Poland's new prime minister pays a visit on Ukraine's leaders

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who made his first visit to Kyiv on February 4 to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatolii Kinakh, and President Leonid Kuchma, said that Poland would continue to back Ukraine's position on a variety of matters, including the transit of oil and gas from Russia and Central Asia to Europe through the country.

The recently elected Polish prime minister said Warsaw fully supports completion of the Odesa-Brody-Gdansk oil pipeline project. The main part of the pipeline, which goes from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa to the Ukrainian town of Brody, located near the Polish border, is finished. However, the Polish portion of the transit line is not done, and Ukraine has yet to find a prime oil refiner or develop a consortium to provide the oil.

During a press conference after meeting with Prime Minister Kinakh, Mr. Miller said he believes a Polish consortium could be organized to provide some support, which he explained would be a direct response to Ukraine's steadfastness and determination in seeing the project through to completion.

"This is a specific signal for the Polish Ministry of Economics and to all Polish entrepreneurs to move more quickly if they wish to participate in the project," said Prime Minister Miller.

The Odesa-Brody-Gdansk line will receive more attention in March when the two heads of government will meet again at a session of the Ukraine-Polish intergovernmental commission on economic development. Prime Minister Miller said trade turnover between the two countries, which today stands at a paltry $1.2 billion, must be increased considerably. To that end, the commission meeting would consider further liberalization in the trade regime between the countries and the removal of additional barriers, including simplification of customs procedures, development of an effective system of insurance and credits for trade operations, and the deepening of investment cooperation.

The two prime ministers also discussed a controversial Russian plan to build a natural gas pipeline that would circumvent Ukraine. During his recent visit to Warsaw, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to obtain Poland's approval for the project, in which a transit route through Belarus would allow Russia to avoid sending its gas through Ukrainian territory. Earlier Poland had said it supported Ukraine's demands and would not accede to the Russian plan.

Mr. Miller, however, indicated in Kyiv that he had not committed to the plan and explained that he was waiting to see the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom's concrete proposal before taking a position on the matter. He is to meet with Gazprom Chairman Aleksei Miller in the next several weeks.

For his part, Prime Minister Kinakh was unequivocal in his denunciation of the Russian plan. He said Ukraine would use all necessary means to defend its interests in the transit sphere, including turning to the European Union to demand that Ukraine's current interests be maintained and that it be fully included in any new bypass project.

Russia has accused Ukraine several times of illegally siphoning off natural gas from the current pipeline as its needs demanded. Ukrainian politicians have generally denied that the government is doing so.

The future of the natural gas bypass became still more clouded when Gazprom announced a day after the Polish-Ukrainian talks that its board of directors had voted to cancel the project as part of a decision to reduce investments.

The friendly talks between Mr. Miller and Ukrainian state leaders also included discussions on how Warsaw might help Kyiv achieve closer ties to the European Union, including associate membership. President Kuchma has indicated he would like to see Ukraine obtain associate membership in 2004, the same year that the EU has indicated that it would be ready to accept Poland as a full partner. Mr. Miller said that Poland would fully support Ukraine's entry into the European organization.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 17, 2002, No. 7, Vol. LXX

| Home Page |