Has WTO Trade Generated Value?

Only Well Developed Industries Have Such Perspective

Entering the World Trade Organization, Ukraine hoped to make a breakthrough to the international markets with its goods. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Failure could be explained with the world financial crisis which was exactly in the period when Ukrainian economy was going to revive. The truth is different, though.  

One of the obvious reasons for the absence of any changes in the economy was that Ukrainian business didn’t manage to protect its own interests at the foreign markets using, in particular, judicial mechanisms of the WTO. Recently the information has appeared that some national company is preparing a claim concerning the discrimination of its goods at the markets of the countries – members of the WTO. Meantime the claim has not been sent to the court, the details of the case are not revealed.

Experts say at the moment the most significant advantage for Ukraine as the member of the international trade club is favourable conditions for foreign investment generations.  

Vasyl YURCHYSHYN, director of economic programs of Ukrainian Center of Economic and Political Researches named after O. Razumkov:

- Many countries take protective measures and the WTO remarks on that. But I can’t give you any example when the WTO applied sanctions against such countries. 

Leonid KOZACHENKO, the president of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation:

- The advantages of the full-fledged membership of the WTO are practically not used by our country, instead of this the agrarian sector of economy continues to suffer from the promises given when the country entered the organization.  

Sergiy TARAN, the head of the National Agency of Ukraine on Foreign Investments and Development:

-  Unfortunately, our entrance to the WTO coincided in time with the beginning of the world financial crisis and it restricted sharply the investment opportunities of the foreign companies. That is why in 2008 net increase of foreign capital in the economy of Ukraine was USD 6.18 billion (approximately 78 percent of the level of 2007). But we should remember that in accordance with the conclusions of the year 2006 this figure was even smaller – USD 4.72 billion. By the way, statistical data of the years 2008-2009 worsened also because of the significant devaluation of gryvnya in accordance with USD.  

Sergiy SKRYPCHENKO, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry:

- Together with the development of the world demand-supply situation the foreign economic activity will activate, the national market will work more effectively. According to the forecasts of the Ministry of Economy due to the trade policy liberalization and the usage of the advantages from the membership in the WTO the increase of export of all types of goods is expected. Enterprises which provide consistent technical and technological up-grading, realize their energy-saving programs, look for and master new markets will have the best perspectives.  

Mykola PALADIY, the head of the State Department of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine:

-  Executing the conditions of the agreement gained during the review of the claim of Ukraine about the entrance to the WTO, our State Department worked out the additions to the legislative bases on the questions of intellectual property. 

On September, 19 the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers “About Amending the Order of Payment of the Duties for Actions Connected with the Protection of Rights on the Objects of Intellectual Property” came into force. The document changes the amount of duties connected with the intellectual property protection: now they are the same for the payers from all countries regardless of the GDP volume per one person.  

“Protection of Ukrainian consumer from the self-will of monopolists is our primary goal”, – acting as the Chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine Oleksandr Melnychenko marks. 

It’s quite obvious that the competitive branch of legislation is “a small constitution” of the market economy and that without the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (further – AMCU) protection and development of the competition is impossible. It is indicative also that the Organization of Economic Collaboration and Development (OECD), headquarters of which is located in Paris, has positively estimated the activity of the Ukrainian Antimonopoly Regulator in its review. How has the AMCU priorities changed under current conditions? This and other questions of the correspondent of magazine “Viche” Svitlana Filonenko were answered by acting as the Chairman of Committee Oleksandr Melnychenko, who has been the head of it for more than a year.  

The AMCU has intended to take away the advertisement which is untruthful (unfair) in Ukraine as such. Enterprises, aiming at attracting buyers’ attention to own suggestion and to promote its commodity to the market, resort to various tricks and sometimes even to deception in advertising. The most widespread method to deceive a consumer is to “convert” banal quality of commodity, which is promoted to the market, to unique one.