MOSCOW, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Russian businesses are reportedly likely to get better access if Viktor Yushchenko wins the Ukrainian presidential election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin openly favors current Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych over the pro-Western Yushchenko in Sunday's election. However, analysts told the Moscow Times Yushchenko had better prospects for improving business conditions if he won.
"Yanukovych is for regional protectionism, there is no doubt about it," said Myron Wasylyk, the head of the Ukraine office of PBN, a consulting and public relations firm. "If he becomes president, he will erect a roadblock to transparent Russian investments into Ukraine."
Yanukovych's administration has excluded foreigners from major industrial privatizations, but Yushchenko's welcomed the participation of both Russian and Western companies, the Moscow Times said.
"Yanukovych has basically blocked off the Russians and the Westerners and has given everything to the Ukrainians," Wasylyk said.
During Yushchenko's tenure as Ukraine's prime minister, from 1999 to 2001, the prospects for foreign firms was much brighter, said Dmitry Tarabakin, director of Dragon Capital, Ukraine's biggest brokerage by volume. If Yushchenko wins, "the Russians will have to compete under the same conditions as everyone else," he said.
