REUTERS
Ukraine on May 18, 2016, completed the formal process of acceding to the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO GPA), which lets Ukrainian companies bid in tenders called by foreign governments, according to the Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Ministry's press service.
"This is the easiest way to export domestic goods. Ukrainian companies do not have to spend excess funds on marketing, conduct negotiations to enter a retail chain or open a representative office. Bids and procedures of government procurements are usually well structured. One only needs to choose a tender and fill in an application properly," Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Maksym Nefyodov said.
Ukrainian companies are now able to take part in public tenders of 45 WTO member states that are parties to the WTO GPA, namely the EU countries, Japan, the United States, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Canada. Procurement under the WTO GPA is estimated at $1.7 trillion annually, which is 30 times higher than the amount of Ukrainian exports.
Similarly, foreign companies will have full access to public tenders organized by the Ukrainian government.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada ratified the WTO GPA on March 16.
The Ukrainian Economy Ministry jointly with PricewaterhouseCoopers will develop a pilot project enabling Ukrainian businesses to participate in public procurement tenders called by parties to the GPA.