From January 2007
USUBC Legal Affairs Working Group Policy Paper
"Encouraging A U.S. Government Initiative To
Improve The Environment For U.S. Investors In Ukraine"
USUBC, Washington, D.C., May 13, 2008
Click here to find a USUBC Policy Paper which was issued by the
USUBC Legal Affairs Working Group, Irina Paliashvili, Chair, on February
5, 2008.
For those of you who have not seen it before, the Policy Paper suggests
changes in the way the U.S. Department of State assists U.S. investors in
Ukraine which have been injured by official corruption or lawlessness.
Its thesis is that current Department practices are rather ineffective and, in
fact, may actually indirectly encourage the abuse of U.S. investors.
This issue came up again in the USUBC Workshop "Impact of Ukraine's
Legal Environment On Business and Investment," held last week.
USUBC has sent the Policy Paper to some representatives at the U.S.
Department of State but have not received any feedback so we need to
follow-up soon to set up some meetings to discuss the concepts found
in the paper (see attachment.)
It seems clear to those of us that have dealt with the State Department on
these issues that although many within the Department agree with the Paper nonetheless, they are determined to cling to the failed policy.
We believe the Policy Paper deals with issues which are important to our
members and that the policy suggestions made in it are balanced and needed.
We have begun a low key effort to enlist help from Capital Hill to encourage
the Department seriously to consider these issues and recommendations.
Please send me your thoughts in the next few days about the contents of
the Policy Paper (see attachment) and how we might effectively go about
encouraging the U.S. State Department to respond constructively to the
Policy Paper, including any efforts you may be prepared to make to support
these efforts.
