Party of Regions of Ukraine welcomes Tuesday agreements with Russia
KYIV. Dec 17 (Interfax) - The Party of Regions of Ukraine welcomes the strategic agreements signed between Kyiv and Moscow during President Viktor Yanukovych's visit to Russia on Tuesday and considers them an important step in normalizing and developing friendly and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries, the party said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
"We want to declare once again, clearly syllabizing it with all responsibility, that, in signing the agreements with the Russian Federation, Ukraine is not giving up its national interests, is not giving up its national gas transport system, and is not planning to join the Customs Union. Ukraine remains faithful to its strategic Euro-integration course and is making all essential efforts to join the common European trade and economic area consistently and painlessly for the domestic producers," the Party of Regions said.
"The resumption of strategic partnership with Russia and the lifting of the trade restrictions carry significant potential for promising economic growth and serve as a powerful stimulating factor for successful development of the basic sectors of the national economy and the implementation of ambitious joint projects in the machine-building, fuel and energy, transport, aerospace, and military-technological sectors," it said.
"The decision to significantly reduce the cost of the Russian gas shipped to Ukraine can be viewed as truly momentous," it said.
A lower gas price would enable Ukraine "to virtually resuscitate whole industries of the national economy, improve competitiveness of the domestic producers, and significantly bolster Ukraine's export potential," it said.
Ukraine's main foreign political priority "has always been and remains to be the protection of the national interests and the provision of the essential foreign political preconditions, including those for investments, to structurally modernize the national economy, enhance competitiveness of the domestic products, and dynamically improve the living standards of Ukrainian citizens," the statement says.
By successfully settling issues in its trade and economic cooperation with Russia, Ukraine will reinforce its positions in the negotiations with the EU and will possess more arguments to defend its national interests, the Party of Regions said.
