REUTERS
Ukraine intends in the near future to begin negotiations on a free trade area with Canada, and a group of negotiators are expected to arrive in the country tomorrow, May 13, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said at a meeting on Tuesday with Canadian Foreign Minister Robert Nicholson.
"We have turned a new page in our relations with Canada,” Yatseniuk said.
“We expect that the chief negotiator on a free trade zone between Ukraine and Canada will arrive in Ukraine tomorrow. I hope that the negotiations will develop in the direction of signing an agreement."
As UNIAN reported earlier, starting January 1, 2016 a Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EU will become effective after being delayed for a year-and-a-half from October 2014 in connection with the necessity of holding talks between the EU, Ukraine and Russia. However, further delays and negotiations, according to European officials, are unnecessary, and a further delay is detrimental to the concept of free trade.
In addition, Ukraine plans to conclude free trade agreements with Turkey, Canada, Israel, Africa and a number of Balkan countries, based on the working program of the Ukrainian government.