02 December 2015 Federation of Employers of Ukraine. AMU 

Ukraine Modernization Plan Should Be Implemented

Plan for the Modernization designed by the Federation of Employers of Ukraine and the trade unions can provide tangible results for the Ukrainian economy and citizens already in 2016. This was stated by Dmitry Firtash, the President of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine.

A comprehensive plan for the modernization of Ukraine elaborated by the Agency and aimed to bring the country's economy out of the crisis was presented on December 2, in Kyiv. Dmitry Firtash, the initiator of the AMU establishment and the FEU President, stressed that implementation of the plan would help stabilize the economy of our country and accelerate the pace of its development.

“Ukraine is able to return to the path of development in a short period. Ukraine has all possibilities to be rich, developed industrial country. Our plan for the modernization of Ukraine, designed for 10 years, would bring tangible results for the Ukrainian economy and citizens of Ukraine next year”, said Dmitry Firtash.
 
During the presentation of the Plan for Modernization at the Tenth FEU Congress attended by owners and managers of about 500 medium and large enterprises, Ukrainian and European scientists and experts, representatives of the Agency for the Modernization of Ukraine, Michael Spindelegger, the AMU President, noted that Ukraine needed urgent economic reforms.
 
“If reforms are not urgently carried out, there will be no investments in Ukraine at all. There will not be confidence of European investors. If there is no fundamental change, the Ukrainians will lose faith in the country. We have to act immediately. If the process of change starts, we will be able to achieve much in the next few years. Ukraine could become a manufacturing hub for Europe”, said Michael Spindelegger.
 
He also noted that foreign investors require a stable work environment. “It would be right to introduce a three-year moratorium on changes in tax legislation. You make changes to the taxes, and no one knows when there will be the next changes”, stressed the president of the AMU.

Dmytro Oliynyk, the FEU Vice-President, in his speech at the event said that the fundamental changes in Ukraine had not happened over the past few years, and our country continued to be an exporter of labor force and importer of credits.
 
“Today, eight million of Ukrainians want to emigrate, and economic growth may be at the level of 2-3% in the next 10 years. We have a chance to change the situation. But without a fight against corruption, without a stable tax legislation, no shift from exports of raw materials to the sale of high value-added products the development of the country is not possible”, said Dmytro Oliynyk.
 
Anatoly Hirschfeld, the President of the Federation of Employers of Kharkov region, said that the current situation in Ukraine would never arise if the country had a strong economy. “The main challenge should be in the economic space. We wouldn’t be in the current situation, if there was a strong economy. Israel has nothing, but it grows two crops a year, and has tremendous labor productivity. The economy determines the country”, said Anatoly Hirschfeld.
 
He noted that corruption preventing the country from developing cannot be defeated in a poor state. “By elaborating a plan for reforms together we will create a roadmap for the country. In fact, Germany is Germany due to the fact that there was a program uniting main productive forces. If we combine our efforts we can achieve GDP growth higher than 2%”, said Anatoly Hirschfeld.
 
At the end of the Congress, national associations of employers and trade unions signed a memorandum on the joint implementation of the Plan for modernization of Ukraine. Document was signed by Oleksiy Miroshnichenko, the FEU Vice-President, and Hryhoriy Osovyy, the Head of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine. The parties agreed to establish a committee for the implementation of the modernization plan, and to invite the government representatives, scientists and experts for cooperation.