On November 1-2, Ukraine’s PM Yuri Yekhanurov will visit Washington. This will be his first visit as a Premier of Ukraine. He is to arrive in Washington late on Monday.
Ukraine’s Premier is to meet such top U.S. government officials as Vice President Richard Cheney; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns (former Governor of Nebraska), Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman; and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, the leaders of U.S. businesses who are active in Ukraine in a meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Members of non-governmental organizations and others will meet the Prime Minister at a meeting sponsored jointly by the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) and the International Republic Institute (IRI). Ukraine’s Prime Minister will also meet with Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee, and other Senators at a meeting on the Hill and also meet then with members of the Ukrainian Congressional Caucus.
According to the Cabinet’s press office, Yuri Yekhanurov intends to discuss the bilateral agreement concerning WTO and granting the status of a market economy by the US Department of Commerce. The other key topics of discussion touch upon Euro-Atlantic integration, independent energy sources of Ukraine (Odessa-Brody pipeline), termination of funding for the Ukrainian Nuclear Fuel Qualification Program, lifting the ban on US poultry – the largest US export to Ukraine.The Action Ukraine Report informs that the U.S. has also been concerned about the slow rate of progress being made in Ukraine regarding the implementation of reforms needed to improve the business and investment climate and also the lack of reforms in commercial law and improvements needed in the courts.
