“Russia’s economic performance indicators are going down, while those in the EU are going up. It’s clear in which direction Ukraine has to go. We want to have a thriving neighbor with whom we can encourage economic cooperation.”
EU neighborhood policies will be guided by a customized approach to each member and the absence of universal indicators, Hahn said.
“Our new policies will be based on economic cooperation.”
“Unified cash flows and neighborhood policies have been an important EU achievement in recent years. Putting in place specific business structure has eased access to financial resources for EU partners.”
Once a coalition is built and a new government is formed, Ukraine should immediately concentrate on reforms, the most important of which include fighting corruption, improving the investment climate, making public management more effective, and decentralizing power., Hahn said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the EU and Ukraine entered into an aid agreement on November 27. Under the agreement, the EU pledges to provide Ukraine with EUR 55 million worth of financial aid, of which EUR 50 million will be used to support local budgets, and EUR 5 million will be used to promote regional policies.
By end-December, the EU will also provide Ukraine with EUR 500 million worth of microfinancing as part of a USD 1.6 billion financial aid initiative that was agreed on earlier.
