Volodymyr Groysman discussed with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews cooperation between two countries in trade and economic sphere

On Thursday, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman met with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews. The sides discussed urgent measures to expand trade and economic cooperation.

"We have many joint opportunities for practical development of our relations in the economic sphere. I am convinced that we can deepen trade cooperation. We are now open for investment projects in various fields," noted Volodymyr Groysman at the beginning of the meeting.

The parties discussed in detail the possibility of U.S. support in the creation of the Office for Accompanying Investment under auspice of the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Groysman emphasized the importance of U.S. advisory assistance in the development of the Office in Ukraine, which, in particular, was agreed in the framework of his recent visit to the United States. In turn, the First Deputy Secretary of Commerce expressed willingness to share the American experience, including the successful operation of such the U.S. agency - "Select USA".

"Your experience is very important, while willingness to help us will speed up the process of creating this office," pointed out Volodymyr Groysman.

The sides discussed urgent issues of American business in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Groysman informed his interlocutor that recently he met with representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. According to him, in the future such meetings will be regular. He noted that the Government is also enhancing cooperation with business Ombudsman to address the urgent problems of enterprises.

"For us, the success of companies is very important, and we will do our utmost to increase comfort of their operation," stated the Prime Minister.

To this end, the Government will act in two directions: to respond quickly to requests from business and institutionally change the system that will create a high-quality climate in the country, he said.

The Government recognizes the need for amendments to the tax legislation, including the change in administration, accounting transparency, automatic VAT refund, minimization of abuse by regulatory authorities, and is working on settling these problems, assured Volodymyr Groysman.

First Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews noted openness and willingness of the newly formed Government of Ukraine to interact with business, to create favorable conditions for attracting foreign investment.

Separately the sides discussed measures for Ukraine's customs reform. The Prime Minister thanked Vice President Joe Biden and the U.S. government for their support of this reform and the U.S. Mission to assess the needs in reforming the Ukrainian customs service, which had been working in Ukraine for almost two weeks and will present its report with recommendations within 30 days.

Discussing the process of privatization of state enterprises, Volodymyr Groysman informed about the privatization of Odesa Portside Plant on July 26. "Our task is to make this process open, public," he stressed.

The Government will continue carrying out deregulation, improving the institutional capacity of the country, reforming the civil service, public and competitive change of the management of public companies, combating corruption. The task of the Government is to accelerate the necessary changes in the country, underlined the Prime Minister.