Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin believes that the governments of the two states should sound the alarm over the negative trends discernible in the Russo-Ukrainian trade and economic relations, reports Interfax. Addressing the April 24 session of the Russian Federation International and Foreign Economic Council in Moscow, Ambassador Chernomyrdin underscored that “in the two first months of 2002 alone the commodity turnover between Russia and Ukraine dropped by 20%.” He believes one of the major reasons for deteriorating bilateral trade is Russia’s application of the principle of indirect taxation “in the country of destination” in 2001, which has resulted in the double taxation of the Russo-Ukrainian trade. As Ambassador Chernomyrdin stressed, “in so doing Russia has stepped on its own tail, especially in the oil sector, cutting supplies to its own enterprises.” Ukrainian Ambassador to Russia Mykola Biloblotsky agrees with his counterpart, saying that in the first quarter of 2002 trade turnover between the two states fell by $450 million. He went on to say that the decline has been to a great extent precipitated by antidumping investigations launched by Russia and Ukraine.
