Ukraine severs economic cooperation program with Russia

The Government of Ukraine has severed a program of economic cooperation with Russia for 2011-2020, which envisaged cooperation in the energy sector and elimination of trade barriers.

The relevant decision was included in the agenda and approved by the members of the government, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman earlier said his Government was ready to sever the program, stating that Ukraine needed to reorient its economy so it was no longer pegged to Russia. "We are working to reorient our economy to end the ties Russia has constantly imposed on us, binding us as a raw material supplement to its economy. Already after the recent aggression, our industry has begun to look for other markets," Groysman said.

UNIAN memo. The Ukraine-Russia economic cooperation program for 2011-2020 was developed in pursuance of a May 17, 2010, decision by the then presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Dmitry Medvedev and Viktor Yanukovych.

Read alsoU.S. warns of sanctions against companies engaged in Nord Stream 2In particular, the document determines the recovery of reputational losses after Ukraine-Russia gas transit disputes in 2006-2009 as the most important task, along with the abolition of mutual trade restrictions.

Simultaneously with military aggression against Ukraine in 2014, the Russian Federation unleashed a trade and economic war, imposing an embargo on a number of sensitive Ukrainian export-oriented staples. Ukraine introduced retaliatory measures. Since 2014, Russia's share in Ukrainian exports has shrunk to 9% from almost 30%.