REUTERS
Trade turnover between Ukraine and Turkey has reduced in recent years, Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Andrii Sybiha said during a video project Diplomacy without Borders, according to a UNIAN correspondent.
"The trade turnover between the two countries reaches nearly $4 billion today. Unfortunately, over the recent years, we have seen the trend toward our bilateral trade decline. In particular, it is reduced by an average of 20-25% annually," the Ambassador said.
At the same time, Ukraine enjoys a surplus in trade with Turkey, according to Sybiha.
"Ukraine is selling more goods and services to Turkey, by nearly $800 million," the Ambassador noted.
Read alsoTurkish banker heads PrivatBank Supervisory BoardHe also said that Turkish investments in Ukraine in 2016 increased by $60 million, amounting to $260 million.
"The largest volume of Turkish investments is aimed at industrial companies -- about 30%, and communications, as well as wholesale and retail trade. Regarding the Ukrainian segment in Turkey, the majority of our enterprises invest in Turkey's industry and in the service sector," Sybiha said.
Some 600 companies with Ukrainian capital have been recorded in Turkey for the time being, according to the Ambassador.
Further, Turkey assists the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he added.
Read alsoTurkish FM: "We do not accept Crimea annexation despite good ties with Moscow""This program is designed for five years. So, if everything is in order, the Ukrainian armed forces will annually receive about $3 million of assistance over the next five years," he said.
The Ambassador went on to say that the issue of signing off a Turkey-Ukraine free trade agreement has not been resolved yet.
"The experts are in constant contact in the negotiating groups. To date, some issues on sensitive groups of goods remain unresolved: out of 22,000 positions that should be covered by the FTA agreement, about 1,800 remain uncoordinated," he said.
Read alsoTurkish Airlines to fly to Ukraine's Kharkiv"Ukraine’s position is readiness to reaching an agreement, but a compromise should be mutually beneficial," the ambassador summed up.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian exports to Turkey in January-September 2016 decreased by 27% year-over-year, to $1.5 billion, while the Turkish goods imports increased by 33.7%, to $756 million.