Kuchma says Ukraine could once again be breadbasket (06/09/96)

Kuchma says Ukraine could once again be breadbasket

by Tony Leliw

LONDON - Ukraine could yet again be the breadbasket of Europe, but it needs more investment. That was the message President Leonid Kuchma gave in a recent interview on Euronews, a French-based satellite TV channel.

Mr. Kuchma berated the European Union (EU) for not providing more investment for his country. "If I am utterly frank, the U.S.A. and Canada have done far more to date than the EU. I have every reason to say so, because I do take account of economic data. I know of Europe's possibilities, whereas its declarations and actions have been for the time inadequate."

President Kuchma said if one looks at the level of investment per capita among all the republics of the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine is at the bottom of the list. "I think that Ukraine's role in European security is more valuable than one might think, given the appraisal of Western Europe."

When asked why this is so, Mr. Kuchma said that Europe had looked at Ukraine purely with a view of its relations with Russia. It had not yet awakened to the fact that Ukraine exists on the map, and this is a consequence of its shortsightedness.

Mr. Kuchma said Ukraine could yet again be the breadbasket of Europe. His own geologists had assessed Ukraine's resources at $7.3 billion - the country has all the minerals that it needs. What it lacks is investment. Another failing is that every production unit made in Ukraine needed three times more energy than in Europe.

"We will require modern technology, equipment and investment, but I cannot go to Russia for them - I can only go to the West - because Russia is aiming at the same goal basically," he said. "There is no difference between us in this respect."

The pressing problem for Ukraine, Mr. Kuchma asserted, was to develop an industrial sector that could do well domestically and abroad. A rigorous monetary policy is already in place and this is causing hardships, he noted.

Mr. Kuchma dismissed the Russian Duma's decision to revoke the legal dismantlement of the former Soviet Union, and its dreams of re-establishing some kind of empire, saying the decision had "no importance whatsoever." It did provide "food for thought" that such a mentality existed, not only "among a few individuals in Russia, but in the country as a whole."

So far as Russia's agreement with Belarus is concerned, the president of Ukraine said a similar option for Ukraine would be "utterly unacceptable." "We have already made our choice," he said. "I want the international community not just to sit back and see how things turn out. They should take into account Ukraine's point of view as a member of the international community in all its decisions."

For those sceptical about Ukraine's future, Mr. Kuchma put his cards on the table. "We need help from the international community to resolve problems like Chornobyl and the economy. We can guarantee that what has been happening will not be reversed."

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