Ukraine fails to ratify trade agreement with Thailand

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has failed to ratify a trade agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Thailand, as a result of which a respective bill has been rejected.

Read alsoUkroboronprom debunks failure of contract with Thailand on armored vehiclesBill No. 0170 did not score the required minimum set at 226 votes; lawmakers also failed to collect the needed number of votes for its finalization, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

"The draft law has been rejected," Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy announced on February 7.

Ukraine and Thailand in June 2017 concluded a trade agreement aimed at developing contacts between businessmen, the establishment of joint ventures and representative offices of commercial institutions in both countries. It was also designed to facilitate the work of the Joint Commission on Trade. Thailand is Ukraine's main trading partner in Southeast Asia with bilateral trade estimated at over $600 million in 2016.

When presenting the draft law before the vote on ratification in parliament on February 7, Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade Nataliya Mykolska said that exports from Ukraine to Thailand in the 11 months of 2017 totaled $245.7 million.