be omnipotent. "Once Yushchenko was in power, Ukrainians thought everything would simply change," said Mr Pervak. "They don't take responsibility themselves."Mr Yushchenko, meanwhile, may have more time to spend beekeeping, a hobby he has enjoyed since childhood. Compared with running the affairs of 47 million Ukrainians, managing the industrious populations of his hives is a relaxing task. Yet for a man who detests Stalin, it is perhaps a strange choice - after all, with their armies of loyal workers, are bees not natural communists?"No," he replies firmly. "Communists lose their ideals, they are people who bring injustice, who killed tens of millions of my people."With that, the world's only apiarist-president is off, pausing only to show an advice note from one of his junior civil servants on constitutional reform. It probably won't solve his electoral ills, but that isn't the point. In the old days, he says, no lowly functionary would dare tell the president how to do his job. "That's the Orange Revolution for you."
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