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Olena Omelchenko Moderated a Session Trade Wars and Their Influence on the Global Economy at Kyiv International Economic Forum

News date: 8 November 2019

Olena Omelchenko, the Partner and Head of International Trade Practice at Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm, moderated a session Trade Wars and Their Influence on the Global Economy at the 6th Kyiv International Economic Forum held on 8-9 November 2019 in Kyiv. The session was devoted to discussing institutional and structural reform of the global trade cooperation.

“The year 2019 was marked by new challenges in international trade, – noted Olena Omelchenko.Ukraine has failed to win the cases initiated in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. The United States continues to block the appointment of arbitrators to the WTO Appellate Body, which reduces the effectiveness of the international trade dispute resolution system. The possibility of the US withdrawing from the WTO is on the agenda, the US and the EU are exchanging demands on each other, the confrontation between the US and China is still ongoing, and China is looking for the new markets to sell its goods. This will affect many countries in the long run. The WTO crisis is evident, and member states are pushing the issue of its reforming. Most international experts tend towards the point that the ongoing trade wars were launched to redistribute the markets internationally”.

The speakers taking part in the discussion were: Robert Koopman, the Chief Economist and Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division at the World Trade Organization; Taras Kachka, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture – Trade Representative of Ukraine; Manlio Di Stefano, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy; Denys Morozov, the Director for Economics and Finance, Board Member of INTERPIPE Group; Dmytro Los, the Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of MHP; Stanislav Vilenskyi, the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Alef Corporation; Viktor Halasiuk, the President of the Ukrainian Association for the Club of Rome.

Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) is the leading international platform for analyzing and discussing the development prospects of Ukrainian and global economy, business and entrepreneurship, as well as for determining their influence on politics and society. Every year the forum brings together well-known economists, businessmen, investors and experts from more than 30 countries of the world.