Ukraine withdraws from another CIS agreement as war strains trade and economic relations

UKRAINE’S Verkhovna Rada adopted a draft law for the country’s withdrawal from the Convention on Transnational Corporations, an agreement developed for member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

According to Taras Melnychuk, representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine is withdrawing from the CIS’ Convention on Transnational Corporations agreement due to the strain on trade and economic relations caused by the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

“The draft law envisages Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Convention on Transnational Corporations in order to bring the contractual and legal framework of Ukraine in line with the current realities of relations with the CIS member states and taking into account the current European integration policy of Ukraine,” Melnychuk said on Tuesday, October 18.

According to the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers at the Rada, 302 MPs voted in favour of the draft law.

The Convention on Transnational Corporations is a document that was created in order to develop production cooperation between enterprises of the CIS member states. It was concluded for the period of transition to economic market relations.

“The convention no longer corresponds to the current state of the trade and economic relations between the states as well as the current euro-integration policy of Ukraine. Accordingly, the draft of the aforementioned Law proposed to withdraw from the Convention,” Melnychuk added.

Ukraine largely ceased to participate in the CIS in 2014 and withdrew representatives from all statutory bodies of the CIS in 2018.

Back in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused western countries are trying to provoke conflicts in the CIS and unleash a bloody massacre.

“Following their goals, our geopolitical adversaries, our opponents, as we said just recently, are ready to expose everyone, anyone, any country, to turn it into the epicentre of the crisis, provoke a revolution and unleash a bloody massacre,” Putin said during a meeting with the heads of intelligence of the CIS countries on September 29.

“We have all seen this more than once.”

Nine member states make up the Commonwealth of Independent States – Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

He added that the West is trying to foment long-standing conflicts by creating new problems and crises and stopping the formation of a new world order.

“Unipolar hegemony is inexorably crumbling. This is an objective reality that the West flatly refuses to accept. And we can see everything that follows from it,” Putin said.

Putin urged for the CIS countries to put a solid barrier to existing and potential challenges.

“In order to put a truly solid barrier to existing and potential challenges, the CIS countries must act clearly and coherently, constantly strengthening mutual support,” he said.

“This is the only way we will be able to defend our interests on the world stage and fight back against ill-wishers.”

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