Leonid Kozhara is a Member of Parliament from the Party of Regions and a leading spokesman for the party on foreign policy issues.

 

Q: What are your party's or bloc's priorities for economic reform after the elections?

A: The Party of Regions seeks reforms that will enable the economy to guarantee stable growth, gradually free it from the grip of excessive state regulation, and allow continued development of the private sector. High up on the priority list is also the preservation and reinforcement of Ukraine’s industrial and scientific potential. At the same time, our goal is to create an innovation-based economic model, because the global economy is increasingly based on services and high technologies. Consequently, we need to restructure our economy to make it knowledge-based.

There is, moreover, an urgent need for a broad implementation of high-tech and energy-saving technologies, for reducing Ukraine's energy dependency through diversifying energy supply sources, and making use of international experience in the sphere of energy conservation.

As for improving the standard of life in the Ukrainian countryside and in its villages, we are proposing legislation which will create a transparent and legal land market and which will guarantee a minimal rental fee for land. Our party also supports increased investment in the development of agriculture and infrastructure in rural areas (utilities, roads, schools, etc.).

In addition, we are calling for tax reform which will foster the development of small and middle-sized businesses: starting in January 1, 2008, small business structures and family businesses will be granted a tax amnesty and will be exempt from registration and license fees.

Thus, we are striving to realize a series of economic reforms in Ukraine that will guarantee stable development and effective functioning of the economy.

Q: What is your party's position on Ukraine's integration into Euro-Atlantic and global structures such as NATO, the WTO, and others?

A: European integration is a key strategic item on the foreign policy agenda of the Party of Regions. At the same time we think that this is an issue that Ukrainians themselves should resolve.

Today, there is a consensus in Ukraine about the ways of integrating Ukraine into Euro-Atlantic structures, NATO among them. This consensus is laid out in the Memorandum of National Unity, which clearly states that Ukraine's membership in NATO is possible only as a result of an all-Ukrainian referendum. Another important aspect of our position that I would like to emphasize is that the Party of Regions, the government, and the governing coalition support a public awareness campaign that would inform people about both the positive and negative impacts of NATO membership.

We will be actively progressing towards Euro-Atlantic integration, but we understand very well that global and Euro-Atlantic security is impossible without Russia.

Q: Please comment on key challenges for judicial/constitutional reform in Ukraine.

A: Political reform in Ukraine has laid the groundwork for a transition from a presidential to a parliamentary model of governance. The best way out of the situation of instability which we have today found ourselves in is to continue implementing the parliamentary model, because Ukraine has to combat the problems of corruption, poor law compliance, human rights violations, economical and ecological problems, energy dependency on the Russian Federation, etc. Such a reform can be guaranteed only in the case of the legislative and the executive branches of power working in agreement. The parliamentary model prevents any political force of the possibility to amass excessive powers without support from the population.

Q: What are the prospects for continued economic growth in Ukraine?

A: The Party of Regions considers improving the well-being of every single citizen of Ukraine the chief goal of reforming the domestic economy. To achieve this, we are offering an action plan aimed at protecting people's economic interests. Our main goals are to maximize foreign investment and to create an innovation-based economic model, because the global economy is increasingly based on services and high technologies. We have plans to convert our largely industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy and speed up economic growth rates, because currently Ukraine has much untapped economic potential.

Q: How will your bloc set policies to encourage and increase foreign direct investment into the country?

A: Ensuring a favorable investment climate in Ukraine is an issue of utmost strategic importance, with resulting implications for: 1) inclusion into the global labor market 2) socio-economic progress, and 3) economic modernization.

One of the key challenges in this sphere is the issue of re-privatization that is undermining the trust of foreign investors in the stability of Ukrainian economic policy. That is why our position is that this idea be abolished in our country.

Q: How do you propose to address the east-west divide that exists and is exhibited in voting patterns in Ukraine?

A: The fight for a united Ukraine has led to the very opposite of what was intended: to a disagreement not only over political preferences, but also of philosophies and attitudes. This is a troubling fact, since disagreements over assessments of the past and the future characterized the formation different mindsets between Ukraine's Eastern and Western populations. When this formation is completed, any minor impetus would be enough to break Ukraine apart.

Ukraine is and will continue be a heterogeneous society. We have one of the largest Jewish diasporas in Europe. Like Canada or Switzerland, we speak two languages - Ukrainian and Russian.

Some people think that the cultural influence of Russia is proof of a pro-Russian slant within the Party of Regions. This is not an accurate conclusion. The fact that the Republican or the Democratic parties in the US may have Spanish-speaking Americans in their ranks does not yet make these parties pro-Latin. For the same reason, the American people and the world should not conclude that the Party of Regions is not committed to the cause of cultural unity and political independence of a sovereign Ukrainian state.

 

URL of this article online: http://magisters.com/insight/2007-1/interview-kozhara-party-of-regions/