President Kuchma issued a follow-up order on July 19 instructing that the decree on attracting foreign investments to Ukraine be distributed to all diplomatic offices operating in Ukraine. The President wants the offices to be informed about the official position of the President regarding improving the investment climate and also wants it to be known that significant investors in Ukraine support the decree and that the decree was developed out of the Fifth Plenary session of the Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC).

The decree is the result of a major study and program developed and implemented by the International Private Capital Task Force (IPCTF) over the past 18 months in cooperation with the international private business sector, international financial institutions, various embassies and the government of Ukraine.
The IPCTF will now work closely with Prime Minister Kinakh and the Cabinet of Ministers to assist in the development of the program, which is to be adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers before October 1, 2001. As soon as the overall program is approved the IPCTF will support the implementation of the program and will also monitor the results using the benchmarking framework outlined in the IPCTF study.

In the spring of 2000 the International Private Capital Task Force (IPCTF) was created in Kyiv by Michael Bleyzer, President of SigmaBleyzer, an American/Ukrainian investment banking in group, in cooperation with the Ukraine government. Over 20 organizations were a member of the task force.  The IPCTF undertook a study to benchmark transition economies to identify the best practices in government policies, which improve the investment climate and attract private capital.

The study was conducted by SigmaBleyzer and the Thunderbird Corporate Consulting Group in Arizona, the consulting arm of one of the best international schools in the United States. Ediberto Segura, chief economist of SigmaBleyzer and the former head of the World Bank Mission in Ukraine, designed and supervised the work on behalf of the members of IPCTF.

Nine key government policy actions which stimulated foreign direct investment in successful transition economies were identified. The IPCTF report lays out a detailed prescription for Ukraine's transition economy based on benchmarking and best practices identification. The IPCTF framework provides a comprehensive tool for building consensus and developing an action plan for any transition economy.
Michael Bleyzer, IPCTF chairman, presented the IPCTF report to Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers in late February. The report was also presented to business and government leaders in Washington, D.C. in March.
The new Prime Minister, Anatoliy Kinakh, endorsed the IPCTF report and program in late June. President Kuchma approved the use of the IPCTF action program as the basic structure used for the Fifth Plenary Meeting of President Kuchma's Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC) meeting in Kyiv, on June 18-19th, as mentioned in the decree.  The two-day meeting of FIAC was attended by a large number of international companies, representatives of embassies and international financial organizations.

The development and implementation of the program called for in the decree will provide Ukraine with the framework for the reforms needed to improve the investment climate and speed up the development of a market economy.

Michael Bleyzer said, «This decree by President Kuchma is an important action and one that will help Ukraine take advantage of the window of opportunity they have to complete their transition to a market economy. Time is critical and Ukraine must move forward now»

Please contact MEGIS: Market Economy Group Information Service (MEGIS) Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine USA: 202-437-4707, megis@starpower.net