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Fourth year student in
International Economics Program, Igor Malchenko
Alfred Nobel University,
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
PhD in Pedagogy, Galyna
Miasoid
Alfred Nobel University,
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
Trade
wars: the «Roshen» scenario
The topic I am about to raise is strongly connected to problems, that our country has today; it is economical and political situation.
The following events took place last summer and continue to influence lives of Ukrainian people until today.
July 29, 2013 CPS instructed customs authorities to ban the import of products Roshen company in Russia. The prohibition is explained by the abuses of quality and safety: product samples in fat content and organoleptic not conform with the requirements found in milk chocolate dangerous chemical compound benzpyrene.
From "Roshen" was a statement that the company has always complied with all the rules of certification, performed the necessary health standards according to the requirements of state regulatory documentation of Ukraine and Russia.
August 2, 2013 Sanitary Service of the Republic of Belarus started checking products Roshen found to comply with the Customs Union. Also, the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus adopted measures to prevent the import into the territory of the Russian Federation through the checkpoints in the Belarusian segment of the customs border of the Customs Union and re-export from the territory of the Republic of Belarus both confectionery Belarussian made and Ukrainian made confectionary by Roshen.
It’s absolutely clear, that these events have nothing in common with benzpyrene and sweets. There are different opinions on what has happened actually, but there are three basic versions.
First – another trade war. Someone from the Russian competitors Roshen, and maybe all of them together do not like the price of Ukrainian candy and their popularity among the people, and they lobbied for a ban on imports.
Speculative version for CPS even abusive, and require proof of its existence, the search falls within the competence of law enforcement.
The second version – political, or rather conspiratorial. History of candy ran long, and entered the acute stage the very next day after Vladimir Putin's visit to Ukraine, during which even stranger audience could see the obvious tension when communicating presidents – and our Ukrainian.
This version is said and what is banned in Russia , not all Ukrainian candy, but only of Roshen, which belongs to the family Poroshenko, Ukrainian politician, famous in the Orange Revolution , the former foreign minister in the government of Yulia Tymoshenko, and do not hide their European integration sentiment.
Version is very good for the arguments in the style of "pique vests," but if you think about it, is absurd . Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union , the revision of gas contracts and the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine , the rent for the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and other serious issues of bilateral Russian- Ukrainian relations by - chocolate candies blackmail are not solved.
Finally, the third version. CPS really found that some batches of products Roshen not have that smell or taste not the one which would be entitled to edible goods may still sticky to the touch. And if even one candy found even trace amounts of benzopyrene, it's not a joke. Here it is better, as they say, to be safe. Ukrainian candy lovers themselves then say thank you.
To sum up the story, on 21 October the ambassador of Russia to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov stated "There are no problems with the quality of products, they are safe. But there are problems associated with the production technology, using some ingredients that are not certified in accordance with the law».
As a result we had some cut salaries or even hired workers from Roshen’s factories, and huge losses for national economy.
A solution of a problem should not be directly connected to economics, but the it should definitely make clear for everyone what a Customs Union is, and how it can influence not only the national economy as a whole, but also lives of regular people, who haven’t even heard about these trade wars.
About solutions. There is a famous Ukrainian businessman, that said: "If we want to have serious markets in Russia, we need to go to Russia and to open our businesses there. And become Russian companies». That is quite an agile move, I was not expecting that and I totally agree with this.
References:
1. http://usukraineobserver.com/issue19176.html
2. http://yellowpage.in.ua/en/archives/62666
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roshen
4. http://www.roshen.com/en/news/corporate-news/konditerskaja-korporacija-roshen-informiruet-ob-otsutstvii-oficialnyh-pretenzij-so-storony-2291-2291-2291/
5. http://nv-news.com/?nma=news&fla=stat&nums=4177
6. http://inosmi.ru/sngbaltia/20130924/213252757.html