UKRAINIAN PM MEETS RUSSIAN COUNTERPART TO DISCUSS ECONOMIC TIES
RTR Russia TV, Moscow
16 Aug 06
[Presenter] The second day of the informal summit of the Eurasian
Economic Community began with a meeting between the prime ministers
of Ukraine and Russia [Viktor Yanukovych and Mikhail Fradkov]. For
Viktor Yanukovych, this is his first foreign visit and a very
important one. While [Ukrainian] President [Viktor] Yushchenko is
holidaying in Yalta, Yanukovych in Sochi has no time for the sea. He
is arranging intergovernmental relations, first and foremost, in the
economic field. The two governments have agreed to coordinate efforts
on joining the WTO and set up a joint commission to raise relations
to a new level.
The prime ministers also discussed Russian gas exports to Ukraine. So
far they have agreed to continue the dialogue in a constructive way.
[Fradkov] Much is to be done to invigorate Russian-Ukrainian relations,
accelerate the growth of mutual trade, arrange coordination over
accession to the WTO, continue work on the creation of the Eurasian
joint economic space with the desired effect and put our cooperation
in the fuel and energy sphere on solid market grounds.
[Yanukovych] We intend to achieve positive results. We think that
there are all the necessary conditions and opportunities to continue
work on the joint economic space. We should eliminate the recent
disproportions in Ukrainian-Russian relations.
[Presenter] The formation of a common energy market will be the main
topic of today’s meeting of country leaders. Apart from Russia,
the Eurasian Economic Community comprises Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Their leaders arrived in
Sochi the day before [15 August]. Their Armenian counterpart, Robert
Kocharyan, has joined them. Armenia has the status of an observer in
the organization. For the first time since the organization was created
six years ago, the summit has been held in an informal atmosphere.
Apart from energy, the formation of a customs union will be a key
point on the agenda.