French Ambassador Jacques Faure arrived in Ukraine in crisis-plagued 2008, when everything went wrong in the country.
Now, with the economy rebounding and politics dominated by President Viktor Yanukovych, Faure approves of the president’s plan. But he warns that words are useless if not followed by actions. The following are excerpts from the interview.
On EU membership
“The prospect of becoming a member of the European Union is left open for Ukraine. It’s an ultimate goal, but there is no direct phrasing about it [in the new association agreement].
France is supportive of Ukraine’s integration to Europe; it was President Sarkozy who offered the new agreement in 2007 to replace the previous 10-year agreement.
The association agreement consists of three major parts: cooperation and partnership, deep free trade and visa-free travel.
A free trade negotiation is under way. As for visa-free travel, there are very concrete steps Ukraine should take to achieve it: better control on issuing travelling documents, better implementation of the readmission agreement [which facilitates transporting of illegal migrants to their home countries] and improved border controls between the European Union and Ukraine.
The European Union team has put forward its positions and demands. Everything is in the hands of the Ukrainian negotiation team now.”
On hardships
“Remarkably, despite the difficult economic conditions, we registered no withdrawals of French companies from Ukraine’s market last year.
The fiscal administration behaves very problematic here, to put it mildly. We want the rules of the game to be clearer and the intrusion of corrupt officials in business must disappear. It’s sad to see companies behaving in accordance with the law paying big fines for falsified and superfluous reasons.
The intrusion of corrupt judiciary in business is no more tolerable. This has to stop, really.
I talk about cases when investors active in this country all of a sudden learn that they are deprived of their investments because some Ukrainian partner was able to corrupt a judge, changed the status of the company and declared him the only owner of the foreign investment. We don’t want to see that again.
The entrepreneurs who suffer from such behavior talk to each other and it makes for bad publicity for Ukraine. And I’m hopeful that the government is working on reforms to stop this kind of behavior.
Settling VAT refunds properly is the best possible sign to give to present-day and future French investors.
Government’s plans for reforms are positive. But we want to see words followed by facts. This is yet to come.”
On Euro 2012
“After a long period of uncertainty, the preparation is developing in a quicker and more efficient way in Ukraine.
Our internal affairs ministries developed cooperation on dealing with the crowds of football fans and media.
Some French businesses work in the transport sector – public transportation, railway in the cities where the championship will take place.”
Chornobyl help
Novarka, a French-Ukrainian company, is constructing a shelter at the damaged Chornobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.
“The project is complicated and dangerous with many uncertainties. The aim is to provide a new and safe shelter to prevent leaks of radioactivity which will replace the old shelter that suffers from cracks. The project is financially managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.”
On French culture
“First of all, strong cultural involvement is a policy of the French government.
The world faces unification of reactions, speeches, languages and we want to keep it diversified. We promote Ukrainian culture and knowledge about Ukraine also. I am glad that for the first time a significant number of Ukrainian films were presented on the Cannes festival.
It’s also important for the French to stop considering Ukrainian artists active in the last centuries as Russian. Of course, they were part of the Russian Empire, but their roots were here in Ukraine – Ukrainian reality is expressed in their theatre plays, writings, painting. Take Gogol, for example. His Dikanka stories weave in Ukraine’s history and traditions.
When I receive my envelope with financing of the embassy from the French government, I prioritize financing of the student exchanges. It can make up to 50 percent of my budget.
Around 140 Ukrainian students go to France on scholarships sponsored by the French government.
Thousands of Ukrainian pupils visited France during the summer holidays by youth exchange programs since we opened the embassy in Ukraine.”
France at a glance
• France is semi-presidential republic with strong democratic traditions. The president is elected directly (currently Nicolas Sarkozy) and the prime minister is appointed by the president (currently Francois Fillion).
• France is the largest European country in terms of land area after Russia and Ukraine
• France has the fifth largest economy in the world after the U.S., Japan, China, Germany.
• France is the most visited country in the world, receiving 82 million foreign tourists annually.
• France is the world’s leader in luxury goods, including haute couture, perfumes and cosmetics.
• France is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world after the U.S.
(Source: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
Ukraine-France economic markers:
French investment to Ukraine’s economy: $1.6 billion, 4.1 percent of foreign direct investment in Ukraine
Bilateral trade turnover: $ 1.8 billion 2009
Export from Ukraine to France: $528.7 million 2009
Import from France to Ukraine: $1.273 billion 2009
Major commodities exported from Ukraine to France: seeds, fats and oils, clothes and textile, boilers, machines, lumber
Major commodities imported from France to Ukraine: pharmaceutics, boilers, machines, chemicals, essential oils, cosmetics
(Source: Derzhkomstat)
Lifestyle
• Two thirds of the French population lived in rural areas until the early 20th century
• The French TGV is the fastest train in the world, with an average speed of 263.3 kilometers per hour from station to station.
• French people cheek kiss to greet each other among family and friends, even between men. The number of kisses varies according to the region.
• Nicotine was named after Jean Nicot, a French diplomat and scholar who introduced the tobacco plant to France in 1559 from Portugal.
(Source: Eupedia, France Guide)
Kyiv Post staff writer Kateryna Grushenko can be reached at [email protected].
Read also by the author: World in Ukraine: Finance, culture mark French ties.
