Ukraine should not delay reforms any longer– EBDR President Chakrabarti

Ukraine cannot postpone reforms any longer as changes are needed right now, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President, Suma Chakrabarti said at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) 14th Annual Meeting held by Viсtor Pinchuk Foundation.

"Ukraine should move towards sustainable development, and the last impediments for investments have to be removed. You should improve the business climate. Moreover, Ukraine has no possibility to postpone reforms any longer, the economy has to be restructured immediately" Chakrabarti continued.

Chakrabarti noted Ukraine’s progress, however, he said that the progress could have been much better. "European research data show Ukraine’s progress. The American Chamber of Commerce data indicate there are more investments and investors in Ukraine than at any other time. However, we must admit: this is still not enough. Ukraine must do much more to achieve the supremacy of the law and respect to the right of ownership, and must enforce fighting corruption", - Chakrabarti said.

Chakrabarti also said that it is very important for Ukraine to improve supervision over banks, continue with energy sector reforms, implement the land reform and accelerate privatization.

"Here you need to be decisive. The reforms schedule should not depend on election cycles. Any delays on reforms mean delays with the transformation", - Chakrabarti said.

Chakrabarti stressed that the increased pace of transformation that Ukraine is able to show the more investments it will have. "You need to re-start the engine of reforms again, to give it a new momentum" Chakrabarti concluded.

The online stream of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) 14^th Annual Meeting will be available online at yes-ukraine.org as well as on the websites of our media partners, in both English and Ukrainian.

The official Twitter of the 14^th YES Annual Meeting is @yes_ukraine, and participants and followers can include the hash tag: #YESUkraine2017