Polish-Ukrainian economic cooperation, Ukraine's membership in the WTO, as well as clean coal technologies were the main topics of the talks that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Waldemar Pawlak held with Ukrainian government representatives. The delegation, headed by Prime Minister Julia Tymoszenko, visited Warsaw on 14 July 2008.
During the meeting with the Minister of Economic Affairs of Ukraine, Bohdan Danylyshyn, Minister Pawlak touched upon the problem of excessive waiting time for clearance on the Polish-Ukrainian border. – The problem requires an urgent solution and undertaking of political actions – he said. Minister Danylyshyn informed that the Ukrainians were preparing a set of measures that would enhance cooperation in this area. – We want to extend the existing border infrastructure and to introduce joint customs clearances – said Mr Danylyshyn.
Deputy Prime Minister Pawlak also touched upon the subject of custom duties applied in Ukraine, in the context of Ukrainian WTO membership . - Ukraine complies with all the commitments it undertook in this respect – ensured Minister Danylyshyn . As an example, he mentioned an act, which introduced duties on sensitive goods, and was incompatible with Ukraine's accession commitments, that was vetoed by Ukraine's President, .
He informed as well that Ukraine seeks to establish a zone of free trade with the EU, but still has some problems with implementing European rules of certification and standardisation. We would be delighted to share our experiences in this area with Ukraine. We may designate Polish experts to this cause – informed the deputy head of Polish government.
In his opinion, producing carbon energy may prove to be a field of effective cooperation. Ukraine, like Poland, has rich deposits of this fuel. – Taking into consideration today's high oil prices, it seems that implementing clean carbon technologies may prove prospective. Poland plans, inter alia, to build an installation for coal gasification - he informed. The Deputy Prime Minister also underlined that Polish companies are interested in investing in this sector in Ukraine, inter alia with a view to importing electricity. - The prices of Russian gas made us analyse the possibilities of obtaining this fuel from coal. The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is working on programmes aimed at exploiting new energy sources – said Minister Danylyshyn.
He pointed out that Ukraine is interested in Polish investments and will strive to solve any problems encountered in this field. Then he informed that Ukraine is working on increasing the turnover of goods with Poland. – To this end, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine is developing an export support system, which will be presented at the EU forum. We would be glad to use Polish experiences in this domain.
Improving investment climate and business environment for Polish businesses in Ukraine were also the topics of Waldemar Pawlak's talks with Hryhorij Nemyria, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration. The Deputy Prime Ministers agreed that the cooperation in decongesting the border and restructuring Ukraine's coal industry should be continued.
At the end of the talks, Mr Pawlak invited the Ukrainian government representatives to participate in the 18th Economic Forum, which will be held in Krynica-Zdrój, on 10-13 September 2008.
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The Ukrainian delegation, headed by Prime Minister Julia Tymoszenko, paid a one-day visit to Warsaw, dedicated to the preparations to EURO 2012. Representatives of the Ukrainian government met with the representatives of Polish authorities: President Lech Kaczyński, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Speaker of the Parliament Bronisław Komorowski. The talks also covered the cooperation to improve the functioning of state border, and the Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.