President wants CIS changes

Victor Yushchenko has told reporters in Kolomyya Ukraine wants to sign a free trade agreement, unify customs procedures and improve regulatory policies as an associatemember of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

“Unfortunately, we have not so far formulated common positions on these issues in the Commonwealth, and it impedes theeconomic progressof our countries,” he said.

The President said he regularly offered “pragmatic and specific” suggestions to reform the CIS, such as proposalson demarcation, extradition, customs rules, etc.

“We appreciate the possibilityof having this multilateral dialogue within the CIS,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s government was aware there wereno effective mechanisms of cooperation in the CIS. He said participants of last year’s CIS heads of state summit in Minsk had been trying to discover such mechanisms, “President press office” informed.