The Baltic Business Forum, an event centered on trade exchange between Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe as well as on EU’s Eastern Partnership programme, opens in Świnoujście, northwestern Poland, today.

Held under the slogan “Ukraine – New Opportunities”, the forum is intended to encourage Polish, German and Scandinavian entrepreneurs to invest in Ukraine, says Jacek Piechota, head of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce. The former minister of economy has stated that the deep economic crisis that hit Ukraine last year, has created new opportunities for foreign investors. “The crisis means a drop in prices, this includes real estate, which had previously come at steep prices, and the readjustment of value of many enterprises, which poses the possibility of taking part in privatization.” says Jacek Piechota. “This also means greater openness to the influx of foreign capital.”

The organizers of the event also intend to encourage Ukraine to modernize the country, which would, in a longer perspective, increase its chances of joining the European Union.

According to data compiled by the Ukrainian Embassy in Warsaw Poland is the third-largest economic partner for Ukraine, and the trade turnover between the two countries reached six billion dollars in 2008.

Deputy head of the economy ministry, Marcin Korolec, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Huebner and Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksander Mocyk are to attend the forum’s afternoon conference.