By Martin Banks - 18th October 2011
This is a crucial agreement between the EU and Ukraine
Didier Casimiro
A top Ukrainian businessman has appealed to the EU to press ahead with a trade association agreement with Kiev.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Didier Casimiro said Brussels should "de-couple" the trade deal from current concerns about the case of former Ukraine premier Yulia Tymoshenko.
Casimiro, CEO of the THK-BP oil company in Ukraine, said, "This is a crucial agreement between the EU and Ukraine and nothing should happen which could derail it."
His comments come as it emerged that Ukrainian investigators have opened a corruption inquiry into Tymoshenko, days after she was jailed for exceeding her powers.
The new case is related to the activities of Tymoshenko's energy company 15 years ago.
It is alleged she illegally transferred more than €289m of debt from her firm's books to the state.
Ukraine is facing strong criticism from both the west and Russia over the jailing of Tymoshenko.
She was imprisoned for seven years on Tuesday last week for acting beyond her powers in sealing a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
Casimiro, who heads one of the world's largest private oil and gas companies, was in parliament for meetings with senior commission officials and MEPs.
He said Ukraine stood at an "historic" point with negotiations between the EU and Kiev on an agreement drawing to a close.
The deal, he said, would "effectively" make Ukraine a part of the EU's single market, "opening access to the world's richest trading block".
He said, "With this deal, Ukraine is at an important point in its history.
"The most important now is that the progress that had been made in negotiations between the two sides continues."
The Belgian-born entrepreneur, whose company is 50 per cent owned by BP, said, "Derailing the process now on the basis of what is happening with the former prime minister would be quite wrong.
"That is not to say, however, that we should stop debating the Tymoshenko case because we should not."
Meanwhile, Poland and Slovakia have been urged to allow crude oil from the Caspian region to be transported through their territory to western Europe.
Oleksandr Lazorko, who was also in parliament for a debate on energy markets, said that at present the two former community countries had refused to accede to the request.
Lazorko told the meeting that "doing all possible" to encourage Caspian oil to be brought to European refineries was "in line" with EU policy on diversifying its energy supplies.
He said, "This is what the EU is supposed to be striving for but, at present, these two member states are simply not cooperating with this policy."
