The Ukrainian Week

23 August, 2013	Politics	The Kremlin’s Bluff Ukraine’s economic dependence on the Customs Union is exaggerated in an effort to disrupt the Association Agreement
23 August, 2013	Politics	Tug ‘O’ War Three years after its creation, the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan has proven to be artificial and quasi-effective
21 August, 2013	News	Experts: the future of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU dependents on the stance of the Ukrainian oligarchs As oligarchs influence country's political and economic development, the result of Vilnius Summit will highly depend on their gains from the Association Agreement; write Piotr Kościński and Ievgen Vorobiov, PISM experts
21 August, 2013	Economics	A Road Map for Economic De-Sovietization A profound reboot of Ukraine’s socio-economic system is the only way to transform it from an uncompetitive Soviet fragment to a modern dynamic economy
20 August, 2013	News	*Olga Shumylo-Tapiola*: Putin needs a new PR agency for his relations with the neighbors Recent trade war announced by Russia made it easier for Ukraine to decide between the EU and the Custom Union
20 August, 2013	News	European Socialists warn of Russia pressuring Ukraine over agreement with EU "The Russian authorities' recent actions against Ukraine, particularly against Ukrainian imports into Russia, are utterly unacceptable,” wrote Hannes Swoboda president of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament on party’s official webpage
11 July, 2013	News	Russia targets Ukrainian chocolate in car trade spat Russia plans to put trade sanctions on Ukraine, penalising imports of chocolate, coal and glass in retaliation for a Ukrainian emergency import tax on cars which has drawn World Trade Organisation opposition, Reuters reports
26 June, 2013	News	Belarus entrepreneurs demand the country to leave the Customs Union and prepare for a strike Representatives of Belarus SMEs launched the collection of signatures for Belarus to leave the Customs Union and hold a warning strike on June 27. The decision was taken at the forum of entrepreneurs on June 24 in Minsk, said Anatol Shumchanka, head of the Perspektyva republican union.
20 June, 2013	News	Prime minister of Lithuania: at the moment it is unclear which path Ukraine has chosen Ukraine still has not chosen between EU and Russia, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said in his interview to EurActiv.
14 June, 2013	Politics	A No-Win Situation for Ukraine The signing of the Memorandum on closer cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Commission by Mykola Azarov on behalf of Ukraine in Minsk, signals that for the second time since the Kharkiv deals, Moscow is foisting Ukraine with a game it cannot win.
14 June, 2013	News	MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski: Ukraine must get off the fence when it comes to its relations with Russia and the European Union Ukraine must stop balancing between EU and Russia and finally make a geopolitical choice, Polish MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski claims in his article for Financial Times.
7 June, 2013	News	Polish experts: the mere act of signing the memorandum with Customs Union has worsened Ukraine’s image in the West The signing of the memorandum with Customs Union proves that blocking the progress of Ukraine’s integration with the EU is an important goal for Russia, Szymon Kardaś and Tadeusz Iwański, experts at Polish Institute of International Affairs, Polish think-tank, write in their article.
4 June, 2013	News	MEP Marek Siwiec: Ukraine’s agreement with the Customs Union is “muscle flexing” before the summit in Vilnius Having attained observer status at the Customs Union Ukraine showed EU that it has an alternative, MEP Marek Siwiec argues in his blog for BlogActiv.
31 May, 2013	Economics	Good News, Bad News, New News Customs Union? Thanks, but no thanks. Free Trade Area with the EU? Yes, but not only.
30 May, 2013	News	European Commission: Ukraine-Customs Union cooperation shouldn't prevent signing of Association Agreement European Commission has underlined that cooperation between Ukraine and the Customs Union should not contradict Ukraine's future commitments under the agreement, reports Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.
29 May, 2013	News	*Hanne Severinsen*: The Ukrainian government plays a dangerous play opening up for observer status Everybody knows that it is not possible to be member of the Custom Union and have Association Agreement with EU at the same time. So the Ukrainian Government plays a dangerous play opening up for observer status, former head of PACE Monitoring Committee writes in her comment for The Ukrainian Week.
29 May, 2013	News	Customs Union gives consent to grant Ukraine observer status Supreme Eurasian Economic Council supported Ukraine’s intention to gain the status of an observer in the Customs Union at the level of member-state leaders, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at the briefing after negotiations of the Customs Union member-state presidents and the leaders of Ukraine and Kazakhstan on May 29 in Astana.
27 May, 2013	News	Yanukovych’s charter diplomacy with the EU and the Customs Union On May 26, Viktor Yanukovych visited Russia and met with Vladimir Putin. No official statements or agreements were disclosed subsequently. Earlier, the media reported that Yanukovych has a meeting with the Customs Union member-state leaders in Astana scheduled for May 28-29 under the framework of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, and the memorandum on Ukraine’s status as an observer in the Customs Union could be signed at the next meeting of EurAsEC member-state leaders.
5 April, 2013	News	*The Economist*: Yanukovych’s choice seems to be to align neither with EU nor with Russia Ukraine is not following any particular route at the moment, claims The Economist.
3 April, 2013	News	*Russian ambassador*: The EU has never offered - and in my view will never offer - full membership to Ukraine. EU has never promised full membership to Ukraine, whereas Eurasian economic union has done it from the outset, Vladimir Chizhov, Russian representative to EU, told in his interview to EurActiv.
31 March, 2013	World	The Mythical Benefits of the Customs Union The Customs Union is causing major economic problems not only for its “minority” members, Kazakhstan and Belarus, but even for the major stakeholder - Russia
9 January, 2013		Thoughts by the Fence Paradoxically, gigantic Russia with its cultural and ethnic diversity is much more monolithic in its fundamental ideologies (and hence collective illusions) than the compact and seemingly more homogeneous Ukraine.
17 December, 2012	Politics	In Whole or in Part? The Kremlin will try to drag Ukraine into the Customs Union – or at least get control of some sectors of its economy
17 December, 2012	Politics	Divide and Conquer Moscow knows that Ukraine may slip out from under its control after the 2015 presidential election. It looks like the Kremlin is setting the scene for a preventive attack.
17 December, 2012	Politics	Andriy Pyshnyi:The further Ukraine is from the Customs Union, the better The newly-elected MP and right-hand man of Arseniy Yatseniuk talks about the Customs Union,the threats of referendums under the new law and why the current Administration does not welcome young and progressive middle class
29 November, 2012	Politics	Opposition Rings the Alarm Bell Members of the opposition fear that a new law on referendums is intended to pave the way to joining the Customs Union with Russia.
7 August, 2012	Economics	Darren Heyman: “For investors, joining the free trade zone with the European Union, means that it is safer to conduct business in Ukraine” Investment analyst Darren Heyman told *The Ukrainian Week* about the key advantages and risks, which free trade with the EU envisages
11 April, 2012	Politics	Khoroshkovsky in London: Kyiv Can Deal with Moscow Participating in a London round-table, Deputy Prime Minister Valeriy Khoroshkovsky used his impeccable manners and good command of English to try to present a very positive picture of Ukraine in the world's financial capital
29 November, 2011	Economics	Till the Cows Come Home Tough political reality could shatter handsome economic deals within the CIS
20 April, 2011	Politics	Russia’s Last Chance It is crucial for the Ukrainian government to avoid getting involved in unions aimed at staving off crises in Russia