“Development of small and medium-sized businesses should become the basis for the development of Ukraine’s economy," -- Andriy Parubiy at the sitting of the PABSEC Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee
Speaking before the PABSEC committeemen on Wednesday, the Chairman stressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) has become a solid and reliable footing for cooperation between the countries in the Black Sea region - this cooperation has repeatedly demonstrated and proved that joint efforts for the economy development provide a much greater effect than each state separately".
"The main goal of this inter-parliamentary assembly is economic cooperation, but we are well aware that it is difficult to pursue a harmonious economic policy under conditions of aggression against the countries of our region," said the head of the parliament. At the same time, he recalled that "for Ukraine, a very important element of cooperation is the moment of defending the territorial integrity of each of the countries of the Black Sea region".
This region is particularly vulnerable to the aggression of the Russian Federation - "Russian troops continue to be in Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, and this Russian aggression, in its active phase, we do feel it every day in the Crimea and the Donbas".
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada expressed his opinion that in order to ensure a concordant development of the economies of the Black Sea countries, it is extremely important to call on the Russian Federation to stop the aggression and move to cooperation in the field of economy in the spirit of good-neighborliness and mutual respect.
A.Parubiy clued up that this week there would be a new stage of the Ukraine-Moldova-Georgia Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, which was recently established, and "this instrument becomes another foundation of cooperation of the countries in our region".
A.Parubiy stressed that the Russian aggression is hybrid by its nature, thus embracing military, informational, economic, and energy components of the warfare. "Therefore, it is extremely important for us to jointly develop a general economic strategy for the development of our economies," he commented.
In focus of the today’s meeting, there is small business as one of the driving forces of regional economic development, the promotion of which is an integral part of the overall economic reforms along with restructuring of enterprises and forms of ownership and luring investments".
The Speaker of the Parliament noted that Ukraine has recently undergone significant changes in the development of its small economy, in particular, in May 2017 the Government of Ukraine had approved a unified strategy for the development of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship for the period up to 2020, which defined priorities for implementation of the state policy in this area.
Last year, Ukraine also ratified the agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the European Union on the participation of Ukraine in the 7-year EU programme "Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" (COSME).
"I am convinced that, in fact, the development of small and medium-sized businesses should become the basis for the development of the Ukrainian economy," emphasized the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.
A.Parubiy has expressed his hopes that in the course of today's meeting there will be exchange of experience on the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (PABSEC), sound reports and relevant recommendations.
"I am convinced that each country’s experience is valuable and unique. By exchanging this experience, strengthening our economy, we will lead to prosperity of our countries, building strong and successful societies," said A.Parubiy.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine wished all participants of the meeting fruitful work and a good stay in Ukraine.