Welcome to the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council

1st Annual International Forum on the Economic Development of Ukraine
“The Impact of the Global Liquidity Crisis on Ukraine and the Road to Economic Recovery”
Featuring: Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Nemyria, Minister of Economy Danylyshyn 
Thursday, October 15, 2009, Knight Conference Center, Newseum
555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

FOR THOSE REGISTERED TO ATTEND:
 
1. FORUM AGENDA:

8:15 a.m. Registration and coffee
9:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
    Morgan Williams, Introduction
Michael Bleyzer, Welcoming Remarks
9:15 a.m. Keynote Speakers and Presentations
Hrygoriy Nemyria, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Ukraine’s Response to the Current Crisis and Perspectives for 2010
William B. Taylor, Jr., Vice President, Peace and Stability Operations, U.S. States Institute of Peace (USIP), former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, US Support to Global Economic Recovery and to Ukraine
Dr. Edilberto Segura, Chairman of the Board, The Bleyzer Foundation (TBF) – The Impact of the Global Liquidity Crisis on Ukraine and the Road to Recovery
10:30 a.m. Greetings from Capitol Hill
10:45 a.m. Ukrainian Crisis – Causes and Solutions: Measures to revive economic development in Ukraine.
William B. Taylor Jr., Vice President, Peace and Stability Operations, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom David Institute for International Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Ihor A. Shumylo, Executive Director, Economic Issues, Member of the Management Board, National Bank of Ukraine
Chris Wilson, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, U.S. Office of the Special Trade Representative (USTR)
Dr. Edilberto Segura, Chairman of the Board, The Bleyzer Foundation (TBF)
Michael Bleyzer, Managing Partner, President & CEO, SigmaBleyzer (moderator)
12:15 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Live TV Link – Ukrainian Crisis and Government Response (8p.m. EEST)
Washington Panel:
Hryhoriy Nemyria, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine
Bohdan Danylyshyn, Minister of Economy of Ukraine
Michael Bleyzer, Managing Partner, President & CEO, SigmaBleyzer
William Miller, Senior Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Ambassador John E. Herbst, Coordinator for Reconstruction & Stabilization, U.S. Dept of State, Former U.S. Amb to Ukraine
Chrystia Freeland, U.S. Managing Editor, Financial Times (moderator)
Kyiv Panel:
Martin Raiser, Country Director, The World Bank
Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Assistant Director of the European Department and Head of the IMF Mission to Ukraine, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Andre Kuusvek, Country Director, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Ambassador Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, Head of the EC Delegation to Ukraine
Valery Heyets, Head of the Institute for Economics and Forecasting, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences
Oleg Ustenko, Executive Director, The Bleyzer Foundation (TBF)
3:00 p.m. Business and Investment Panel
George Logush, Vice President Kraft Foods, Area Director: Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Central Asia
Jorge Zukoski, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (“Chamber”) 
Jock Mendoza-Wilson, Director of International & Investor Relations, Systems Capital Management (SCM)
Dr. Irina Paliashvili, President and Senior Counsel, RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group
Olexandra Kuzhel, Head of the Ukrainian State Committee for Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship
Morgan Williams, SigmaBleyzer; President, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) (moderator)
4:00 p.m. Forum Closes

2.  DIRECTIONS: NEWSEUM
6th Street Freedom Forum Entrance, Knight Conference Center
555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001
Photo ID Required
http://www.edfukraine.com/information.html
www.newseum.com

3.  OBJECTIVES OF THE FORUM:  
The objective of the Forum is to bring together international and Ukrainian experts to present and discuss the financial and economic crisis that hit Ukraine in the fall of 2008 and continues today: what caused it, why did it hit Ukraine's economy and currency so hard, what has been done to deal with the crisis, what needs to be done in the next few months and what needs to be implemented over the next year to rapidly accelerate Ukraine's economic growth and development. 

4. MAJOR ISSUES TO BE COVERED:  
The following major issues will be covered by the Forum's speakers and panelists are:

     [1]   Why did the international liquidity crisis affect Ukraine more than other emerging economies?
     [2]   Ukraine’s main vulnerabilities to the financial crisis in 2008.
     [3]   Why the local currency depreciated more than the currencies of other countries.
     [4]   Why the real sector, including GDP and exports, declined so dramatically.
     [5]   What measures taken by the Ukrainian authorities to deal with the crisis were adequate and what measures where inadequate. 
     [6]   Measures that the country could undertake to avoid deepening the crisis during the Presidential election period and until a new government is in place. 
     [7]   Measures that the country should undertake in the medium term to accelerate economic development. 

A major background and position paper on "The Impact of the Global Liquidity Crisis on Ukraine and the Road to Economic Recovery" has been prepared for the Forum by The Bleyzer Foundation (TBF), Kyiv, Ukraine. 

5.  FORUM SPONSORS:
The first annual international forum on "The Economic Development of Ukraine" on Thursday, October 15, 2009 in Washington, D.C., is sponsored by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Embassy of Ukraine to the United States, SigmaBleyzer, the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) and its over 100 members, the Ukrainian Foreign Investment Agency, The Bleyzer Foundation, and the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council Foundation (USUBCF). The Bleyzer Foundation (TBF), (www.BleyzerFoundation.org), and the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), www.usubc.org, serve as the Forum's organizer and secretariat.