Donetsk denies arrangement with Kyiv about returning Donbas business to Ukrainian owners
DONETSK. Sept 5 (Interfax) - The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has denied that it and Kyiv agreed on restoring Ukrainian jurisdiction over enterprises based in Donbas.
"Darka Olifer, press secretary for Ukraine's representative in the TCG [Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas] Leonid Kuchma, alleged that the [September 4 TCG] meeting reached some arrangement on the issue of the enterprises on our territory being returned to their Ukrainian owners. This is a blatant lie, which clearly demonstrates the mercantile position of the Ukrainian side whose only worry is the financial interests of private owners, businesses, and by no means the violated socio-economic rights of citizens," DPR Minister for Labor and Social Policy Larisa Tolstykina told journalists.
The media announcing non-existent agreements is direct violation of the negotiating ethics, Tolstykina said.
"When discussing economic issues, Kyiv official representatives did everything to avoid constructive dialogue, basing this on having been unable to come up with a realistic option for fulfilling their obligations on the crucial issue of social payouts; but after the meeting, their imagination picked up the pace. Such actions only exacerbate mistrust in the Ukrainian negotiators, put their competence in doubt," she said.
If Ukraine continues with this practice of voicing non-existent agreements, the real talks in Minsk "could only result in failure" for Ukraine, Tolstykina said.
Yesterday, Olifer said that the TCG meeting focused on the return of Ukraine's public and private assets. "It was agreed that at its next meeting the subgroup will examine the case of a baking factory which must be returned to its Ukrainian owners," Olifer said.