Ukraine PM proposes British firms administer customs checkpoints
23 July 2015
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk requested from the Cabinet of Ministers on July 22 to create a working group to examine the possible transfer of a series of customs checkpoints to be administered by British companies. The checkpoints under consideration are along Ukraine’s western border with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, he said. The British firms will be responsible for restricting contraband, implementing order and training Ukrainian customs officials, he said.
Polish investors are interested in Ukrainian projects, including a possible USD 200 mln investment in the expansion of Kyiv’s underground metro rail, reported on July 22 the pres service of Vice Prime Minister Valeriy Voshchevskiy, who met with Polish investors. They agreed to hold future talks with a Polish bank on loan conditions for future metro expansion projects.
Zenon Zawada: It’s unfortunate that such projects can’t be handled by the government, or even the nation’s oligarchs, who have done minimal investment in the country. Yet the EuroMaidan was precisely about establishing such cooperation with Western firms in order to assimilate Western practices, values and institutions. The results will be dramatically positive if British firms got involved in managing customs checkpoints and Western private firms invested in Ukrainian construction projects, particularly if they establish tight spending controls.
