With a new President, and soon a new Rada, Ukraine has a unique chance to shift gears and to join the economic growth big leagues, David Lipton, IMF acting managing director,

With a new President, and soon a new Rada, Ukraine has a unique chance to shift gears and to join the economic growth big leagues, David Lipton, IMF acting managing director, told a Toronto reform conference panel, “Ukraine: Sovereign, Safe and Prosperous.” “If Ukraine wants to grow — not by 3%, but by 5-6% every year and catch up with the world — that’s what it takes: Ukraine needs a new business model,” said Lipton who first worked with Eastern Europe during the early 1990s transition from communism. Recalling his experience in Poland, he said: “There is no reason in the world why Ukraine cannot do it. The business model of Ukraine should be to supply goods, not people, to Europe. This can be achieved by working on creating such an environment in Ukraine where there would be investments, productive workplaces.”