To the President of To the Speaker of the Volodymyr Groisman To the Premier of Ukraine Arseniy Yatseniuk №407 dated 09.04.2015 On the appointment of the Vice Prime Minister for Eurointegration

Dear Sirs!

In the run-up to the EU-Ukraine Summit scheduled for April 27, 2015, we appeal to you with a request to appoint the Vice Prime Minister for Eurointegration, a top official who will be responsible for the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. At this point, the request is becoming a demand from civil society because of the extremely dilatory progress of the AA implementation, in particular adoption of legislation to support this process. Adoption of key pieces of legislation needed to reform Ukraine’s economy is taking place chaotically and slowly, especially in the areas of customs, food safety, energy and anti-monopoly—and often under the public pressure. Yet, the pace at which Ukrainian business adapts itself to new conditions and EU standards will determine not only the competitiveness of the domestic economy but also its survival in a globalized world, and hence the health of the national budget and the well-being of Ukraine’s citizens. Representatives of Reanimation Package of Reforms and Stronger Together initiatives, together with Eurointegration experts, have developed criteria based on which we ran a public selection of candidates for the office of Vice Prime Minister for Eurointegration. This individual’s key competencies must include: in- depth profile knowledge, understanding of the priorities of Ukraine’s new economic and trade “geography” , the ability to maintain dialog with the EU institutions at the highest level, and so on (see Attachment 1). Based on the public vote, the list of potential candidates for this office are: Acting President of the American Chamber of Commerce Taras Kachka; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the European integration Olena Zerkal; Director of the European and Euroatlantic Integration Coordination Bureau (2008- 2010) Vadym Triukhan; Ukraine’s representative to the Kostiantyn Yeliseyev; and the Governmental Commissioner for Ethnonational Policy Ghennadiy Druzenko (see Attachment 2). In order to undertake Eurointegration reforms, the country needs a strong coordination centre with an expert team and a director with broad powers. The Office of the Vice Prime Minister, run by a professional director who is not a political appointee, would be the kind of entity that will make it possible for Ukraine to take full advantage of the benefits of the Association Agreement. We call on you to select the candidate among the proposed ones as quickly as possible and appoint the Vice Prime Minister for the European integration by April 27, 2015!

Sincerely,

Liubov Akulenko Coordinator “Stronger Together” Information Campaign Executive: Maria Holub, +38 050 902-0938, [email protected]