UKRAINE MOSTLY AGREES ON CANDIDATES FOR WIPO

UNCLAS KYIV 000876 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/UMB, IO/T (LAURA LUFTIG),AND EB/TPP/IPE STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR BURKHEAD/GROVES E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A TAGS: AORC WIPO KIPR ETRD PREL UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE MOSTLY AGREES ON CANDIDATES FOR WIPO DIRECTOR GENERAL REF: STATE 47557 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; NOT FOR INTERNET PUBLICATION. ¶1. (SBU) Econoff delivered reftel points regarding upcoming elections for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General to Elena Shcherbakova, head of the International Relations Division at the State Department of Intellectual Property (SDIP),on May 6. Shcherbakova said that SDIP, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ukrainian Mission in Geneva, had tentatively identified Ukraine's three preferred candidates for the post. They are: Australia -- Dr. Francis Gurry; Japan -- Yo Takagi; and Brazil -- Jose Graca Aranha. ¶2. (SBU) Econoff noted USG agreement on the strong credentials of the Australian and Japanese candidates but urged Shcherbakova to reconsider support of the Brazilian nominee, drawing on reftel info. Shcherbakova promised to take the issue under consideration and to pass our assessment of the candidates to the Ukrainian Mission in Geneva. ¶3. (SBU) Shcherbakova also remarked that she had heard "informally" that the United States intended to support the candidate from Pakistan and asked if this were true. (Comment: We suspect Shcherbakova heard this from a third- country official during a recent visit to Geneva. End Comment.) Econoff responded that the USG did not believe Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan met our criteria nor would he meet the needs of WIPO. ¶4. (U) PolOff followed up by delivering the points to Iryna Kachenko, from the MFA's International Organizations Division, on May 7. Kachenko had no additional comment. TAYLOR