HASN'T HE HEARD ABOUT THE STEEL TARIFFS?:

State enterprises to be privatized (Natalia A. Feduschak, October 31, 2005, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

Ukraine's new government will move quickly to privatize certain state enterprises and end a cozy relationship between business and government, Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said ahead of a visit to Washington.

Mr. Yekhanurov, who took charge in August after President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed his previous Cabinet amid charges of corruption, said he also will seek improved trade ties with the United States. [...]

But, encouraged by the successful sale of a state-owned steel mill last week, he said that he was "a very big optimist of what is happening" in Ukraine.

In Washington, Mr. Yekhanurov said, he will seek an end to restrictions under the 1975 Jackson-Vanick amendment, which denies normal trading status to countries that restrict emigration. He also is likely to ask the United States to sign a bilateral protocol advancing Ukraine's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December.

Mr. Yekhanurov, 57, also wants the United States to recognize his country as having a market economy, a designation that would help it attract foreign investment and integrate into the West.