Baltic Export, Cooperation, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Ukraine

“If we look from our standpoint, our entrepreneurs in Ukraine encounter certain problems there of course. The business climate is not particularly positive, the judiciary is tardy,” Ambassador Poikans said.

The Latvian diplomat noted, however, that much has been done recently to improve the situation in Ukraine. For instance, a new patrol police force has been created, efforts are being made to improve the work of civil servants and to fix the electricity and gas market. “But all this is going rather slowly because the legacy they have been left with is much more difficult than the one we had in the Baltic states,” the ambassador said.

In Poikans’ words, Latvian entrepreneurs’ interest in the Ukrainian market is still quite strong. Dzintars cosmetics company, for instance, has a chain of some 20 stores in Ukraine and Lattelecom electronic services provider has just concluded a major deal with Ukraine’s national telecommunications company.

Over the last six months, Latvian exports to Ukraine have grown by 30%, so the Latvian businesspeople are interested in Ukraine’s stabilization, Ambassador Poikans said.

Meanwhile, the situation in Ukraine’s separatist eastern regions has not improved very much lately, the ambassador admitted, adding at the same time that it could have been worse. The conflict in eastern Ukraine might remain frozen and the implementation of the Minsk agreement might be extended for a year, the ambassador said.