Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev talked on Aug. 18 by telephone and agreed to further discuss in the coming days “problems in the trade and economics spheres” between the two countries, according to a statement published on the Ukrainian government’s official website.
Notably, the heads of government downplayed concerns that
recent bans of goods from Ukraine and intensified customs checks of its exports
were part of an increasing trade war between the two countries.
They denied through their press services speculation that the moves were part of
a plan to discourage Ukraine from signing a landmark Association Agreement and
Deep and Comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU and instead join the
Russia-led Customs Union, saying such accusations were “unfounded.”
Ukraine currently has observer status in the Customs Union.
Azarov and Medvedev agreed to meet on Aug. 19 with the heads of
their respective customs services to discuss returning procedures “to the
optimal regime that promotes mutual trade.”
“The parties believe that the issue will be resolved quickly
for the benefit of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation,” reads the
statement posted on the Ukrainian government’s website.
An ad-hoc working group organized by members of the
Ukrainian government to tackle the trade issues with Russia will also meet on
Aug. 19 to present its solutions.
The working group is comprised of Ukrainian Deputy Prime
Minister Yuriy Boiko, Economic Development and Trade Minister Ihor Prasolov,
Industrial Policy Minister Mykhailo Korolenko, First Deputy Minister of Income
and Tax Stepan Deryvolkov, government commissioner for cooperation with Russia,
the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Community Valeriy Muntiyan, and the
government representative in the Eurasian Economic Community, Viktor Suslov,
according to Interfax Ukraine, citing the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Trade issues between Russia and Ukraine escalated on Aug. 14
when Ukrainian companies accused Russian customs of stalling and even halting
their exports, causing long delays at border crossings.
The Ukrainian Federation of Employers first sounded the
alarm on Aug. 14 that Russia’s customs service had placed all Ukrainian
importers on its “high-risk” list. Dmytro Oliynyk, the organization’s deputy
head, told the Kyiv Post that the federation had received numerous complaints
from its members over the move.
The Russian government’s press service said on Aug. 15 that
it was not behind the decision to tighten import regulations, and that it was
done independently by the country’s customs service.
Azarov gave little weight to
the companies’ complaints, calling on those affected and the media to “not
artificially blow up and exaggerate the situation.”
Some haven’t been shy in their assertions that recent
export-import issues have led to an all-out trade war between Ukraine and Russia.
“This trade war has currently reached alarming proportions,”
said Batkivschyna opposition faction leader Arseniy Yatseniuk, in a statement
posted on his party’s official website.
Yatseniuk said that such actions by Russia violated an
agreement on the CIS free trade area and the principles of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), of which both Ukraine and Russia are members.
In a statement posted to his party’s website on Aug. 16,
Svoboda Leader Oleh Tiahnybok called for retaliatory tactics, saying that
Ukraine’s government should slam Russia with similar restrictions on its goods.
“We demand that the government immediately take symmetrical
measures against Russian goods, analogues of which are produced in Ukraine,
unilaterally set economically and politically sound tariffs on the transit of
Russian energy sources through Ukraine’s territory and on leasing Ukrainian gas
storage facilities, and abandon any integration steps towards unions headed by
Russia,” reads the statement.
Ukraine Veterinary and Sanitary service officials did place
a ban on Russian wheat just hours after the announcement of Ukrainian goods
being labeled “high-risk” by Russia’s customs service on Aug. 15, due to
foot-and-mouth disease.
Russia has on many occasions in recent years banned Ukrainian products from
entering the country. The most recent came on July 29, when
Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s chief health inspector, announced an
across-the-board ban on imports of chocolate and other sweets produced by
Roshen, Ukraine’s largest confectioner.
Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian government inspection agency,
said it had detected “systemic violations” in the company’s sweets, including
high levels of benzopyrene, a harmful carcinogen. Roshen has denied the
allegations, and countries that have tested the sweets maker’s products have
yet to find the substance in the imported products.
Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter at @ChristopherJM.
