Deputy Economy Minister: Ukraine needs to revise terms of Association Agreement with EU

Deputy Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture Taras Kachka says Ukraine needs to revise the conditions of the Association Agreement to intensify cooperation with the European Union.

"The revision of the terms and conditions of the Association Agreement is not just a desire to add some wishes on our part. It is actually a desire to make cooperation with the EU more intensive," he said during a conference organized by the Reanimation Package of Reforms.

Read alsoDeficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in goods in nine months shrinks by 60%

"Therefore, striving to update the Agreement is striving for a clearer understanding of mutual rights and obligations," he added.

Ukraine did an excellent job with its homework in most areas, he said.

He also mentioned that the steepest decline in trade in 2020 occurred between Ukraine and the EU, but Asia helped Ukraine to keep up exports this year.

"In Ukraine, trade with the EU significantly increased in five years. At the same time, the steepest decline in trade in 2020 was recorded with the European Union. And everything that pulls our exports up this year is Asia rather than the EU," he said.

Export and import statistics

• According to the State Customs Service, imports of goods to Ukraine in the 10 months of 2020 totaled US$43.03 billion, which was 12%, or US$6.01 billion, down year-on-year (y-o-y). Exports of Ukrainian goods amounted to US$39.64 billion, which was 5%, or US$2 billion, down y-o-y.
• Some 44% of goods were imported from EU countries, 16% from the CIS countries, 40% from the rest of the world, while exports to the EU accounted for 38% of all shipments of goods abroad, those to the CIS countries accounted for 12%, and the share of the rest of the world was 50%.