Pavlo Sheremeta: Temporary removal of сustom duties by the European Union for Ukraine implies open market

Kyiv, 29 March, 2014 – Pavlo Sheremeta, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, at the briefing in Ukraine Crisis Media Center stated that the temporary unilaterally cancellation of custom duties for Ukraine is a remarkable event for Ukraine. For us, this primarily means the opening of the European market.

Pavlo Sheremeta said that the most important task, not only this week, but for the next few months should be the normalization of the state finance system. “In accordance with the European parameters, state budget deficit should not exceed 3% in the crisis years. This means that in good years there should be no structural deficit,” – explained the Minister.

Mr. Sheremeta called the fiscal policy one of the most important criterion of the economic development and the improvement of economic situation in Ukraine. The Minister noted that today many current and future decisions and discussions aimed to make it simpler and cheaper for entrepreneurs to do business in Ukraine.

When talking about the points of growth in the country, Pavlo Sheremeta has noted the following: “Those solutions that have been proposed and supported by the Parliament may be called a ‘surgery set’. We have had to take such measures as the result of a very large budget deficit, in fact, the unrealistic budget. Therefore, we are grateful to Verkhovna Rada for taking this step, although this way is hard and painful. However, we must then include the other measures. If we continue to use the medical terminology, these would be – treatment and rehabilitation”.

Along with the introduction of the economic reforms Pavlo Sheremeta believes that it is essential to communicate and listen to the public. The Minister has named the list of the following formal and informal mechanisms of the communities’ influence on the governmental decisions:

  • actively operating Public Council under the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade;
  • involvement of the civil society activists who are the taxpayers and the subjects of reforms;
  • communication in social networks;
  • launch of public receptions.

Pavlo Sheremeta is the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. He was the founder and first Dean of the Kyiv Mohyla Business School. In 2006–2010, he was Vice-President of the Central and East European Management Development Association. In 2008–2011, he was part of the team of the Blue Ocean Strategy Institute of Malaysia, which advised the Malaysian government on economic reforms. From November 2012 to February 2014, Mr. Sheremeta was the President of the Kyiv School of Economics.

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