Ukraine tries to avoid US sanctions
Published:
9 January 2002 y., Wednesday
In an attempt to lift US sanctions against Ukraine, the country's president and the prime minister has asked the parliament to pass a draft law on compact disk (CD) production.
The US imposed sanctions, coming in force on 23 January, on goods from Ukraine over its failure to fight copyright piracy.
The row centres on the unauthorized production in Ukraine of compact discs (CDs) and optical media products - including CD-ROMs and DVDs - which is estimated to cost American businesses about $75m per year. To compensate for these losses, the US imposed punitive tariffs on Ukrainian imports of metals, footwear and other goods last December.
Ukraine's government estimates the country may lose at least $400m annually due to the US move.
The US also threatens to dash Ukraine's hopes to join the World Trade Organisation if the country fails to protect copyrights.
Washington has been urging Kiev to crack down on copyright piracy for more than two years, but with little success.
The US says Ukraine is one of the major sources for the trade and production of unlicensed CDs. Counterfeit CDs, CD-ROMs and DVDs produced in Ukraine are available in almost all shops and markets there, as well as at some outlets in Russia, Eastern Europe and even in the UK.
Illegal production of CDs causes at least $250m to $300m a year in lost revenues to the global record industry, according to experts.
Šaltinis:
ukraine.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Standard & Poor's (S&P) affirmed Lithuania's long-term investment grade sovereign foreign currency BBB credit rating and removed it from a CreditWatch negative position, citing government commitments to address deteriorating public finances.
more »
The EBRD-EIB Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund (MCCF) and Azerenerji Joint Stock Company are collaborating in order to promote energy-efficient power generation in Azerbaijan.
more »
U.S. President Barack Obama, meeting with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, called on all three nations hit by the global recession to avoid resorting to protectionism.
more »
A 10-year $75 million EBRD loan will finance the construction of a combined heat and power plant in the east Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk which is expected to improve energy efficiency and cut pollution by 14 percent thanks to the use of more environmentally-friendly technologies.
more »
The Directorate-General for Competition has issued a review of the aid schemes introduced by Member States and approved by the Commission during the financial crisis.
more »
Rescue planes from New Zealand have been taking part in a massive search for passengers after a ferry sank off the coast of Tonga. At least 27 people are missing.
more »
Courtney Adams has always loved cooking. As a kid she baked brownies for her friends and in college her apartment was the place to go to for a home-cooked meal. But she never thought she'd cook for a living.
more »
The European Commission has authorised, under EC Treaty state aid rules, a scheme offering reduced-interest loans to businesses investing in the production of environmentally friendly products, as part of the German package to tackle the current economic crisis.
more »
Ramūnas Bičiulaitis, former board member and financial director of AB LEO LT, starts working as head of the Finance Department of Danske Bankas.
more »
The EBRD has kept up a rapid pace in the syndicated loans market, defying difficult market conditions and pulling together nine deals so far this year, worth a total €1.2 billion.
more »