REUTERS
The main bulk of Ukrainian exports should be formed by the food industry, as well as IT, machine-building, and aerospace industries, while the export strategy will change in accordance with changes in market conditions, according to First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv.
"The document should be a practical and operational program that is changed and adjusted according to a specific environment. It should include minimization of corruption and transparent finances – that’s what we must ensure today," he said.
According to Ukraine’s Trade Envoy Natalia Mykolska, the export strategy was developed for a 5-year period, stipulating 56 priority tasks for export development. More than 40 public and non-government institutions participated in the development of the strategy.
In particular, the document defines 75 countries, with which Ukraine has been trading insufficiently, with the volume of trade remaining under $6.5 billion.
Read alsoRada ratifies Canada-Ukraine FTAAccording to the strategy, the main industries that will form the Ukrainian export are the food industry, the IT industry, machine-building and aerospace industries, as well as the so-called "creative" industries providing innovative approaches to meeting customer needs.
The strategy also defines promising markets for Ukrainian exports, among which the key position is occupied by EU member states, the country’s most important foreign economic partners.
Among the other countries, the most promising are the United States, China, Turkey, Japan, Israel, and India. According to Mykolska, in the future, the strategy will call for the development of sectoral and cross-sectoral action plans for export development.
Read alsoUkraine's economy ministry reports 4.6% decline in exports in 2016As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Ministry said the country's exports in 2016 had fallen by 4.6%, or US$1.8 billion, from 2015, which coincided with the State Statistics Service's estimates.
Metallurgy posted a decline in exports of commodities by 12%, or $1.2 billion, while chemical exports fell by 22.7%, or $577.1 million, those of engineering decreased by 9.2%, or $439.3 million.
Read alsoUkraine's IT boom could speed up EU integration - EU ObserverAt the same time, there was an increase in exports of goods to the EU countries in most industries, except for mineral and chemical production. In 2016, shipments of various industrial goods to the EU increased most (by $149.7 million), while exports of engineering products (by $125 million), timber and paper (by $103.8 million), products of the light industry (by $76.4 million), and farm produce and foods (by $73.8 million).
The share of Russia in Ukraine's exports was 9.9%, having decreased by 2.8 percentage points against 2015.