REUTERS
Unilateral introduction of restrictions by Russia in the form of tariff quotas would be in breach of Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area Agreement (CISFTA) and, in fact, would mean the abolition of free trade regime between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, according to the Ministry press service.
The statements of representatives of Russian Economic Development Ministry came amid intensive efforts by Ukraine, the EU and Russia in the framework of tripartite technical consultations on the implementation of the Association Agreement, according to Ukraine’s Trade Representative Nataliya Mykolska.
"Thus, statements of Russian officials regarding introduction of specific restrictive measures for Ukrainian goods raise doubts about the desire of Russian counterparts to seek practical solutions through a process agreed by all the parties," Mykolska said.
"We must clearly understand that trade cooperation between the two countries should work within the existing legal framework. For Ukraine and Russia such legal framework is enshrined in the CISFTA regulations. Unilateral implementation of any quantitative restrictions by Russia would be a violation of the CISFTA, and would actually mean the abolition of the free trade regime between Ukraine and the Russian Federation," said Ukraine’s Trade Representative.
The statement also stresses the need to adhere to strict legal procedures in accordance with the WTO agreements in case the Russian party undertakes measures against possible dumping of the prices of Ukraine-made goods.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia suggested establishing quotas regarding the goods from "risk groups" in case of implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Russia`s First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Aleksey Likhachev said that state duty tax would be imposed only on goods supplied above those quotas, and such measure would not contradict the WTO procedures.