Kuchma-Gore Commission group meets (01/31/99)

Kuchma-Gore Commission group meets

Eastern Economist

KYIV - The agenda of the fifth meeting of the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) of the Kuchma-Gore Commission in Kyiv on January 20-22 included discussions of a number of different economic and legal issues, including the problematic resolution of disputes involving U.S. investors.

The U.S. inter-agency delegation, headed by Jan Kalicki, Department of Commerce counselor and NIS ombudsman, included representatives of the Commerce, Energy and Agriculture departments. The Ukrainian side was headed by Andriy Honcharuk, first vice minister of foreign economic relations and trade, and special government representative on trade and economic cooperation with the U.S.

Mr. Kalicki said on January 22 that the CTI meeting had covered three principal areas: creation of an action plan for trade and development, including intellectual property rights, with special attention given to the agribusiness and energy sectors; creation of another action plan for standards and certification, in particular covering telecommunications and medical equipment; and discussion of issues related to the congressional requirement for a report from the U.S. Secretary of State due February 18 on Ukraine's progress in undertaking significant economic reforms, including reform and enforcement of its civil and tax codes and resolution of disputes involving U.S. investors.

In the energy sector, the delegation stressed the need to enact production-sharing legislation to determine the allocation of natural resource production between the Ukrainian government and investors. Mr. Kalicki said this legislation has received positive support in the Verkhovna Rada and that the government has indicated its support for early passage of such a law. The first reading of the relevant draft law is scheduled for early February. U.S. Ambassador Steven Pifer remarked that, given the right investment conditions, Ukraine could double its gas production, thereby reducing its dependence on imported fuels.

On the matter of the State Department's concern over the resolution of disputes, Mr. Kalicki was less than encouraging. Though he avoided mentioning any problem cases by name, he said "In many cases, there has been a long period in which little or no action has been taken." He insisted, however, that it was still quite possible to make progress on these disputes and that in a number of cases the government itself may intercede to find resolutions. He added that while positive court rulings have been made in some of cases, the judgments have yet to be implemented, indicating the need to introduce the rule of law to Ukraine's commercial life.

The U.S. delegation stressed the need for concrete, immediate actions to demonstrate real progress in the resolution of disputes, and the Ukrainian side agreed to make efforts to that end.

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