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could open an opportunity for US-based Oriole Capital Group to acquire Motor Sich. Hossein Mousavi, managing partner of Oriole, confirmed to buzzfeednews.com the firm’s interest in the acquisition, describing Motor Sich as a “gem.” People aligned with Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment entered a deal with key Motor Sich owner Viacheslav Boguslayev in 2016, based on, which Chinese firms have concentrated at least a 56% stake in the company. However, in 2017, the deal was blocked by the Antimonopoly Committee and Ukraine’s State Security Service, which “found” signs of sabotage and state treason in the deal. Since then, the shares of Motor Sich have been banned from free trading.
Russia appoints a new trade representative to Ukraine, a position vacant since 2012, reports Interfax-UA. Andrei Babko, a career trade officer previously based in Armenia, will become Moscow’s business pointman in Kyiv. Last year, China edged out Russia as Ukraine’s largest trading partner, which has historically been one of the country’s most valuable export markets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is considering the nation's veteran politician Serhiy Tigipko for the post of the Prime Minister, the Kyiv Post reported on February 25 citing three sources in the Ukrainian government.
Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s pointman on Donbas, has been negotiating to resolve the warfare with Dmitry Kozak, recently promoted to be Russia’s pointman on Donbas, ever since August 2019, the p ravda.com.ua news site in a Feb. 12 profile article. The ability of Yermak, appointed as head of the President’s Office on Monday, to conduct two large exchanges of war prisoners – as well as return two Ukrainian navy ships captured by Russian border agents (and their 24 crew members) – prompted Russian President Putin to promote Kozak as a presidential administration deputy head and lead the peace talks to replace the rigid Vladislav Surkov, the article stated. “Yermak’s arrival in the talks with the Russians marked a change in strategy in the very Kremlin. And instead of the ‘architect of Novorossiya,’ the uncompromising Surkov, the overseer of Ukraine became ‘the good Ukrainian’,” the article said, referring to Kozak, who was born in Ukraine.
On January 31, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Kyiv,
where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two discussed military policy and cooperation with the World Bank, and both appeared to be in favour of increasing cooperation on business projects. However, in the words of Novoye Vremya journalist Ivan Verstyuk, “Now the issue of Ukrainian foreign policy is up in the air.” With the United States heading towards a presidential election, Ukraine has several foreign policy options going forward. As Verstyuk points out, trying to become a key U.S. ally in the post-Soviet region is one option, but dialogue with the U.S. presidential administration is strained because of the impeachment scandal. Unless Ukraine can find some other way of capturing American interests, Kyiv’s only hope is to “bet on a change of leadership in Washington after this year’s presidential election.” As Verstyuk sees it, Ukraine’s other option is to concentrate on relations with the European Union while maintaining “traditionally good relations” with the United States. “[Ukraine] could try to declare its intention to become the leader of the complex post-Soviet region, precluding the Baltic countries, which have their own ambitions in this regard,” Verstyuk says. “However, the Americans must be convinced that Ukraine and its diplomatic resources are up to the task.”
Laws to legalize gambling and to create a farmland market will only win approval in late spring because each bill has been saddled with about 4,000 amendments, Danylo Hetmantsev, chair of the Rada’s Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Committee, tells Ukrinform. Oleg Marusyak, a committee member, estimates that the first year of legalized gambling will net the government $100mn in taxes.
7 UKRAINE Country Report March 2020 www.intellinews.com
