FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
TYMOSHENKO GOVERNMENT NEAR SOLUTION
OF UKRAINE'S OPIC PROBLEMS
PR Newswire-USNewswire, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2009
KYIV, Ukraine, July 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A resolution pushed through the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers on July 17, 2009 is expected to lead to a final solution of the long-standing political risk insurance claim by the U.S. Government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
"This breakthrough should open an exciting new window for expanded U.S.-Ukraine business, particularly for support of alliances between small and medium-sized businesses in both countries," said E. Morgan Williams of SigmaBleyzer, President of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC)
[http://usubc.org].
"We appreciate the outstanding leadership of Prime Minister Tymoshenko and Vice Prime Minister Nemyria that led to the developments that seem certain to result in breaking this years-long log jam. Their persistent efforts, along with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and former U.S. Embassy Economic Counselor William Klein, made this progress possible," Williams added.
Reopening of OPIC guarantees is one of the most important agenda items during the current visit of U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden to Ukraine, the first important high-level visit of the Obama administration.
"Previous governments have promised progress on this troublesome issue, but Prime Minister Tymoshenko and her government have demonstrated their ability to bring the Ministries of Defense, Finance, and Economy to an agreement. This shows a level of leadership missing in previous governments," Williams added.
OPIC programs [http://www.opic.gov] are of extraordinary importance because they make it possible for small and medium-sized U.S. companies to expand from the domestic market into the world economy, particularly emerging markets, by providing financing, investment funds, and political risk insurance. This provides great opportunities for SMEs in the United States and Ukraine to forge profitable partnerships that help both countries.
In addition, OPIC is able to support long-term projects for larger companies requiring large amounts of capital in such diverse areas as telecommunications, power, water, housing, airports, hotels, high-tech, financial services and mining. This flexibility will allow OPIC to become a driving force in meeting Ukraine's overall development goals.
"The reopening of OPIC programs will be a win-win situation for both Ukraine and the United States. We urge both governments to keep working together to move this issue to settlement now," Williams concluded.
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NOTE: For more information, contact Morgan Williams, Director, Government Affairs, Washington Office, SigmaBleyzer, and President, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC); e-mail: mwilliams@usubc.org; Tel: 380 50 689 2874, http://www.usubc.org.