Azarov's visit to Moscow is an attempt to help Ukrainian exporters

KYIV, August 26 /Ukrinform/. Ukrainian commodity producers will fulfill new Russia's requirements to exports, so the Prime Minister of Ukraine during a visit to Moscow will clear out their essence in order to help national exporters.

Director of the Kyiv Center for Political Studies and Conflictology Mykhailo Poherbinsky has expressed this opinion in comments to Ukrinform.

“I think that he (Azarov- Ed.) will try (in Moscow - Ed.) to understand how Russia's requirements have changed to Ukrainian exporters and then to work with those exporters in order to help them fulfill new Russian requirements - nothing doing here,” Pohrebinsky said.

According to the expert, he did not know that Russia warned in advance about the change of its requirements to Ukrainian commodity producers, so “it was interesting for him to come to know about this.”

“I have no grounds to suspect that Azarov invented this information. And if this is true, then naturally they (exporters) have to seriously take up this, because these are not jokes, now it will be necessary to fulfill those requirements,” he noted.

According to Pohrebinsky, the Russian position is clear - they become prepared that Ukraine is a part of the joint customs union with Europe, i.e. borders will be opened fully, at the same time this will take place in three months. And hence Russia should prepare for new conditions of trading with Ukraine.

“When one border is opened, at the same time, an economic giant is from that opened side, which hundred fold exceeds the Ukrainian economy potential, this is no wonder that the Russians want to see what it will really be and think over some ways to protect against possible unrestricted re-export. I think that Ukrainian commodity producers-exporters should understand what the Russians want, so it is necessary to meet their requirements and to continue trading. I think that the Premier goes (to Moscow - Ed.) in order to discuss all those things,” Pohrebinsky supposed.

As regards the fact that the CIS applicable documents do not allow the economic pressure, Pohrebinsky noted that in his opinion there is not any Russia's pressure on Ukraine.

“The pressure is the vocabulary of Russia's and Ukraine's enemies, because really to make Ukraine be the Russia's enemy is to the detriment of Ukraine more than that of Russia. And instead of discussing how not to harm own interests, they accuse Russia of hostile sanctions,” Pohrebinsky says.

Answering a question whether the gas theme will be again used as an argument in Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, Pohrebinsky noted that “this depends on how the Ukrainian authorities work.”

“If they work as the oppositionists advise, like you have a go at us, we will do the same,” this will end badly for Ukraine and, in particular, I do not rule out the problems with gas supply,” Pohrebinsky summed up.