A senior Ukraine government minister says that the country's much-awaited association agreement with the EU is a "once in a lifetime" opportunity on the path towards deeper European integration.
Speaking exclusively to New Europe, Ukraine´s First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov predicted a 2 to 3 per cent growth in Ukraine's GDP if the agreement is signed at a summit later this year.
Arbuzov,a former Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, also said the EU stood to gain from any such deal as it would open up a potentially "huge market" for European businesses.
Arbuzov was in Berlin last week for high-level talks designed to pave the way for the signing the agreement.
Among those involved in the discussions were German foreign minister and vice chancellor Guido Westerwelle and senior officials representing Chancellor Angela Merkel.
After the meeting, Arbuzov expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the discussions, saying they made "good progress" towards signing the agreement in Vilnius this November.
"It is a win-win situation," he declared, "but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that we must grasp with both hands."
He also played down recently-voiced Russian scepticism about the possible economic gains Ukraine stands to reap from signing the trade deal at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.
Ukraine has come increasingly under the spotlight in recent times with observers from the European Parliament, including Pat Cox, the institution's former president, making regular fact-finding trips to Kiev, the latest being at the end of last month.
Arbuzov is responsible for economic affairs and EU integration in the current Ukraine government and will play a vital role in determining Ukraine's position vis-a-vis the association agreement with the EU. After a highly successful career in the financial sector, he was appointed to his current post in December 2012 . In the same year,the Ukrainian magazine Korrespondent placed him among the 30 most influential people in the country.
In an interview with this website, he points out that the EU is already Ukraine's largest trading partner and that Germany ranks second in direct investments into Ukraine.
He also firmly believes that Ukraine can be of "real use and interest" to Europe, saying, "Ukraine is a country of unrivalled potential and opportunities. It shares European values.
"It has a highly experienced workforce, a market of 46m consumers and infrastructure projects which European companies could contribute to with personnel, technology and investment."
He also points out that Ukraine has "been very useful to Europe" on security issues, proving stability at its borders with Europe "for a long time."
"Ukraine is a very peaceful country. We do not have any claims over our neighbours," he said.
In this respect he says the country compares favourably with, say, Turkey which is at odds with Greece over Cyprus, and Russia and its ongoing dispute over Georgia.
Unofficially tipped as the country's next Prime Minister when a future cabinet reshuffle takes place, he believes that despite the eurozone crisis, deeper integration with the EU currently has the support of most Ukrainians.
"The number of those favourable to the EU is growing."
Amid a background of continuing pressure from Moscow, he goes on to warn, "Movement towards Europe might, in fact, be our main means of preventing the country from splitting into 'Eastern' and ' Western' Ukraine."
One of the main challenges between now and the November 28-9 summit in the Lithuanian capital, he says, is to convince Angela Merkel that the association agreement with Ukraine will be in the interests of both the EU and Germany.
At present, he says there is a perception that Chancellor Merkel, possibly influenced by her connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country's oil giant Gazprom, is dragging her feet when it comes to giving wholehearted support.
Instead of the much-publicised and controversial Tymoshenko case, Arbuzov, widely seen as a fast rising star of Ukraine domestic politics, prefers to focus on the EU's possible "rapprochement" with Kyiv, saying, "We can be a very profitable partner for the EU and this is what we should be discussing rather than being preoccupied with one particular issue."
With memories still relatively fresh of Ukraine's independence from the old Soviet Union in 1991, he goes on, "We have to remember that Ukraine is still a country in transition and this means the risks are quite high."
He concedes that concerns remain about certain issues but adds, "Things are changing quite dramatically and we want to become what I would call a more predictable partner for the EU. For us, EU integration is, in the first instance, about participation in the European project."We are moving towards Europe not for money but for the standards and values which have allowed Europe to become what it is today."
(Serhiy Arbuzov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine was exclusively interviewed in Berlin for New Europe by James Wilson, Director of the EU Ukraine Business Council)
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