Yushchenko Promises Businesses They Won't Face Endless Probes

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko tried to reassure Ukraine's business community on May 13, saying he wasn't interested in the re-nationalization of privatized industries or harassing business leaders.

"Authorities won't persecute businesses with endless fiscal checks," Yushchenko said during a wide-ranging news conference marking his first three months in power.

Many Ukrainian business leaders and investors have been wary of the new government's plans to review some of this ex-Soviet republic's murky privatization deals. The government claims that many key industries were sold off to cronies of former President Leonid Kuchma at rock-bottom prices, adding nothing to the state's needy treasury.

Yushchenko pledged that a list of 29 companies that the government says were illegally privatized will not grow. Yushchenko said the list, completed May 12, will be made public after prosecutors and investigators review it.

If courts agree the privatization of a given company was illegal, a new auction will be held and there will be nothing to bar the current owners from repurchasing the business, Yushchenko said.

"My team isn't involved in nationalization," Yushchenko said.

Initially, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko suggested that thousands of businesses might come under the government's review - setting off a massive shock wave among investors who were just beginning to view Ukraine with interest again after last year's political turmoil.

Yushchenko also revealed that he met within the last week with Ukraine's richest tycoon, Rinat Akhmetov, to inform the coal and steel magnate about his views on "honest economy (and) payment of taxes" and efforts to divorce business from politics. Akhmetov's business transactions have come under scrutiny.

Yushchenko won the presidency after massive street protests erupted against the election fraud that had initially handed the victory to his opponent.

He vowed to fight graft that flourished during Kuchma's 10-year rule, improve living standards and nudge Ukraine closer to the West, seeking membership in NATO and the European Union.

On May 13, he acknowledged that the impoverished nation of 48 million must do considerable work to become an EU member. He said its most immediate goals were to win recognition as a market economy, join the World Trade Organization, lessen visa restrictions on Ukrainians and pursue energy projects, which would make Ukraine less dependent on Russia.

Yushchenko's first three months in office have included moves to increase pensions and raise some wages. But inflation is rising and the decision to strengthen the hryvna against the U.S. dollar was deeply unpopular among Ukraine's growing middle class and small businesses because it ate into private savings held primarily in dollars.

Source: Kyiv Post