No quick fix for Ukraine's dilemma
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E-mail Xinhua, December 4, 2013
Nine years after the Orange Revolution stormed Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of protesters have again rallied in Kiev, demanding the ouster of the current administration.
Local experts, noting hundreds have set up camps around Independence Square in the heart of the capital, see no quick fix to the crisis for the government.
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A protester throws stones towards riot police during the storming of the Viktor Yanukovych Presidential office in Kiev during a mass rally of the opposition in Kiev on December 1, 2013. The crowd chanted "Revolution!" and "Down with the Gang" as it took control of Kiev's iconic Independence Square and steered a bulldozer within striking distance of police barricades protecting the nearby presidential adminstration office.[Xinhua photo] |
![A protester throws stones towards riot police during the storming of the Viktor Yanukovych Presidential office in Kiev during a mass rally of the opposition in Kiev on December 1, 2013. The crowd chanted 'Revolution!' and 'Down with the Gang' as it took control of Kiev's iconic Independence Square and steered a bulldozer within striking distance of police barricades protecting the nearby presidential adminstration office.[Xinhua photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20131205/001ec949c22b140a1fb703.jpg "A protester throws stones towards riot police during the storming of the Viktor Yanukovych Presidential office in Kiev during a mass rally of the opposition in Kiev on December 1, 2013. The crowd chanted 'Revolution!' and 'Down with the Gang' as it took control of Kiev's iconic Independence Square and steered a bulldozer within striking distance of police barricades protecting the nearby presidential adminstration office.[Xinhua photo]")
Faint economy a timebomb
Ukraine's economy has faltered this year, with the World Bank cutting the growth forecast to zero and warning of further deterioration and a potential debt default in the coming years.
Meanwhile, the marathon two-year negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout has been, as President Viktor Yanukovych said last week, fruitless.@ The suspended association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union (EU) also added an unaffordable cost to the East European country's export-oriented economy, with Russia tightening its trade privileges with the Customs Union.
"From the economic point of view, integration with the Customs Union will bring more benefits to Ukraine than that with the EU," Denis Denisov, head of the Ukrainian branch of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Institute, told Xinhua.
"If Ukraine joins the Russia-led bloc, it will get around 10 billion U.S. dollars in savings and gains within the next five years," he said.
Acknowledging that Kiev's political roadmap, the European integration course, was unlikely to change dramatically after the protests, Denisov said the EU had actually not promised anything Ukrainians were longing for.
"The increase of salaries or pensions is just none of the business of, nor an obligation for, the EU," he said.
Yet, Yuriy Lutsenko, former Ukrainian interior minister, believes integration with the EU will not hurt, but improve Ukraine's economy.
"Today's economy, which relies on steel and chemicals exports heavily depends on the Russian market, but an export-oriented economy can not ensure adequate social standards in Ukraine," Lutsenko said.
"We want to build a new economy, which needs start-ups, new technologies, innovation and service market development," the opposition leader said.
Noting that around 80 percent of Ukrainian citizens under 30 support European integration according to their surveys, Lutsenko said he had no doubt Ukraine would sign the association deal with the EU and finally becomes an EU member.
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