Ukraine's ambassador to U.S. meets with new president of OPIC
Embassy of Ukraine
WASHINGTON - Ambassador Yuri Shcherbak met in Washington with George Munos, the new president of the Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), who informed the Ukrainian envoy that American investors are closely observing election campaign developments in Ukraine and are pinning their hopes on a new Ukrainian Parliament's ability to improve Ukraine's investment climate.
The new OPIC president also expressed his intention to continue collaborating with Ukraine in drafting and implementing joint projects and insuring U.S. private capital investment in Ukraine.
In turn, Ambassador Shcherbak encouraged OPIC to continue and increase efforts to support investment processes in Ukraine. He also informed the OPIC president about the most recent developments in Ukraine's socio-political and economic situation and the electoral campaign.
Dr. Shcherbak informed Mr. Munos about Ukraine's accession to Article 8 of the International Monetary Fund Agreement, which makes the hryvnia, Ukraine's national monetary unit, a convertible currency. In view of this information, Mr. Munos expressed his willingness to dispatch a team of OPIC experts to Kyiv in the second quarter of 1998 to design proposals for revising OPIC's terms for insuring American private capital investments in Ukraine against likely political risks.
During the meeting, Mr. Munos and Ambassador Shcherbak discussed prospects for setting up a joint team of experts from OPIC and Ukraine's National Agency for Reconstruction and Development to monitor Ukraine's investment environment. Ukraine's ambassador raised the issue of OPIC's likely involvement in the Kuchma-Gore Commission's activities through participation in sessions of its committee on trade and investments.
The two officials also discussed other aspects of interaction between OPIC and the Ukrainian Embassy, particularly their joint efforts to promote several major projects involving leading U.S. companies.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 1, 1998, No. 5, Vol. LXVI
| Home Page |