Ukraine's president elected chair of CIS Council of Heads of State (02/02/03)

Ukraine's president elected chair of CIS Council of Heads of State

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma became the first non-Russian leader to attain chairmanship of the Commonwealth of Independent States when state leaders and representatives of the 12 member-states voted to have him replace Russia's President Vladimir Putin on January 29.

The election of Mr. Kuchma to the chairmanship of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS came in a unanimous vote after Mr. Putin had submitted the Ukrainian president's name for consideration. Mr. Putin said he had decided to formally propose Mr. Kuchma after the idea was floated by the Russian delegation during the previous CIS summit in Chisinau and in response to very specific ideas for the economic development of the CIS presented by Mr. Kuchma during that summit.

"My logic was that Ukraine is one of the biggest CIS member-states and the second in economic volume," said Mr. Putin.

President Putin also mentioned that he thought it was time for rotation of the CIS chairmanship as was envisioned in the charter documents. Until now, only Russian presidents had headed the council of heads of states, first former President Boris Yeltsin and most recently Mr. Putin.

The leaders of four of the 12 member-states, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, did not attend because of other commitments. Three of the four countries were represented by their respective prime ministers. The Kazak delegation was led by its foreign minister.

President Kuchma said his priority as chairman would be to realize his long-sought idea for a free trade zone for the CIS, which consists of 12 former Soviet republics. He said he expected that final work could be completed quickly and that such an agreement would be ready for consideration at the next gathering of CIS heads of state, currently scheduled for September in Yalta.

During remarks at the summit's plenary session on January 29, President Kuchma spelled out his vision for the new economic relationship, which is centered on duty-free and tax-free trade among the member-states, and includes an accent on the development of specific markets and support for certain transnational corporations to help them compete effectively on the world market.

"A common market will help us feel safe in the rough sea of globalization," said Mr. Kuchma.

He cited the need to restructure remaining inefficient economic links based on old Soviet ties that still exist, adding that the CIS region must develop a modern, effective and low-cost transport system to move goods and services between Asia and Europe. He also suggested that much attention must be given to developing the fuel and energy complex that is so vital to the region and proposed to establish an interstate coordinating agency to be called the Fuel and Energy Council of the CIS. Finally, he called for the development of wholesale markets for agricultural commodities.

Mr. Kuchma has supported the idea of a free trade zone since 1999, with a good amount of backing from within the CIS. However, the plan had been opposed by Russia, if only because it had the largest volume of inter-regional trade turnover and stood to lose the most in revenue.

Ukraine's agreement to forego value-added tax (VAT) on Russian gas and oil shipments through its territory, coupled with Russia's increased energy trade with Europe, seems to have made a free trade zone more appealing to Moscow. Yet, President Putin declared during a meeting with students of Kyiv State University on January 28 that in the end Russia went with the agreement in the pursuit of good-neighborly relations.

"On this issue we can and ought to change the system for the sake of strategic cooperation between the two countries," explained Mr. Putin.

The decision to hand the reins of the CIS to Mr. Kuchma did not come without controversy. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka had voiced some protest after the Chisinau summit, arguing that his country should take the next chairmanship in keeping with an alphabetical rotation of leadership as documented in the CIS charter agreement. In Kyiv, however, he voiced wholehearted support for Mr. Kuchma's ascendancy.

Mr. Lukashenka also stated that he believed that with the creation of a CIS free trade zone there would be no further need for inter-regional international economic organizations such as GUUAM, which consists of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Moldova - and has been the subject of some scorn from Moscow - along with the Eurasian Economic Union proposed by Russia, which Ukraine has resisted.

Voices in Kyiv, particularly on the democratic right, have questioned the legality of Mr. Kuchma's election to head the CIS. National Deputy Borys Tarasyuk, formerly minister of foreign affairs in the government of Viktor Yushchenko and currently a member of the Our Ukraine faction in Parliament, noted that Ukraine has neither signed nor ratified the CIS charter and as such is not a full member. Mr. Tarasyuk explained that one reason Mr. Kuchma received the post was to draw Ukraine closer to the CIS.

"Russia wants to tie Ukraine to the Eurasian space, to change its announced strategic foreign relations objectives, specifically European and Euro-Atlantic integration," Mr. Tarasyuk explained.

Other leading figures in the Our Ukraine faction, including Viktor Pynzenyk, Hennadii Udovenko and Yurii Kostenko have expressed a similar position and have also noted that Ukraine's closer involvement in the CIS would lead to a transfer of Ukraine's limited budgetary resources in support of CIS projects.

Ukraine's Minister of Justice Oleksander Lavrynovych defended Mr. Kuchma's election. Appearing on Ukrainian television on February 29, he explained that President Kuchma had every legal right to assume the chairmanship of the Council of State Leaders of the CIS because Ukraine was not only a member of the council, but also a founding member of the CIS - even though it subsequently did not sign the charter developed by the other member-states.

Ukraine currently holds membership in the CIS Council of Heads of State, Council of Heads of Government, the Economic Council and the Parliamentary Assembly, but is merely an observer in the CIS Military Council and the Customs Council.

During the two-day summit, which maintained an informal character, the 12 leaders met in one-on-one sessions as well. While economic matters remained at the center of discussions, the state leaders also addressed the Transdniester problem, the Abkhazia conflict and the development of the Russia-Ukraine energy consortium. President Kuchma said that the Russian president also briefed the body on details of the Iraq debate as it was occurring within the United Nations Security Council. Russia is one of five permanent members of that body.

Ukrainian officials originally had designated the city of Ivano-Frankivsk as the meeting place, with Mr. Kuchma's winter home near the village of Huta as the center of activity. But after identifying the requirements of the 12 member-states, their leaders and entourages, organizers determined that the Ivano-Frankivsk area lacked airport facilities and hotel accommodations, as well as transport and communication capabilities for such an international meeting, and the site was moved to Kyiv.

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