EU to offer Ukraine EUR 50 mln in exchange for three reforms

The EU is ready to offer Ukraine a EUR 50 mln program
to attract foreign investment this year if the necessary reforms are approved
by the summer break, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a column
published on the eurointegration.com.ua news site on Apr. 24. These reforms
include establishing independent oversight of the energy sector with the
renewed work of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and
Public Utilities. Ukraine also needs to approve a business ombudsman and repeal
the law requiring anti-corruption activists to file electronic declarations of
their assets and income.

The proposed Reform Contract for Investment, part of
the newly introduced EU Foreign Investment Plan, would allocate funds to
compensate loans made by banks and to invest in the Ukrainian economy’s real
sector. “On Ukraine’s scale, this amount doesn’t seem quite large,” Hahn wrote.
“Yet under conditions of wise application, it will enable attracting up to EUR
500 mln in private investments.”

Zenon Zawada: The EU’s support for Ukraine is positive. Unfortunately, parliament
failed early this month to repeal the law requiring e-declarations from
activists – despite much pressure from the West – and we don’t expect this
carrot-on-a-stick will change its position.