Polish and Ukranian governments discuss future investment and trade

"The Governments of Poland and Ukraine should start removing obstacles to the mutual co-operation which will emerge when Poland joins the European Union," said Ukrainian Economy Minister Oleksandr Szlapak during the opening of the Fifth Polish-Ukrainian Economic Summit in Rzeszow. Szlapak was concerned about Ukraine's decreasing exports to Poland, which have shrunk by 20% over the last year, and encouraged Polish businessmen to invest in the rapidly developing Ukrainian economy. Currently, Polish direct investment is a mere $69 million, or 1.7% of all foreign capital commitment in Ukraine. The main reasons of this unsatisfactory situation remain unchanged over recent years and include difficulties with product certification, the instability of the Ukrainian legal system - particularly with regard to tariffs and taxes - and the lack of banking and insurance support for investors. Another major topic to be discussed during the meeting is the planned Odessa-Brody-Gdansk pipeline. As the analyses indicate that construction of the pipeline should prove economically justified in a few years time, creation is under way of an international consortium to carry out the project. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) M.K.