Ukrainians need to produce their own food to overcome crisis - economist Reinert

The professor of Technology Governance and Development Strategies believes that Ukraine needs to become more nationalistic on the industrial front. 

“The countries like Uzbekistan which went much further than you, have had import substitution, which has been successful. They didn't produce buses and trucks, and now they do it. I think the EU talks about smart specialization, but there is also a specialization which is not so smart. That is selling wheat to the EU, to Italy, for let's say 120$ a ton and then buying the same wheat spaghetti for 250$ a ton. So, these things you should look at, are not a trade theory, but the one that works every time,” he said. 

Answering the question about which country can become an example of economic recovery for Ukraine, Erik Reinert said that it could be Uzbekistan. 

“Well, it sounds very strange but it's Uzbekistan. In all the aspects. We`ve made some statistics about that, looked at what country has been doing well, what country has been doing poorly, and with other economists we came to the conclusion that it was Uzbekistan. Well, when you go to shop in Uzbekistan and want to buy spaghetti there is a blue kind of spaghetti which costs a hundred and then next to that there`s local Uzbek product which is slightly different, but costs 60% less than the original Italian product. I think you may have to go back to these things, you are doing great things like sunflower seeds, there are things that are adding value to your products,” the economist said.

Erik Reinert concluded that Ukraine should not listen to everything advised by the EU, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, but should change and concentrate on what it can do best.

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