Medvedev: Ukraine will lose $33 billion a year from the Association with the EU
Moscow - Kyiv, December 15 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - In the spring, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation estimated the total portfolio of Russian orders placed at Ukrainian enterprises at $15 billion or 8,2% of Ukraine's GDP. If the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU is applied in the form in which it was signed, the Ukrainian economy will lose at least $33 billion annually. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev writes about this in his article for "NG", published this morning.
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«The current mindset of part of the Ukrainian elite is fully reflected in the plans for the construction of “walls” of various configurations between Kiev and Moscow, states Medvedev. – We hear that Ukraine is supposedly ready to abandon any trade and economic ties with Russia: to reduce them to a minimum, and where possible, to zero. Zero gas, minimum oil, machinery, equipment - because of the “wall”, zero engines, minimum pipes, metal, building materials - behind the “wall”.
“Russia will worry about the losses, but it will survive them economically, but how, in turn, are those who mentally live “behind the wall” going to survive them? – the Russian prime minister asks. – In the spring of this year, our Ministry of Industry and Trade estimated the total portfolio of Russian orders placed at Ukrainian enterprises at $15 billion (or 8,2% of Ukraine’s GDP). No one in Ukraine explained not only to us, but also to themselves, what and by whom these orders would be replaced. What will happen to dozens and hundreds of enterprises, to entire industrial areas. What will happen to such unique production facilities as the same Yuzhmash, which now finds itself, as far as we know, on the verge of bankruptcy?
According to estimates given by Medvedev, if the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU is applied in the form in which it was signed, the Ukrainian economy will lose at least $33 billion annually.
This will happen because “Russia will protect the interests of its producers and markets.” This will be expressed, in particular, in “increasing the rates of customs duties on goods imported from the territory of Ukraine to Russia to the level established by the Customs Union for countries not included in it.” In addition, Medvedev recalls, “we have launched a monitoring system for the implementation of the economic part of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU in order to monitor the possible appearance of EU goods on the Russian market at dumped prices under the guise of Ukrainian ones. “Almost all Ukrainian products were included in the control list – from pork to ships.”
Medvedev also warns that “Ukraine’s fulfillment of its obligations to bring its regulatory framework closer to the norms of the European Union will lead to a sharp reduction in information exchange between our customs services.” According to him, “in fact, we will be talking about the gradual deprivation of Ukraine’s sovereignty in customs regulation: instead of communicating through long-established channels, Moscow and Kyiv will be forced to talk through Brussels.”
In addition, “Ukrainian agricultural producers simply will not be able to enter the Russian market,” Medvedev warns.
He also hinted that attempts to import Ukrainian goods into the Russian Federation through Belarus would not lead to success and would be fraught with problems for the Belarusian economy.
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