ISSUE #07
03/07/2011

The Ukrainian parliament has debated and voted in favor of 33 clauses of a draft law on preventing and fighting corruption in Ukraine, which was proposed by President Viktor Yanukovych. The lawmakers sent part of Article 12 of the draft law, which talks about declaring the revenue and expenditure of state officials, for revision. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 11.03.2011  |  External Relations
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Parliament members attempt softening provisions of anti-corruption law as much as possible to satisfy personal needs – Experts

The Gorshenin Institute held a round table discussion Fighting Corruption: Ukrainian Style, where experts discussed the problem of corruption in the country and the ways to combat it.
The participants in the round-table discussion said that the corruption-fighting shall be managed by authorities independent from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and working on different principles than the Ministry. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Institute  |  Published on EGF: 11.03.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #06
02/28/2011

President Viktor Yanukovych has created a group of scholars and experts who will set up a Constitutional Assembly to amend the Ukrainian constitution. Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk was appointed as the head of the group. The presidential administration said that the Constitutional Assembly would draw up a new draft of the nation's fundamental law. “This draft will be widely debated by the public and then sent to parliament as a presidential bill,” the president's press service explained. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 04.03.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #05
02/21/2011

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said the Free Trade Agreement with European Union (EU) is 90 per cent ready.
Azarov said however that the remaining unsettled issues are the most sensitive to Ukraine. Among those Azarov named EU requirement to set quotas to Ukrainian agriculture products and position regarding Ukrainian motor carriers entering the EU market. Azarov said Ukraine will protect its interests on these positions. “Of course, Ukraine does not need a free trade deal at any cost. The deal shall meet the interests of Ukrainians”, – he said. He also added that the quotas that EU is offering now are not consistent with Ukraine's potential. “We make this deal not for one ortwo years but for tens of years, and that is why we need to think of perspectives. The approach not to allow Ukrainian agriculture products to European markets has no perspective”, - Azarov said adding that Ukrainian carriers also expect equal conditions of work at the European markets. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 22.02.2011  |  External Relations
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The Gorshenin Institute held a round-table discussion Russia-Ukraine-EU: Prospects for Mutual Relations on 17 February 2011 in the framework of the Project “Viktor Yanukovych’s First Year of Presidency. Conclusions”.

The member of the European Parliament, co-chairman of the joint parliamentary committee on EU - Ukraine cooperation, Pawel Kowal, in his written comments to Gorshenin Institute said that the recent events in Ukraine do not move the country closer to the EU. Kowal said that the EU and especially some members of the European Parliament are particularly concerned watching the developments in Ukraine. Kowal said that a lot of information appeared recently showing Ukraine’s drift towards the Russian model of “sovereign democracy”. He did not rule out that the serious work and achievements that Ukrainians have made over the past few years may be ruined. In particular, Kowal told about European politicians’ concerns and disappointment with the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office ban to the leader of the Batkivschyna party, Yuliya Tymoshenko, to visit Brussels. “Lack of credibility may pull down Ukraine to lower league of countries which are subject of constant worriment from the UE side. We already had a yellow light: Freedom House rated Ukraine as a partly democratic country” – Kowal said. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Institute  |  Published on EGF: 22.02.2011  |  External Relations
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February 2011

Key positions:

• Former Turkish Prime Minister, Necmettin Erbakan, passed away Sunday 27 February. He was 84. Erbakan, the first Islamist prime minister of the Turkish Republic, was forced to resign after only a year into his reign by the military, in what is called the first ‘post-modern coup’.

• Under the guidance of current Prime Minister Erdogan, Turkey has stayed on the sidelines throughout much of the past weeks while protests raged throughout the Middle East. Ankara is finding its new position as a dominant regional actor as having less impact than previously thought, but has been forced to act pragmatically due to the proximity of its own citizens and financial interests in the affected nations.

• Prime Minister Erdogan recently spoke in Dusseldorf, Germany, telling Turks there that while they should learn the (German) language and participate in wider culture of their new homeland; assimilation would be an affront to their human rights. The prime minister also spoke positively about Turkey’s accession to the EU, surprising some for the positive manner in which the AKP leader addressed the issue after years of European rejection.

• The Nabucco gas pipeline still appears to be up in the air as none of the participating companies have yet signed any construction agreements, while a Russian delegation has put pressure on the Brussels-EU whilst addressing its own energy security concerns. READ MORE

• EGF Editorial  |  Published on EGF: 18.03.2011  |  Energy
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ISSUE #04
02/15/2011

The President of Ukraine does not agree with the statements that the fight against corruption in Ukraine only targets the people that are in opposition to the current Government.
The Head of State says the corrupt individuals, trying to avoid responsibility, are using various lobbying groups in the country as well as overseas with the purpose of discrediting the actions of the Ukrainian authorities. The President reminded that everybody should be held responsible for corrupt acts regardless of what political party they belong to. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 17.02.2011  |  External Relations
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The Gorhenin Institute held a round table discussion - Prospects for Ukrainian Business in Russia - on 8 February. Experts and businessmen discussed the most promising areas of cooperation for Russian and Ukrainian business.
President of UPEC Industrial Group Anatoliy Girshfeld considers that Ukrainian business has prospects in Russia in the knowledge-based industry sector while operations in raw material sectors may hampered with strong government regulation. ‘The government actively regulates the raw materials and associated industry sectors and it won’t loose it’s hands on it. This is the main source of the budget income’, - O.Girshfeld said. ‘The state of the knowledge-based industry is a common problem to the entire post-Soviet space. That is why Russia has to allow entering its markets the companies developing in the knowledge-based industry, even in strategic sectors,’ – A.Girshfeld said. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Institute  |  Published on EGF: 15.02.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #0
01/31/2011

Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of the Czech Republic sees impossible the extradition of the former Minister of Economy of Ukraine Bohdan Danylyshyn. On January 21st, 2011, Czech authorities submitted a petition to the Prague City Court asking not to allow the extradition of B.Danylyshyn from the Czech Republic to Ukraine due to his getting a political asylum in the Czech Republic. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 02.02.2011  |  External Relations
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Tectonic changes are occurring not only in the world financial system, trading and investment, energy, geopolitics, and technology; a fundamental transformation is also underway in the way the cities have been managed and regenerated, creating profound implications for mega-cities such as Istanbul. The global population is congregating in our cities. Eighty per cent of the world’s estimated nine billion people in 2050 are expected to live in urban areas. Our cities and urban areas face many challenges from social to health to environmental. The impacts of cities and urban areas are felt in other regions which supply cities with food, water and energy and absorb pollution and waste. However, the proximity of people, businesses and services associated with the very word ‘city’ means that there are also huge opportunities. Indeed, well designed, well managed urban settings offer a key opportunity for sustainable living.

Myriad trends indicate that the current world energy system is far from being sustainable. It will be shaped by rising demand over the long term, dominance of fossil fuels, inaccessible supplies, price volatility, inadequate investment, geopolitical tensions, and climate change. The most pressing decision facing the next generation may be how best to accelerate the transition from a fossil-fuel-based energy system to a system based on climate-friendly energy alternatives. Turkey has emerged as an important actor to reckon with as a consumer, transporter, investor, regional hub, and security provider in world energy and geopolitics. Likewise, Istanbul as a global city and gateway to the world’s major producers and consumers offers so much opportunities for energy investment, conservation, efficiency, distribution and shipment. It also faces serious energy-related challenges including from climate change, congestion, power black-outs, and local pollution. READ MORE

• Mehmet Öğütçü  |  Published on EGF: 02.02.2011  |  Energy
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